Tipperary Manager Liam Sheedy jumped for joy when referee James Owens sounded the final whistle in Croke Park on Sunday.
The Portroe man had careered through an avalanche of emotions as he prowled the tramlines watching his side going from a position of strength, to the backfoot, to advancement again, to being over-run, to finally crawling over the finish line with their noses in front. It was stirring, emotive stuff – the kind of red blooded affair associated with real championship. It smelled like championship; it felt like championship; it was championship. And, Tipp emerged with perhaps their best display since the All-Ireland Final of 2010, but with plenty of areas to improve on.
Sheedy's relieved face said it all. A weight had been lifted from his shoulders – his side had not turned into a bad debt destined for hurling Nama.
"We limped out of it today but we are delighted. That was a high tempo, high scoring game out there with two very very committed teams. There was no quarter asked, no quarter given, some great individual scores, some great individual displays, and with the clock ticking on and the time running out it looked as though it might not be our day. But, I could not heap enough praise on my lads for their effort and commitment. How people question their attitude and their commitment and wonder if there is big games in them I don't know. I think what you saw today is a bunch of lads really anxious to do well and who left it all on the field. Again I would compliment the bench and especially the guys who came on – they brought it up a notch and kicked it on. It makes for a very interesting couple of weeks now as we look to build up to the semi-final.
Tipperary seemed to hurl in spurts – started well, finished the half well, started the second half well, finished the game off well. Finishing well was the key though and the Manager knew it.
"Matches are generally not won in the first six or seven minutes. They can be lost in the first six or seven minutes or in the last six or seven minutes but in fairness our character and workrate in the final few minutes when it was everything to play for was great, and I would say that our supporters are happy with the effort, commitment and work that we put in.
"Have we areas to work on? Of course we have. Generally if you concede 3-16 you won't win the game, but we outscored our opponents by a point and if we were to do that from here on in, we would be very happy.
"The last five minutes of both halves proved very fruitful for us and that's really about playing out the clock and ensuring that you can get the maximum amount out of it. The scores came before half time – Seamie (Callanan) scored a great goal and that was a very important goal for us. We needed every one of them in the finish," he said.
While Tipp enjoyed their periods of dominance, Sheedy and his management team of Michael Ryan and Eamon O'Shea were frustrated to find that Galway simply would not fold up the tent and go home. They worked themselves back into the match and refused to lie down. This mean that Tipp were unable to kill off the game as they would have liked.
"Every time we tried to build a bit of momentum they pegged us back. Galway held the lead and looked to be moving better than us coming into the final five or six. But, in fairness to the lads, they dug deep and had the work done. They have trained at a very high intensity and it's just as well because they needed every ounce of energy that they had," he said.
On the rather controversial ending to the match when Galway claimed they cold have had a free in to level the game and force extra time, the Tipp Boss said, "This game came down to calls at the end of the day. We have been up here before and maybe didn't get the calls but let's not take away from the overall game. There is always talking points at the end of a game – that's par for the course in the GAA at the moment anyway. It was a fabulous game and a fantastic 70 minutes of hurling," he said.
Tipperary head back to training with a real spring in their step now. But, they know too that there is much work to be done. Those who came on made a big impact and will be pushing for starting places in the semi-final. Thing is, it is now as vital to finish with your freshest side as it is to start with your best. That calls for astute man management and challenges the Premier team with much to ponder.
"It makes for a very competitive couple of weeks now for us and that's what you need. The competitiveness of the last couple of weeks really stood to the panel today because it was the guys who came off the bench who really made the difference. We have found, to pick the team on the last three occasions was really really difficult and that's the way it needs to be. The challenge now is back in the dressingroom again in training and to try and rev it up a notch again.
"We have had three wins in a row now which is encouraging but the team we will be facing have had two wins in a row and are unbeaten. At the end of the day it comes down to being in an All-Ireland semi-final in the middle of August. We looked a long way away from that at the end of May and people thought that we would not be able to get the show back on the road. But, in fairness, the lads have done it and we are delighted to be back in the All-Ireland semi-final," Liam said.
On the subject of the defences lapses which allowed Galway to plunder two goals and a number of points, the Manager said, "The defence is normally rock solid – that's what we have built our team on - and I suppose everybody has a bad day at the office from time to time. It was a real test of the character of the team when that happens - you have to respond. It would be very easy for the team to say it's not going to be our day but they didn't say that . They just got on with it and played the next ball. Fair dues to them – they have shipped a lot of criticism and maybe some of it is justified. But for them to go out there and dig deep makes me very proud to have been associated with that Tipp dressingroom because they don't lack commitment or effort."