Sheedy pleased by Tipperary grit

Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy said if anyone was in any way doubtful of the character of his players, they only had to look at their second half performance in seeing off Cork to progress to the All-Ireland quarter finals.

By Shane Brophy

Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy said if anyone was in any way doubtful of the character of his players, they only had to look at their second half performance in seeing off Cork to progress to the All-Ireland quarter finals.

“At half-time, two points up and playing into the stiff breeze, it was backs to the wall,” said the Tipp boss who then saw his side dig in a produce their best 35 minutes of the championship so far.

“I thought there was character shown by the lads in the second half,” he continued.

“We had chances in the first half that we didn’t convert into scores and we generally take our chances.

“The way they reacted in the second half, obviously the goal after half-time was a big score and Jake’s goal finishing up just gave us a cushion because Cork came right back at us after we getting the first goal. They were back level and probably had the bit of momentum, so probably the most pleasing is the character of the team, the way they pushed on and found a gear in the second half.

“I thought their workrate and application in that second half was good, there were some really big moments in that game where they won ball, drove forward and got some great scores.”

However, the Portroe clubman is well aware that while the performance was good enough to win on this occasion, it will need to improve to progress further in the championship.

“We’re still far from the finished article,” he added.

“But I do think we are improving, and I think that game will bring us on a lot. It’s all about recovery now because it comes at us again in a week’s time.

“It’s not long coming around but we’re exactly where we want to be, back in the All-Ireland series after beating a very, very good Cork team.”

“I think the lads worked very hard all through and you have to do that against Cork – some of the scores they got from distance in that second half, we were struggling to cope with them.

“They have great pace and in fairness they’re a really good side. Overall, into the breeze in that second half, I think questions were asked but the one thing about this dressing room is I think there’s great character in it and that character and desire came out in the second half.

“We won’t be frightening anyone with that performance but at the same time, today was about just getting a result and getting back into the All-Ireland series and we’re just thrilled to be back in an All-Ireland quarter-final next weekend.”

Tipperary went back to the tried and trusted last weekend with the recalled Michael Breen, Dan McCormack and Patrick Maher adding greater power to the starting fifteen but it was the newer faces that made the impact off the bench with Kiladangan duo Willie Connors and Paul Flynn contributing massively in the second half.

“The team has a lot of tried and trusted over the years but to see the bench and the impact it made today, some of those guys really made a big impact,” Sheedy said.

“Michael (Breen) is a great player, he's got wonderful pace and power and he got himself around that pitch today, even some of his ball-handling in the air and his overall application in the middle of the park, was vital for us. He picked off some wonderful scores and we needed them because some of the 12 wides in the first half, normally we wouldn't be missing those so we did leave ourselves with a mountain to climb but the most pleasing thing about it was the reaction that we got at half time.”

Tipperary struggled to put the elements to good use in the first half, but Sheedy was pleased with the way the team adapted in the second half, scoring 2-9 to Cork’s 0-13

“I thought our movement inside was very good in the second half,” Sheedy said.

“We probably played better in terms of our movement and our positioning of the ball in, it was much better in that second half and that meant Seamie and these guys could get on the ball.

“We felt we didn’t give the inside forwards a good platform to build on in the first half. Mark Coleman was sitting deep, in front of the full-back line, and was hard to pass. It probably gives defenders in the full back line that cushion, they can really attack the ball.

“We spoke about that at half-time and thankfully the lads did a better job in the second half and we got the vital goals.

“Ultimately the two goals into the breeze were the difference, they were the winning of the match."