Wexford win proved Tipp will show no quarter - Kelly

TIPPERARY legend Eoin Kelly believes if the Premier County win the All-Ireland title on Sunday, it will all be down to the character and belief they displayed in the final 15 minutes against Wexford.

Kelly was part of the 2010 team that stopped Kilkenny’s drive for five and he believes that year hinged on a similar 15-minute spell against Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final when they came from three down to win by a point.

‘If Tipp are lucky enough to win on Sunday, everybody will go back to that final 15 minutes against Wexford,’ said Kelly in his role as Paddy Power ambassador.

‘Like when we won the AllIreland in 2010, everyone went back to the last few minutes against Galway when we were three down, came back and Lar Corbett hit the winner.

‘There was no erratic shooting, there was just using the ball and giving it to the man in the right place. That’s where Liam Sheedy will be happiest with where his team are at,’ explained the former Premier sharpshooter, who is part of Sheedy’s current back-room team as free-taking coach.

‘The last 15 minutes against Wexford, not one lad shrinked responsibility on the tackle front, with hooking and blocking. That’s Liam’s big thing. He always wanted

application to the cause. He wanted guys to put their heads in where you wouldn’t even dream of putting a hurl. ‘He has that instilled in the team. I’m not surprised that both managers have their teams in an All-Ireland final. I thought that was evident the last day with Tipp down to 14 and 15 minutes to go and everything going against them, on all fronts. ‘It’s pure doggedness that has brought both teams to the final.’ When it came to Kilkenny-Tipperary clashes, the common consensus has always been that if the game is tight, it will fall the Cats’ way. However, Kelly feels confident his own county will stand up in a tight affair this Sunday after the way they fought back against Wexford, despite being a man down. ‘There is a feeling that a tight game would favour Kilkenny,’ Kelly admits. ‘But what Tipp did the last day, that will stand to them come this All-Ireland final. But of course, the way Kilkenny beat Limerick was more the same. So, the two teams are going in ideally primed. They both know that they can do this when it comes to going down the home straight.’

Sheedy also has the comfort of knowing that all his substitutes made a contribution in the semifinal win over Wexford, with four of them getting a point.

‘For some of those guys off the bench the last day, they probably got their first championship score. I know myself as a player, when you get that first score, you feel that you are off. Liam Sheedy has integrated the subs nicely into the team. He always says you need 20 players and you need subs making an impact. You need fresh legs, and those guys will contribute.’

The fear in Tipperary is that this will be the game where they feel Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher’s absence most keenly. Part grafter, part playmaker, Bonner is tailor-made for these battles, but Kelly feels the side have done well in compensating for his loss after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury against Limerick earlier this summer.

‘Bonner is definitely a loss. But the game against Wexford had the same kind of intensity and physicality and the boys put their heads down and got through it without Bonner. If it doesn’t work out for Liam on Sunday, he won’t be using it as an excuse. You would love Bonner Maher, you would love him there because it would be one more headache for Brian Cody. But he’s not there.

‘If Tipp don’t do it on Sunday, it won’t be an excuse. They showed against Wexford that they can get down and get dirty when it is at that gritty stage. And that is the thing that Liam Sheedy will be most happy with.’

Kelly was one of the veterans when the class of 2010 first came into the Tipperary squad. Now, the likes of Séamus Callanan, Brendan and Paudie Maher are all going for their third Celtic Cross. It isn’t quite the domination that everyone thought after they added an Under 21 All-Ireland to their senior medal within a week back in 2010, but Kelly points out that they have been the most consistent Tipp side of the modern era.

‘Those guys have matured into some of the best hurlers that have ever played for Tipperary. Their consistency is no mean feat. For some of them, this will be their seventh All-Ireland final, ironically all against Kilkenny between replays and all that. That’s from 2009 to 2019, that’s in an 11-season span to contest seven All-Ireland finals, that’s fair consistency.

‘I remember young lads coming in around 2008 and 2009 and Lar Corbett saying to me that we just need to hang in here for a few years because they were special players. They weren’t ordinary Tipperary player, they were special players, successful players — they won two minors in ’06 and ’07.

‘In fairness, they’ve backboned a serious Tipperary team over the last 10 or 11 years. You’d see them now passing on their experiences and their encouragement to the younger guys that Liam has brought in.’

‘They can get down and dirty at that gritty stage’