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Eamon O'Shea isn't 'losing any sleep' over Tipp's recent record against Kilkenny

The Premier County’s boss believes the performance on Sunday is all that matters.

Eamon O'Shea celebrates a score in the semi-final win over Cork Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

IN THE PROCESS of preparing Tipperary for his first All-Ireland final as manager, Eamon O’Shea isn’t spending too much time worrying about the uncontrollables.

The Premier County’s three successive championship defeats to the Cats since 2011 are irrelevant as far as O’Shea is concerned. His players delivering a performance once they cross the white lines, he stresses, is the key.

“You’re trying to see if you can get a performance from the team; you’re not trying to see whether you win or not, just can you get a performance from the team on the day,” he said.

“It (Tipp’s recent record against Kilkenny) not an issue, given the way I think about the game.

“I know if we perform, we’ll be really competitive. The result may fall one way or the other but I’m not losing any sleep over it.”

To get to the required level of performance, he is searching for improvements from their semi-final win over Cork all over the field, but particularly in attack.

“There has to be more improvement in the sense we didn’t move the ball I wanted them to move, or anywhere near it. That’s the key to improvement.

Seamus Callanan scores the opening goal Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO

“The backs played really well. Our forwards, on their own admission, weren’t happy (with their performance) because they know it before anyone else. They don’t need me to go into a room and say things didn’t work today.

“They’ll tell me first in terms of what they expect. I think the big improvement for us this year has been that the players are more aware of what they have to do. There’s been some great learning for them.”

Tipp and Kilkenny have been involved in some seismic battles over the past number of years. They’ve clashed in the All-Ireland finals of 2009, 2010 and 2011, in the semi-final in 2012 and in the qualifiers last year. Recent National League finals between the two great rivals took place in 2009, 2013 and 2014.

Apart from the decider in 2010, Kilkenny won every game.

But O’Shea is philosophical about his county’s defeats to the Cats and says they must recognise the part they played in those great games. 

“To me, the 2009 All-Ireland final was a tremendous game. It remained a tremendous game, whether we won or lost.

“Even five years later, we know it was some game to be involved in.

“Equally, the qualifier in Kilkenny last year, that to me was outstanding, in terms of being an experience.

Padraic Maher with Eddie Brennan and Richie Power James Crombie James Crombie

“To be in Kilkenny and to see the passion and everything around it, even though we lost that game, there was a sense afterwards that we had participated in something special.

“While it was a shortened year for us, you did look at it and say ‘yeah, we were alive’.

“There’s nothing like being in a big event for that period. Sometimes, even when you lose, you can be aware you’re part of something special and playing against a special team in a special place is special for hurling. There’s something amazing about that, though of course you’d like to win.”

O’Shea knows he will ultimately be judged on results, but says also important to try and enjoy the big occasions.

“The enjoyment of the game, for me, is paramount. I understand that as manager, I’m expected to compete and win. I understand the rules of the game here.

“But I also understand that when you go to a game against Kilkenny, in an All-Ireland final or down in Nowlan Park, it’s a special hurling occasion. And you can enjoy that at some level at some stage afterwards.

“You don’t enjoy the result (if you lose), you’re devastated. But you can say ‘that was a tremendous experience’ and say ‘to be part of something like this, not personally but for the team and the tradition, is something extraordinary’, and the game is everything, ultimately.”

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