"The better team won without a shadow of a doubt. I've no complaints whatsoever," admitted Fitzgerald afterwards.

"Tipperary were better than us and tactically they were better than us.

"They outfought us which I'm surprised about. I think there's more in our guys.

"I thought we strayed a small bit from what we talked about earlier and it cost us. If you give Tipperary space, they're going to open you up and they did that a few times."

Fitzgerald's current term as Deise boss came to an end yesterday, but the Sixmilebridge native is keen to take time to reflect on whether he will commit for another spell, rather than making any snap decisions.

He is due to sit down with Waterford GAA officials in the coming weeks to discuss his managerial future.

The former Clare goalkeeper admitted that it is 'a massive commitment' travelling from his home in Clare to Waterford for training and matches.

Asked if he will continue, he said: "I don't know as my two years are up. We've had a great three years and won a lot of Championship games.

"We'll sit down and talk. It's a massive commitment and there's a lot of driving. You're leaving home everyday at 2pm and you don't get home until 12am. But I like it that way."

Fitzgerald added: "I've worked with a great bunch of lads. There is a great team spirit there and there are serious leaders. Some probably won't be happy that they didn't see enough game-time.

"I have a job to do, to pick the best Waterford team I could and trust me, you'll have lads who are disappointed but I wanted to win as much as any of them.

"I still believe this team can go on. A Munster title wasn't too bad. I remember in 2008 they didn't think they would be going back for another one.

"Ye said to me coming down that things were dead and gone. We are not 100 miles off the best."