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So what does Eamon O'Shea reckon was the turning point for Tipperary in 2014?

The Tipperary boss hailed his side’s character after yesterday’s game.

Eamon O'Shea celebrates at the final whistle Eamon O'Shea is looking forward to an All-Ireland final on September 7th. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

EAMON O’SHEA HAS hailed the character of his Tipperary team after their stunning 2014 revival continued in Croke Park yesterday.

Tipperary lost their fourth consecutive championship game back in June when they were defeated by Limerick and there was major pressure placed on their squad.

But they have bounced back in style and now Tipperary are 70 minutes away from being crowned All-Ireland senior hurling champions again.

O’Shea paid tribute to his side’s character and pinpointed their second-half display against Galway in the league back in March as ‘a turning point’ in their season.

“Somebody asked me out there what was the turning point, well I could point to a turning point back in Salthill, in Pearse Stadium, in March.

“We were getting beaten, with the wind, we resolved at half-time that whatever happened we’d come out and win the second half, and we did.

“We got within three points against the wind in Pearse Stadium. Little things like that you put in the memory bank and you say, ‘look, we may have been nearly out but we stayed at it’.

“I think they got the fruits of that today and I’m delighted for them because they have worked really hard.

“When people are assessing Tipperary, sometimes I see the word ‘flair’ being mentioned. When I assess Tipperary I see the word ‘character’ first. Because you can’t have flair without character. This team are really strong in terms of their character.

Eamon O'Shea celebrates with Seamus Callanan Eamon O'Shea celebrates with goalscoring hero Seamus Callanan. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

“That’s the way it has to be. You can’t get into an All-Ireland final unless the team has bundles of it. These guys are calm. They are calm about what they do. They don’t pay much attention to what is being said or written about them.

“We tried to get calmness around us, solidity around us, and to be something. That’s all we want to be: to be something.”

That hard work has taken them to the cusp of All-Ireland glory but their next assignment is the most difficult of all as they attempt to take down Kilkenny on September 7th.

“Look, it will be a great game,” outlined O’Shea. “It’s fantastic to be back playing against Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. I can say all the great things about Kilkenny and they are true.

“Every year throws up something different. Last year was tremendous in the way it threw up a really different All-Ireland final with a different team.

“Our boys were determined from when we met last year that if there was anything going to be different this year, it was going to be Tipp.”

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