Circumstances ensure this All-Ireland is classed as the greatest

When this victory is commonly referred to as being Tipperary’s greatest ever All-Ireland final win in any grade or code, you know it is special.

By Shane Brophy

The task for this Tipperary minor hurling team was already great enough on Saturday, to try and win an All-Ireland title in the back-yard of their opponents. Then comes a set-back after seven minutes with the sending off of Cillian Minogue, added to by the red card for Darragh O’Hora seventeen minutes.

In the modern game where possession is everything, there was surely no way back from this, Kilkenny would work the ball in such a way that Tipperary would eventually run out of numbers and the home side would work the scoreboard on a regular basis.

However, this wasn’t the story. From the moment Tipperary got a break in the form of Jake O’Doherty dropping Eoghan Doughan’s 65 into his own net just before half time, you sensed something special could happen.

There is no right time to have a player(s) sent off but for it to happen before half time allowed the players and management to put a plan in place, and it was executed flawlessly.

From the moment Euan Murray floated over the first of his four minutes early in the second half, you could see the defiance within the thirteen players. Not only that, but it was the poise. Two players short, they knew whatever possession they had, it couldn’t be given away.

If there was a criticism of the team in their run to the final it was the sometimes careless nature of how they worked the ball into their lethal forwards. Here, under the greatest of pressure with no margin for error, they gave an exhibition in composure, never panicking, and always taking the right option.

Players grew in front of our eyes, including Jake Donelan Houlihan who opened his shoulders and showed his true potential on the ball, while nervelessly slotting over three crucial frees, while his equalising point to send the game to extra time was one of the scores of the game.

They had their second half set-backs too, starting with Robbie Doherty’s goal on 39 minutes which put Kilkenny back in front. In that five minute spell after, Tipperary withstood a barrage of Kilkenny attacks but the only conceded one point, a free to Jake Mullen.

Under the greatest of pressure, Tipperary’s one-on-one defending was outstanding, the hooks, the blocks, the flicks, everything that was good about the game was in evidence as the undermanned visitors began to grow in belief.

So long a graveyard for Tipperary teams, Nowlan Park was becoming a home venue for the Premier as the supporters really got in behind this brave group.

Austin Duff epitomises the spirit of this group, coming back from a serious injury sustained with Nenagh CBS and his introduction was huge around the three quarter mark, getting on the ball as he always does, plus using it effectively, including for Murray’s third point.

Going into extra time, one wondered would Tipperary run out of juice. They were already winners in everyone’s eyes with what they had done for the majority of the game.

The management deserve all the plaudits that come their way for how they handled every aspect of this game, including the breaks where they used the maximum time possible to allow the players to refresh and go again. This was despite not using their full allocation of subs, which was incredible.

This was despite the likes of David & Adam Ryan looking out on their feet long before the end. The Arravale Rovers duo were simply incredible, David at wing back just came out with ball after ball, and from the restarts whenever Daire English had to go long, it was always on top of his wing-forward from where Tipp primarily won the breaks.

Billy O’Brien and Tiarnan Ryan were outstanding in that regard, the latter was worthy official player of the match but from an early stage the influence of Billy O’Brien was outstanding and must had had more touches of the ball than any other Tipp player. On top of that was his engine as the longer the game went on, the better he got, pointing in the first period of extra time and was unfortunate not to get a goal.

If anything epitomised everything of Tipperary in this game, it was the winning goal. They had just fallen behind to a sucker punch of a goal from Anthony Clifford and a lead point from Cian Byrne, after Tipp made a blistered start to the second period of extra time with points from Murray and subs Duff and Killian Cantwell.

Could Tipperary go to the well one more time? Yes, they could with a move that began with a pinpoint delivery from Patrick Ryan to Austin Duff. That pass was sublime, with the composure to be able to pick out his teammate. From there, Duff took the right option to play in Billy O’Brien coming off the shoulder, and incredibly, despite having a two man advantage, Kilkenny were caught short in their own defence. Tipp had numbers and it appeared the best option was to play in Killian Cantwell, but Billy O’Brien had the belief to hold onto the ball and shimmy to create the opening he needed to fire to the net.

Tipperary held out in the minutes that remained with the final whistle igniting scenes of wild euphoria. We thought the scenes at the end of the dramatic 2022 final wouldn’t be bettered but they were here as the supporters, young and old, ran on to hail the greatest Tipperary All-Ireland win of them all.