David Power gave his all for his county and for that we salute him

Sport is so much about momentum sometimes. It is hard to grasp how a dynamic or an invisible force just takes a team off in a certain direction, but it seems to at times and Tipperary football had that dynamic over the last decade.

David Power sowed the seeds of success and contributed in a huge way towards building that dynamic that brought success. He has been that driving force for Tipperary for the past 17 years and put some of the key stepping stones in place to lead the way to great days and nights. 

The Kilsheelan Kilcash club member introduced development squads for Under 14s and upwards when he first got involved in backroom teams. Like a match just struck out of a box, it sparked a new era. 

By 2011 something was brewing and the start of a great new confident, swashbuckling era of Tipperary football had arrived. The Under 21s were rising at the time. The minors rose too. Lifelong football folk in the county were committed to the cause. Coaches like Tommy Twoomey and Charlie McGeever amongst others kept the flame lit. 

Tipperary supporters were in dreamland when a classy minor football team played like heroes and became history makers. Colman Kennedy, Colin O'Riordan, Mikey Quinlivan, Liam McGrath and others were part of a Tipp side that beat a Dublin team in the All-Ireland minor final that, with the benefit of hindsight, became one of the best Dublin teams of all time. 

Cormac Costello and so forth emerged and many won multiple medals after, but that day the blue and gold reigned. David Power was a young manager then. He was made after that victory.

When he stepped down as senior football manager he said: "We have enjoyed many good times over the past 17 years with some of the finest players to ever wear a Tipp jersey coming through and bringing us glorious days. It was success that we not only dared to dream of but worked relentlessly to get. It was some journey to be a part of."

The journey had ups and downs. David Power went after that success to Wexford and learned the ways of senior management before he returned to his beloved Tipperary. The time of 'Covid' was a drag for everyone, but the Tipperary footballers were fuelled by a knockout championship and a route to Croke Park in 2020. 

A sublime sideline kick from Conor Sweeney, that somehow sailed over the bar, from the Mackey Stand sideline against Limerick put Tipperary into a Munster final. Once Cork took out Kerry in the other semi final, the way to real silverware at senior level became clear.

Tipp football teams had beaten Cork teams, or matched them at least, regularly over the previous decade and the time was right. One hundred years on from Bloody Sunday, Tipperary beat Cork in the Munster senior football final. 

It was a day, and a time, that many involved in Tipperary football think of now and again. It was a day not to be forgotten. The greatest day for many. A sad nod to the past and the time of Covid, but what a piece of magic on a football field. 

I did commentary that day and I have never experienced a day like it and none other compares, not county finals or the senior All-Ireland hurling win in 2019. That cold, dark day in November 2020 is a day apart.

No supporters there yet the old Grangemockler style 1920 Tipperary jerseys with Michael Hogan's image on the sleeve added to it all. The timing was rare. Everything clicked and it all energised Tipp.

The game in Croke Park afterwards against Mayo was clouded in fog. The Munster final jerseys would have added greatly to the day to fuel Tipperary in a subtle way but, wearing the familiar blue and gold, Tipp ultimately looked like a division three team against a division one side. Punching above their weight by now, Tipp ran out of energy. 

The game in Cork was unforgettable though. Every aspect of it. The game itself fades but the day does not. 

After the game by the Lee that November - with the assembled media interviewing him wearing masks and following social distance guidelines - David Power talked about the same things as he talked about a few weeks ago in Killarney after the reigning All-Ireland champions beat Tipperary. 

Workrate, teamwork, gameplan and effort. And belief. They were the topics of conversation. Same words but the momentum and the time had changed. A new era and Tipp had clearly slipped. Of course David Power had his moments of anger and frustration like all managers, but he gave everything to Tipperary football and for that we salute him. 

It was a journey for supporters too, when he was manager. An unbelievable journey for those who realised the distance Tipp went to in a short space of time. After the minor win of 2011 Kerry took notice and soon they focused on winning multiple minor All-Irelands with Jack O'Connor at the helm. By 2023 those Kerry minors of the last decade are the real deal. Time moved on. 

Football wise it seemed that over the last decade, somewhere along the line, Kerry sensed Tipp could rise and got their own act together again. A couple of months ago, after Tipp and Kerry played in the Munster championship in Killarney, I couldn't help but notice the difference in the delivery of the words David Power and Jack O'Connor used after the game in the post match interviews. 

David took his best shot again that day but the momentum and invisible push and pull dynamic of team sport just wasn't going in the same direction. It just worked away from him over time. Tipp were walloped eventually in Killarney. The magic was gone.

It was a tough year for him in a personal sense as he made reference in his statement to Tipperary GAA about the passing of his mam. It is time now for him to rest and reenergise. He has plenty more to offer in the years ahead and wouldn't it be great to hear of David Power building and planning a new football team once more, sometime soon.

He will still be involved in football; it is a lifelong love as he referenced in his statement where he stepped aside as manager: "Every year as a child I went to All-Ireland football finals with my father, Michael, and I looked at the roll of honour in the match programmes.

"I was always fascinated that, despite being known as a hurling county we also had four football All-Ireland senior football titles. The history of Tipp football fascinated me and since I started coaching back in 2006, I have been involved every year in a county set up."

David can enjoy a break from intercounty management and hopefully he will be back sometime to build again and lead Tipperary or a spirited group who really believes. We'll all follow that journey with interest. Thanks for the good times, and a couple of truly great days.