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Hurling

'They dragged us back, I'm so proud' - Sheedy praises players for fightback

An emotional Liam Sheedy has praised his players for answering what he calls the 'serious questio...



'They dragged us back, I'm so...
Hurling

'They dragged us back, I'm so proud' - Sheedy praises players for fightback

An emotional Liam Sheedy has praised his players for answering what he calls the 'serious questions' that were asked of them today.

The Premier came back from five points down and a man down to win their All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford and book their place in next month's decider against Kilkenny.

With 20 minutes left Wexford held the advantage in terms of the score, the numbers and the momentum of the game was with them.

With John McGrath dismissed for a second yellow card and a pair of Wexford goals in quick succession almost 62,000 spectators at Croke Park looked on wondering was the possibility of Davy Fitzgerald guiding the Yellowbellies to their first All-Ireland decider since 1996 starting to look like a reality?

Not in Tipperary's mind, and they never lost their nerve, sending five points over in a row between the 51st and 57th minutes to draw level.

Perhaps the ability to see this one out and win on a 3-20 to 1-28 scoreline came down to maturity and big-game experience. Much of this Tipp side have All-Ireland medals from just three years ago in their back pockets.

Sheedy praised their resilience and ability to answer calls when pressure was put upon them.

"Just delighted to have got over the line. It was a really, really enthralling contest for everybody involved.

"There were serious questions asked of us when we went five points down and a man down and I suppose the way they answered the call...honestly I'm thrilled for the lads, they came up with the answers, they found the inner strength and the end resolve to bring it out of themselves.

"They dragged us back into the game, I'm an emotional wreck here, that was some journey.

" We knew we had a lot more in the tank and we made a promise to ourselves we weren't going to leave anything in the tank.

"We had a man sent off and we had a goal disallowed and it looked like it wasn't going to be our day but the boys wrote the script.

"They deserve great credit for the way they simply dragged themselves out of what was a fairly deep hole but my God the way they turned that round, I'm so proud."

Tipperary will play Kilkenny in the 2019 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final on 18 August.

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All-ireland Hurling Tipperary