Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy said he was delighted with the energy shown by his players in their NHL victory over Clare in Semple Stadium - but he admitted that Tony Kelly's second half sending off resulted in the scoreboard flattering his team somewhat.
Taking charge of Tipp in a first competitive match since they memorably halted Kilkenny's charge for five in a row in the 2010 All-Ireland final, Sheedy watched his side build up a healthy first half lead in miserably wet and windy conditions.
With Jake Morris, Noel McGrath and Willie Connors to the fore in attack, the hosts registered a reasonable tally of 0-13 with the wind at their backs. Clare could only muster 1-03 in response, with Niall Deasy's 27th penalty giving them a sliver of hope.
The away side made a promising start to the second half, landing the first three scores, but they were halted in their tracks by Tony Kelly's sending off after he was adjudged to have led with the forearm when tackling Padraic Maher.
Not long afterwards, Seamus Callanan rattled home two goals, both scored after trojan work from Jake Morris in the lead-up, and the game was more or less settled.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport afterwards, Sheedy praised his team's attitude but acknowledged that the sending off was a key moment in the game.
"It was a tough night for hurling," he said. "You really needed to come with a good attitude. And in fairness to my lads, they came with a great energy and a great attitude. And they didn't really pay any real heed on the weather.
"They came with a great energy and a great attitude" - Liam Sheedy praises his players' mentality after their eight-point win over Clare in wretched conditions in their National League opener in Thurles pic.twitter.com/Fw8JNQ47WD
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) January 26, 2019
"We got out of the blocks quickly. It made a huge difference. We got to play with the wind (in the first half) and we built up a bit of a cushion at half-time.
"Clare were coming back at us in that second half but obviously the sending off (of Tony Kelly) meant that we had that extra man. And it probably made it a bit false on the scoreboard on the finish.
"But we're delighted. We got a nice beating last Sunday week against the same opposition. We knew what we brought to the Gaelic Grounds wasn't going to be enough tonight. And thankfully, back on our own patch, we brought a performance.
"I'm thrilled for the lads. They're a very committed bunch. I've only been with them ten weeks but they've worked very hard. It's only the end of January. There'll certainly be no getting carried away but we're out of the blocks."
Sheedy echoed Brian Cody's recent comments about the difficulties many players face at this time of year, when juggling inter-county level and third level competition.
"We've 11 players that are trying to do both and it's very difficult. You've to give huge credit to Jake Morris and Robert Byrne who played colleges. That's their third game in six days.
"I'd be with Brian. It's hard to be an inter-county player and satisfy the college. But the Fitzgibbon is a great competition.
"Unfortunately for us, Paddy Cadell was to start for us tonight but he twisted his knee on Wednesday in a Fitzgibbon game which made him unavailable.
"I'm trying to manage the load so that we don't load them when they are away on Fitzgibbon and we take it very, very easy on them."
