'They promised themselves when we had the two boys sent off that they would do it for them.'

“Just happy and relieved to get over the line,” was the reaction of Tipperary minor hurling boss James Woodlock after his side’s miracle performance in Nowlan Park last Saturday, where they defeated the most stacked of odds to complete a remarkable victory on the doorstep of their opponents.

“It was a fair task coming down, you know. I probably shifted a bit of criticism for the toss, but we couldn’t take them (players) to Tullamore where they’d never been before.

“I was comfortable coming down here. I work down here. We won two years ago down here and I know it like the back of my hand.

“We came down here training last Sunday and we had travelled all over Munster where we had played our best hurling on the road and, to be honest, it piled the pressure on Kilkenny for me. Having the game at home and never losing a National title as far as I’m aware here.

“So to come down here and do it was sweet,” he added.

The obvious line of questioning for the victorious Drom & Inch man was the controversial red card given to two of his players in the first half and, even in victory, Woodlock said it was a shock to the system and felt that his players were hard done by.

“It didn’t seem like that on the sideline but what do you do when you’re thrown into that? You just have to go after it, isn’t it? You just have to trust the players will do it for you and they had a huge belief. Huge heart, and huge desire and I knew they wouldn’t die. They never die.

“It was something similar to the team two years ago. The same traits are there again and they stayed battling away and came through after not only having one man sent off, but two men sent off. That happening that early in the game was a really bitter pill to swallow.

“But, such is the game and that’s the way it went but I’m just happy that we (management) had the players fully prepared for every eventuality,” he said.

In a role reversal of the U20 final against Offaly at the same venue earlier in the month, the Tipperary support were the majority in the stands of Nowlan Park, and the chants of “Tipp Tipp” reverberated around the grounds all game long which Woodlock praised in the aftermath.

“I can’t thank the Tipp support enough,” Woodlock said of the travelling Tipperary support.

“I think we definitely outnumbered them (Kilkenny) today and when we needed the support, when we needed the help they came to the fore for us.

“I’m delighted to win an All-Ireland. I’m delighted to win it down here and Tipp hurling really needs it. They’re a great bunch of boys.

“If we in Tipp look after them and mind them with an S and C programme going forward with the group from two years ago - who are U20s now but are eligible again even next year - the future is bright.

On the sendings off themselves, Woodlock recalled that he had brought attention to the early treatment being received by Cillian Minogue to the match officials but, his protests fell on deaf ears before the eventual red card was shown to the young Durlas Óg ace.

“To be fair, before that had happened I called the linesman because the number four was hanging out of Ciliian Minogue and nothing was done about it.

“You’re talking about maybe inexperienced people doing their job as well and normally I leave them alone to be fair, but you could have dealt with that.

“But then the second one to come down on top of that is a fair sucker-punch but I’m just delighted that we had - and it’s our job as a management team to have our eyes open to every eventuality - played those games in training.

“Sixteen against fourteen, sixteen against thirteen, fifteen against thirteen, and we were able to move the ball and we did it again today.

“Now look, they had opportunities and I understand that but we also had four chances at the end of normal time to put it away. We hit the post as well and it was looking like it wasn’t going to be our day, but the lads stayed in the fight all game long,” he acknowledged.

He continued, “They promised themselves when we had the two boys sent off that they would do it for them. We felt aggrieved but you can’t do anything about it, you just have to roll with the punches and the boys did that.

“I thought that one thing that stood to us was our fitness throughout. The heart the boys showed was unreal, they were out on their feet. Adam Ryan was out on his feet so we just asked him to stand in the ten box and we told him we’d puck the ball down on top of him and win the breaks off him; we did that.”

Character for men so young is incredibly rare and in the build-up to the game, Woodlock admitted that the management and players promised to go to Kilkenny and leave everything out on the pitch and attack the home team on their patch from the very off, and he lauded the effort, skill, and application of his players to do so under the most intense of pressure.

“We spoke to them all week and told them we were coming down here to go after them, and we went after them.

“Even with thirteen players, we pushed and pushed and pushed. We didn’t sit back, we went after the game. It is a risky game to play but the boys are fantastic hurlers and they brought the attitude as well which was savage.

“We’re all Tipp men and I just want Tipperary to do well. I got great years out of Tipperary and I’m delighted that us (management) and the players can give it back to the supporters.

“It was important for Tipp. We needed this in Tipp, we all know that. But the boys never let each other down all year and they responded, in the Munster Final which was a fantastic game the way we won it. 

“And today was even better again, in Kilkenny’s backyard with everything against us and the boys never wilted and never shirked the task and stayed at it and there are some special players in that group.

“We need them for the future of Tipperary hurling. It’s my responsibility to prepare them but it’s their responsibility to do it on the field of play and they did that today,” he finished.