TIPP'S MINOR MIRACLE

Morris admits bravery of Under-17s inspired seniors

- BY PAT NOLAN

LAST month, Tipperary manager Liam Cahill referenced last year's All-Ireland minor final and how it visited embarrassment on him.

Five weeks after his side had exited the Championship with a whimper following a winless campaign, their Under-17s dug out a truly remarkable extra-time win over Kilkenny having had two players sent off in the first half of normal time.

"I was so happy to be a Tipperary man but I was also so embarrassed that our flagship team didn't follow that and set that trend, that we had to rely on a group of younger players in Tipperary to show us the Tipperary way," Cahill noted after the win over Waterford on May 18 guaranteed that they would be playing knockout hurling this year.

But he wasn't the only person attached to the senior set-up that experienced similar emotions at that minor final, Jake Morris felt it too.

"Definitely," said Morris. "I was down in Nowlan Park myself that day and there's no point in saying it, we were embarrassed walking around

"Players are in the trenches. You have to go to work, you can't hide away. We were in the trenches after last year.

"We had to deal with it face on and take our constructive criticism and move on and look in the mirror.