The Tipperary minor hurlers will learn plenty from this year’s campaign.
That’s according to their manager James Woodlock who’s been speaking following last week’s exit from the Munster minor hurling championship.
The Premier ended their campaign with a win over Waterford but were eliminated after not finishing in the top 3 in Munster.
However, James Woodlock says the players have developed a lot throughout the year:
“It’s a huge learning for ourselves in the management team this year and for the minors. It can’t be all based unfortunately on cups at the end of the day, it is a developmental stage and they got a huge amount out of their campaign this year. I have no doubt about it that some of these players will go on and represent Tipp in the future at both Under 20 and senior level. All the group will go on and be better players, because of their experience this year, for their clubs.”
A one-point loss to Limerick meant that the Premier’s win over Waterford was not enough to progress to the knockout stages, thus ending the season.
Woodlock says it comes down to fine margins in the championship:
“It’s bittersweet. Coming off last year, a fantastic year, and going on to win an All-Ireland final was absolutely massive. You come to this year then, and a point, I suppose, against Limerick, you know, one game, two pucks of the ball maybe, would’ve got us over the line, and we’d be talking about heading into a Munster semi-final next week. There’s disappointment in that way. The group itself and the age bracket that we’re developing are a development age group, and ultimately, it’s our job as a management team to get these players now to go back to their clubs in better shape.”
