TIPPERARY MANAGER EAMON O’Shea admitted his Tipperary side were beaten by the better side in today’s All-Ireland SHC final replay, but predicts a bright future for his squad.

The Premier County lost out by 2 – 17 to 2 -14 after drawing with the Cats three weeks ago.

Today, O’Shea cut a disappointed figure after watching his side play into the hands of the black and amber.

“We were beaten by the better team,” O’Shea told RTE Sport in a sombre post-match interview, “the game was played on their terms and that’s what usually happens. Teams win when the game is played on their terms and that’s what’s happened today.”

After coming into this summer’s Championship under serious pressure after a disappointing 2013, O’Shea said his players should be proud that they never let their heads bow when the game looked to be getting away from them.

Indeed, Seamus Callanan’s 69th minute goal reduced the deficit with just two points before three minutes of injury time were announced. As ever, at the top level of hurling, the margin for error is wafer thin.

“There’s always hope until they blow the final whistle. This team will always have hope. They’ve been on a great journey this year and I think they should be proud of themselves in terms of where they’ve come from and what they’ve brought to the party. I think they fought with honour.

He added: “I still have trust in them. We were defeated today, but this team and the nucleus of this team will go on in the future and win All-Irelands in my view.
They have great character and that’s all I can say.

“We were beaten by a better team.”

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