Kelly lauds mentality of squad

By Stephen Barry

Tipperary manager Paul Kelly cut an emotional figure at full-time as his sides smash-and-grab victory over Wexford lengthened their season into the Tailteann Cup knockout stages.

It’s been an arduous year as injuries fed into an eight-game winless streak, but that long grind made Saturday all the sweeter for the Dubliner.

“There’s been 38, 40 players used this year, 14 or 15 lads going before we even kicked off, and five or six of the 2020 team are injured. It’s a small group taking hits like that over a number of years, but it was a happy day there,” he revealed.

“They really dug it out. They’ve had the setbacks. Wexford went two points ahead against the breeze and you go, that’ll test the mettle.

“In fairness, we had two or three, but we got the bit of luck we deserved all year.

“We played a compact game and at the same time tried to attack as much as we possibly could. There’s not one lad coming off there that’s not wrecked having given everything for Tipperary and given everything for the group. That’s all you can ask.”

In terms of those injuries, Conor Sweeney and Steven O’Brien remain highly doubtful for the preliminary quarter-final away to Limerick, while Colm O’Shaughnessy emerged as another worry.

“Colm seems to have a bad knock on the calf. We’ll keep Steven on his rehab and hopefully he could come back in the next 10-12 days maybe.

“Conor is similar. He has a hamstring injury and just trying to get him back on the field if we can. We’re still missing young (Cathal) Deely but it is great to see Stephen Quirke give everything there and for Mark Russell to get another few minutes under his belt.”

Paul Kelly insists the difference between this victory and other losses was a simple one.

“Just better execution,” he pointed.

“Our approach hasn’t really changed all year. We’ve had to tinker it here and there because of certain resources at different times but the philosophy and approach is similar. We just did it better today.”

Kelly reserved special praise for the Feehan brothers, who combined for a first-half goal for Paudie before Jimmy, visibly cramping, came up with two huge turnovers in stoppage time.

“Jimmy and Paudie are the heartbeats of the team,” he said.

“Jimmy gives everything. Everything. That’s all you can ask from any individual.”

Waterford’s win over Longford meant Kelly and his players knew a victory over Wexford would guarantee progress, regardless of score difference.

It ended in a heart-stopping finish as there was still time for one last attack following Stephen Grogan’s goal.

“All I could see was it floating in, and fingers crossed that’s going to go in, and it did,2 Kelly added.

“A little bit of a heart tremor then when, because we made the substitution, it went into an extra minute or two and you’re just making sure then we don’t do anything silly.

“In fairness to the lads, they showed a fair bit of character there. When they got the second chance to block your man off, they did.”