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‘When you’re down by 13, you have no choice’: Woodlock on Tipperary’s heroic victory

Posted on by Dsen .N

Tipperary hurling manager James Woodlock was in seventh heaven as he spoke to TG4 after they beat Kilkenny 2-17 to 3-12 in extra time in a classic Electric Ireland All-Ireland hurling final. And who can blame him? After seeing two players sent off in the first half, few would blame him.

However, the Drom & Inch player quickly cooled down any expected anger towards Tomas Gleeson and instead focused on praising his players and the confrontation between the two teams. Tipp won his second Electric Ireland Minor Hurling All-Ireland tournament in three years, with both victories coming at Nowlan Park.

“It was very difficult, but there was a lot of heart, spirit and resilience. I really don’t know what to say. I’m incredibly proud of the guys,” Woodlock said.

“Despite the disappointing talk all week about our decision to come to Nowlan Park, I want to stress that we were determined. I have worked here, I know it like the back of my hand and I have had good days here. I told the players that this would not be a graveyard for Tipperary men and we have proved that. We did it two years ago and we have done it again,

“Even though the referee’s decisions were not in our favor, I won’t dwell on it. Today is Tipp’s day and we showed we can handle the pressure. There has been talk all week about Kilkenny’s physicality, but we welcomed the challenge and rose to the occasion,

“It was very easy to talk to the players, obviously Tipp and Kilkenny. Everyone knows I was here in 2013 when they booed Lara Corbetta off the pitch for us, so I know how competitive it is there. It’s a healthy approach and I have great respect for it. We used everything we could. We put pressure on our players, saying Kilkenny put the same pressure on us as they put on us at home. They had to perform.

“I was happy with the place from the very beginning. We had them measured. It’s bigger than the Gaelic Grounds, which suits us on the ground, and we used the spaces, but look, you can talk about tactics, you can talk about that and you have to have heart, and they had everything.”

Manager Tipp was also told that he was hitting the ball with his team from the sideline.

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“When you’re thirteen, you don’t have a choice,” was his brilliant response.

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High praise for old mentors

Woodlock compared this winning team to the smaller 2022 team that famously beat Offaly thanks to Paddy McCormack’s last-gasp goal.

He used the advice given to him by previous managers Liam Sheedy and Eamonn O’Shea to improve his management style.

“Even with 14 players behind and a slightly worse performance, the boys did not give up. They showed the same resilience and determination as the group tonight. They fought until the end and that’s all you can ask for every time you step on the field,” Woodlock said.

“It is my responsibility and the responsibility of the management to open the eyes of the players to anything that may happen, and I am very happy that we have taken care of all this. If they kick a player off the team, if we kick a player off the team. When you do all your homework, boys will believe everything we tell them. We knew exactly what to do when we sent a team man out and the boys changed it themselves. Our biggest concern was whether we would be able to keep our legs, and we didn’t want anyone to get cramps. However, we put a lot of work into it. Kilkenny had an ocean of chances to win but we had the last four in normal time to try and get it and we didn’t. In the eyes of most, it was a missed opportunity.

“Today the Tipp guys probably came in with hope, but we believed, and that’s the difference. All the talk over the last two weeks was that we were in Nowlan Park; the throw was bad, the position was bad, they were bigger and stronger and sure, it’s very easy for the team to get motivated for all that,

“I’ll be honest: yes, I was going down. I was hoping you’d ask this question because inter-county players often answer it and the feeling on the pitch is just amazing. But when you can raise an army of people, yes, and be successful like we did today, like we did two years ago, Jesus, it means just as much because you’re doing it for someone else. It was never about me or the management team,

“I don’t want any accolades, I don’t care about them, but seeing the joy on their faces and for Tipperary, of course I broke my leg but I came back. Tipperary were very good to me. Liam Sheedy, Eamonn O’Shea – I found out they were probably the best mentors you could have when I was with them. I learned and I managed to do that. They believed in me, so now I try to pass that on to the next generation. So it’s a toss of the coin.

My All-Ireland is very important to me, but winning two All-Irelands and the way we did both is special, and that’s the truth. I will be a very happy Tipperary man going home tonight, but a disappointed Kilkenny man. To be fair to them, there are 15 players on the pitch and when that happens, a gust of wind hits 13 players and it’s very difficult to turn the game around, but we persevered and I’m delighted that we’re coming back with a result.

It will be a day that will live long in the memory of Tipp hurling fans.

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