Kilkenny IHC: 'I love my club' - Tyrrell pays tribute to players after 'very special' Village win
Kilkenny hurling great Jackie Tyrrell praised the resilience and determination of the James Stephens players after their 'very special' win in the Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai Intermediate Final
Kilkenny hurling great and member of the James Stephens (Village) management team, Jackie Tyrrell christened their Michael Lyng Motors Hyundai Intermediate Final victory over the Rower Inistioge as ‘a special day’ after the city club secured a return to the county’s senior ranks after two years away.
The Village booked a return to Kilkenny’s senior hurling championship for 2027, but had to fight for the spoils when pushed all the way by a determined southern outfit on a 1-16 to 0-16 win.
“It's hard to make any sense of the game at this time, but it's just about winning and getting over the line. I'm so proud of this very resilient group. This is their day,” Tyrrell told Kilkenny People Sport shortly after the full-time whistle.
“It's been a struggle to get back up here. Last year was tough. This year, we just kept building, but I'm so, so happy for the club, everyone associated with the club, and everyone who has put in a huge effort.
“I just thought we were magnificent, particularly our backs. A lot of people don't know that we have a brand-new set of six backs from the county final last year Young lads like Dara Behan and Conor Heffernan were huge. Niall Mullins anchoring the defence with Sam (McEvoy) were savage. Against Tullogher (Rosbercon) in the county semi-final, we only conceded six points, I think, after 55 minutes, and today they were outstanding. That was the basis for giving us a great opportunity,” the nine-time All-Ireland winner said.
“We didn't flow on the forwards at times, but when it came to crunch time, Ed McDermott got some great scores, Cian (Kenny) won some great balls, and I'm just chuffed.
“You would have liked maybe a bit more of a cushion. Even when we were four points up, you could breathe a little bit, and then they got a score to put it back to a goal, so it was pure and utter relief,” he continued.
“I suppose it's testament to Rower-Inistioge is that, in lots of ways, we limited the influence of Richie Leahy. Eoin Deely was outstanding on him today, and Niall Mullins did a great job in the half-back line. Still, they kept coming. With their two talismen gone, they found scores in other places. That's probably testament to them, but I have to say Eoin Deely and Niall Mullins were massive today, as was our defence.
“I'm probably a bit more biased towards our backs, but we put a huge amount of work in, and it's great to see it coming through. That's a really good Rower (Inistioge) team, with a lot of good young hurlers coming through. They asked a lot of questions of us today,” the Village stalwart admitted.
The former Kilkenny defender revealed it was a ‘different type of win’ but a hugely important one in the club’s history.
“They've lost under-20 county finals and minor county finals, lost a couple of senior matches, been relegated and lost another intermediate final. It's been a huge, huge test for them, but today was the day when they just said, 'Enough is enough. We're not taking a backward step anymore’.
“It's up there in terms of what it means for our club. It's a different type of win. As I said to the lads on Friday night, no one in this great club, no great hurler in this club, has an intermediate medal. You have a chance to put your name in lights in terms of that.
“This is a very, very special day for this group. If we didn't win this year, it would get harder and harder. It's a very hard grade,” Tyrrell added.
“It's a special day. I love my club, and anytime you win with them, it's up there.”