Tipp’s spirit is as strong as ever - Sheedy

By Shane Brophy

There was a tinge of emotion as Liam Sheedy recounted his sides performance in Saturday’s All-Ireland quarter final defeat to Waterford.

“Disappointed” and “Proud” were the first two words the Portroe man used to characterise his team’s effort which came up just short, despite a strong final quarter surge.

“They gave it everything,” he added.

“We stayed in the game. We had a really good look in each other’s eyes at the water break and said, “right boys, now it’s time. What’s in this group?” and my God did I get some reaction.

“I thought the way they applied themselves in the final quarter, kept tipping on the points. We then got three wonderful goal chances that unfortunately none of them went inside the post.

“A two-point game in the 71st minute after being eight points down at one stage was a heroic comeback. We just came up that little bit short.”

Tipperary had their chances, with 49 shots at goal but only converted 29 of them, as their usual efficiency in front of goal let them down, with some costly turnovers leading to Waterford scores, including their second goal.

“We’ll look back on some of the turnovers and some of the ball we gave away that led to Waterford scores – we’ll be really disappointed with that aspect of our play,” Sheedy added.

“We knew had to be very smart with the ball and we weren’t as smart as we would have liked to have been today in our use of the ball.”

But for a small bit of luck, Tipperary could have won the match and Liam Sheedy added he couldn’t have asked for anymore from his players who showed their fighting qualities in the fourth quarter.

“There was really good parts to the play and there is great spirit in the dressing room, really good characters, there’s no fear for the future of this Tipperary squad,” he said.

“There are loads of players coming through. This Munster championship and All Ireland series matches are always going to be tight matches and today was no different. Was there parts of our play we wouldn’t be happy with? Of course, there is but they left it all on the field and as a manager I’m hugely proud of them.

“We lost out to ultimately to the two teams that were All-Ireland finalists last year. The bar is high, we were right there but just came up that little bit short.”

Liam Sheedy didn’t point to the Waterford penalty as being crucial, as Tipperary had their own chances which they didn’t take but he feels the team could have really kicked on in the championship if they had won.

“Getting over the line could have given us massive momentum going into the last four, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“The way the crowd cheered my team in off the stadium here tells you all you need to know.

“And I’d say a lot of people questioned the character that I had in that dressing room, were these guys too old were they this were they that. I’ll tell you one thing they gave you some answer today that is a top-quality group with a top-quality bench to come in with top quality guys who didn’t make the 26 today, there’s very bright future in Tipperary with the quality of player I have in that dressing room and their spirit is a strong as ever.”