It was a night of high drama in Limerick last evening as Tipperary were crowned Munster minor hurling champions after an epic battle with Clare that went all the way to a penalty shoot-out.
Tipp lead by just a point at half time in normal time and were brought to extra time after a last gasp point from Dylan Keane Hayes levelled matters with the clock clearly showing that time was up.
Extra Time was another cagey affair with the sides level at half time once again before Clare opened up a two point gap. Tipp battled to the final whistle though and with time almost up a late Paddy McCormack free from the side-line levelled the game in extra time and brought us to a penalty shootout.
Clare missed their opening three attempts and Tipp converted all of their opening three penalties from Eoin Horgan, Adam Daly and man of the match Paddy McCormack to send Tipp into an All Ireland semi final.
Full time after extra Time, Tipperary 1-22, Clare 0-25 (Tipp winning 3-0 on penalties)
Afterwards a delighted Tipperary manager James Woodlock felt the game was a huge advertisement for minor hurling.
“Eight months of work and what we’ve instilled in them is borne out there tonight. Never say die, never give up. Any team that I’ll be a part of that’s something I’ll always try and instil in them because if you have that in you, you have a chance every time you go out.
“They stayed in the fight all day long – stayed in the battle. Look they didn’t perform the way we wanted but a lot of that was down to Clare – the way they packed the back line on us, crowded us out and made it difficult .
“It’s some advertisement for Minor hurling.”
