On a day like this, you sift for details knowing it’s a fool’s errand really. Tipp finished a point ahead but there wasn’t a lot of science to it. Galway were better team for long stretches and if the music had kept going a few minutes more, they might have found themselves ahead when it stopped. But sides knew it, too.
Mick Ryan bounces into his post-match press duties in no doubt that his summer could just as easily have ended here.
Tipp strolled through Munster but that would have felt a long time ago as they went into the last 10 minutes a couple of points down. Was the five weeks a factor?
"I could give you the glib answer and say no, we won. But putting more thought into it, I didn't think we got to the pace of it. Galway were quicker out of the blocks and caused us all sorts of issues in certain places. Best team "But that's what you'd expect on All-Ireland semi-final day. We were a bit slower than we'd like and we have plenty to work on. But work on it we will. It's a great incentive, three weeks' time to come back up here and have a go at Kilkenny, the recognised best team of our generation – and many generations.
“I thought midfield and the half-back line attacked the ball a little better in the second half. I thought we gave Galway too much room in the first half. You’re never going to get your way in the big matches. We got a hold of it and then we had to release it. I thought our middle third really worked hard in the second half and probably swung the game back towards us, and allowed us to put the Galway goal under pressure.”
Outside, Michael Breen is reflecting on another fine performance in midfield. Three more points from play to throw on the pile and, more importantly, a game won when all the chips were in the middle of the table. Days like this improve a team no end.
“It has been said that we die down in tight games, but not this year,” says Breen. “We’ve developed that mental toughness, we built on it throughout the league and the championship and I think we are just coming right. We don’t underestimate the challenge that lies ahead. Kilkenny are a mighty team and it will take more than what we performed today to beat them.
“From the mental side of things it will toughen us up a small bit. It will bring us on .
“It was just down to tough hurling, back-to-basics hurling. Things what great Tipp teams have done in previous years when we were winning All-Irelands. We just try to build those traits into our team . . .”
Galway manager Michéal Donoghue’s first season in charge has been decent. But the difference between this year and last is a point either way. Small margins, then and now.
“There were yeah. When Joe [Cooney]got the goal at the start of the second half, I just felt maybe if we’d got a few more points just to push it out a bit, it might have given us a bit of time to settle. I thought we responded well when Bubbles got the goal. It was a great finish but I think the boys got two scores to bring it back. John McGrath scored then, it was just harder to get back.
“Testament to our boys, they showed huge character and I’m really proud of the effort they put in. It was a massive shift. We lost two guys that were performing really well in Adrian Tuohy and Joe [Canning]. That was a big loss for us as a group but in fairness to the lads that came in, they put in a huge effort and shoulder to the wheel. Very proud.”
