Near misses can inspire future stars

IN ALL FAIRNESS

“The land of milk and honey” is what Donal Og Cusack described Tipperary hurling pre-championship, not just because the seniors were defending All-Ireland champions, but also because underage was rosy in the garden as well.

All-Ireland Under 20 and minor successes, Munster titles, a Celtic Challenge title, four Harty Cups in a row by three different schools, everything that had been meticulously planned by the County Coaching & Games department was bearing fruit. However, what it doesn’t guarantee is winning the last game of the season.

Tipperary could easily be celebrating an underage treble this year. In the Under 20 Munster final, only the width of the post prevented Cormac Fitzpatrick’s last gasp free in extra time from being converted from where they would have probably gone onto likely win and likely the All-Ireland title with it considering how dominant Clare were in the final against Galway.

In the Celtic Challenge final last month, lady luck went Kilkenny’s way with a last gasp 21-yard free finding its way to the net for a one point win. Then there was last Saturday’s All-Ireland Minor Final, Tipp coming in with six wins from six, facing a Limerick side that had already lost three times in the championship, but who managed to be in the lead when it mattered most at the final whistle despite Tipp being in front on the scoreboard for 95% of the game.

It might not feel like it but this was a successful year for Tipperary at underage level, despite only having a Munster minor title to show for it. The rub of the green just didn’t fall Tipp’s way as it had done in recent years.

The 2022 minor success needed a penalty shootout win in a Munster Final against Clare to progress to a final against Offaly where they needed a last gasp Paddy McCormack goal to win it.

The never to be forgotten 2024 All-Ireland minor success in Kilkenny was helped by a goalkeeper dropping the ball into his own next shortly after the second red card which gave Tipperary the energy boost they needed to go on and produce one of the most heroic victories at any level, similar in many way to what Louth did against Monaghan when playing with fourteen men for 64 minutes in their All-Ireland quarter final success.

Also, Tipperary’s 2024 Munster under 20 success might not have happened if an umpire had spotted the ball crossing the line for what should have been a Cork goal. Last years under 20 Munster and All-Ireland successes might not have happened but for a harsh black-card penalty that went against Clare in the provincial final when they were in the lead.

Winning is generally by fine margins and as the ball bounced in Tipp’s favour in recent years, it didn’t bounce the right way this year. Still, the crucial thing is that Tipperary were in the position to win those competitions. It would have been much worse if we were off the pace and not having the players or the talent to compete.

In terms of senior progression, underage success is never a bad thing. Success breeds confidence and knowing you are good enough to compete with the best other counties has to offer. However, success can also be a disease. If it isn’t processed in the rightway, players can think it comes easily and won’t know how to handle it when things start to become harder at under 20 and senior level.

This is why the experiences the minor and under 20 players have gone through this year might be no bad thing in the long run. In the same way successful minor and under 20 teams weed out the players who have the ambition for more and those that are happy with their lot, the hurt from this year will fuel those that have the ambition to go on and be successful in the years to come, at under 20 or senior level.

None of the Limerick seniors that have won five All-Ireland senior titles ever won a minor All-Ireland. They got to a final in 2014 which proved they had the talent, the disappointment from which they turned into under 21 All-Ireland’s in 2015 and 2017, the vast majority of the players going onto backbone their years of plenty from 2018 to 2023 where they won five Liam MacCarthy Cups in six years.

You’d love to think that Tipperary is on the cusp of such a dominant era. The platform is there, it’s up to the players who really want to be part of it to go after it, but also crucially having the right coaching teams in place to nurture them. Off the field, the development of a Centre of Excellence and the launch this Thursday of the county’s new 5-year strategic plan, can only enable that further. The only frustration is we don’t know what the future holds but the potential is there for it to be great!