A great decision.
Tipperary defied the odds to take home the Liam MacCarthy, defeating favourites Cork, 3-27 to 1-18, in the All-Ireland SHC final on Sunday.
And they needed to dig deep after trailing by six points at half-time, but they blew the Rebels away, outscoring them 3-14 to 0-02 in the second half.
As pointed out on X by Tipperary sports broadcaster, Stephen Gleeson, the team broke tradition before the match by pulling their bus up outside Croke Park, rather than the usual practice of arriving under the stand.
This gave their supporters the chance to clap them into the ground, and may have given the Premier the boost they needed to succeed.
It wasn’t the only thing spurring Tipp on, with the team also playing for their late teammate Dillon Quirke, who passed away in 2022.
After the game, boss Liam Cahill paid a touching tribute to the player.
He said: “Dillon is with us every day. When we started out in this journey in 2023 we were all hit with that devastating tragedy of what happened to Dillon.
“I was 50 yards from it the day it happened in Semple Stadium and I’ll never forget it. It had a huge effect on our dressing room.
“It had a huge effect. And it was a really difficult year, 2023 and 2024, around everybody trying to cope with it in their own way.
“I got a text from Dan, his dad, coming up the road to wish me luck. And I just said that Dillon will be on all our shoulders today regardless what happens in the result.
“He should be with us today but the legacy he’s leaving and the work that he’s doing to save lives across Ireland at the moment through his name and the foundation is just incredible.
“And today I never flinched at any stage on the line once he was across my chest, I knew that we would be battling right to the end. I’m just so proud to have had an input into his life for the for the short number of years he was with us.”
