Woodlock lauds players for rising to the challenge
By Stephen Barry
Tipperary minor manager James Woodlock was mid-answer outside the winning dressing room when his players got tired of waiting.
As he uttered the words: “We’ve a fantastic squad of players inside, there’s 38 of them there…,” a roar emerged, the doors flew open, and every last one of them raced down the tunnel armed with bottles of water to soak their manager.
After pausing for a team photo, a soaked Woodlock continued showering praise on his players.
“Tonight, was a bit of redemption for them after what happened in Thurles,” he said of their 4-11 to 0-19 round-robin defeat to Clare.
“That's all we talked about for two weeks.
“This is the team we wanted back in a Munster final. We got there and I'm just delighted we won it.”
He added: “We were underdogs coming into the game under a small bit of pressure after not probably performing the way we could've all year. But we performed tonight.
“There was a fair wind blowing right down the middle, so we were happy with the way we controlled it in the first half. Delighted with our puck-outs, how we got them away, and we've big fetchers up front. That gives you a platform and we worked really hard after that.
“Goals win games, and we hadn't got one in the last couple. We targeted that today and we could’ve had more.
“We’re just delighted we’re straight into an All-Ireland semi-final.”
Bringing the John Doyle Cup home was another motivation in the background. Not said aloud but known by everyone.
“We trained in Holycross during the week. I don't know if the players knew why we trained there but we trained there,” revealed the Tipperary manager.
“We've never spoken about it, not once, even among the management team, but obviously it's in the back of our heads. We'll talk about it now when we go in.
“It's special. A Holycross man to lift the cup and he played in the exact same line as John Doyle.
“It's special for Holycross, they're a brilliant team coming through, and Cathal O'Reilly is a leader above all leaders.”
The importance of a morale boost for Premier hurling a day after the seniors’ 18-point defeat to Cork was another unspoken motivation.
“Last night, when I met the management team, the thought was would it have an effect on us what happened in Thurles yesterday,” explained Woodlock.
“So, we didn’t talk about it, we didn’t bring it up, but I’ll let them know what they’ve done for Tipperary hurling when I walk back into that dressing room now.”