By Michael Devlin

Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald had to fight back the tears on several occasions during yesterday’s press conference as he assessed his side’s rip-roaring All-Ireland hurling semi-final defeat to Tipperary at Croke Park.

With Tipperary reduced to 14 men and trailing by five points when Lee Chin goaled for Wexford on 49 minutes, it looked as though Fitzgerald’s men were set to be appearing in their first All-Ireland final in 23 years.

Remarkably though, Tipperary fought back in the closing stages to clinch an amazing comeback win, including four key scores from substitutes.

“It was an opportunity, but I’m just wicked proud of the guys,” said Fitzgerald after the game. "That was there for the winning. You have to admire Tipperary’s resilience, they never gave up and fair play to them, that’s what hurling is about. My hat is off to them, even though I’m absolutely so disappointed.

“They got the momentum at the right time. There’s times in games when you get a kick and you just keep going from it. We maybe got ours a small bit too early, they got theirs at the right time and they’re a team that’ll pick you.

“We discussed this before the game, if we stand one yard off them, we’re dead. In the first half we didn’t stand off them, we had them pinned. We defended a small bit more when we got up by five points instead of staying attacking and staying that tight.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them. How they tried to play that game was incredible. I absolutely adore that bunch, if I asked that bunch to do anything for me…they would”

Fitzgerald also took aim at his critics, namely those who have derided his tactical use of the sweeper as ‘negative’.

“People talk to me about the sweeper system being negative, it’s time to get down off their high horses. Just look at hurling, and stop being so negative. It drives me nuts, people talking about stuff they haven’t a clue about.

“If you call Wexford negative, then I don’t know, because we were getting attackers all over the place. We scored three, we could have scored six. We were there, we were right there.

“To me, talk about hurling, that’s the right way to play hurling, not get it between two people and beat the lard out of each other. Play the game short and long, play it across, then be manful as well. People need to stop and have a look, and let teams do their thing and stop being on their back.

A first Leinster title in 12 years brought joy to the Model County a month ago, and Fitzgerald believes this Wexford team will be in the reckoning for All-Ireland glory in the coming years. However, as his third season in charge of Wexford hurlers came to an end, the Clare native cast doubts about whether he would be at the helm for a fourth year in 2020.

“I’ve been over teams a long time. The bond I have with this group, I don’t think I’ve had it with any team. You’re happy when you’re around them, going to training is actually really good, I swear to God.

“You do two hours and 40 minutes, 120 times a year, and they are an unbelievable bunch. No matter what happens in Wexford, I think I’ll be friends with them for a long time to come.

“I tell you how devastated right now, it’s unreal. I really believe coming here today we were going to an All-Ireland final. I don’t fear any of the teams in Ireland with this team.

"Whether I can do it again, I don’t know. I don’t want to think about it for a while. I think I just need to stop. It’s been 18 years playing and 13 other… no breather."