Cahill admits it was a dark day for Tipperary

By Liam Cahill

Liam Cahill’s post-match interview on Sunday was similar to one that took place two years previous.

Then as now, in dressing room 2 at Semple Stadium it was a crest-fallen Colm Bonnar trying to explain a twelve point defeat to Cork which saw them knocked out of the championship. Two years on, the rebels handed out an even heavier defeat, eighteen points to hand the home side their exit slip from the championship for the second time in three years.

Cahill was a long time emerging from the Tipperary dressing room as he and his players poured over the coals over what had happened over the previous two hours.

“It’s a really difficult dressing room down there. The players are absolutely gutted,” began the Tipperary manager.

“That’s just not a reflection of the effort that has gone in with these group of fellas.

“I’m just so disappointed for the lads and everyone involved because it just doesn’t reflect the effort that these boys have put in. What more can I say?”

The concession of the first goal to Cork right on half time gave the visitors a real tonic, and indeed the second, but after Alan Connolly completed his hat-trick on 47 minutes, Tipp completely fell away.

“We were still happy in the dressing room at half-time that we were still in the game,” Cahill added.

“We started the second half really well. The second goal after half-time really knocked the stuffing out of us. That was the one that opened all the floodgates.”

He added: “It was a hard watch there as the game unfolded. Some of our decision making, our body language, it’s difficult to explain to be honest with you.

“The fellas in that dressing room, they don’t go out to do that. It’s just something that’s going to take us a bit of time to get around and see can we improve. We will improve. “There’s lots of growth still in this squad and it might be a while away.

“Today is a dark day for Tipperary hurling in a lot of senses and respects.

“We’ll keep trying and that’s what we do in Tipperary. We’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll take whatever criticism and analysis comes, and deservedly so.

“When you put on a Tipp jersey you can’t represent it the way we did, definitely towards the end of that second half. It has to be better, and we know that. We will get our heads around that and make sure that we do that.”

Cahill was very much the supporters choice to become senior manager two years ago but bar a bright start to the 2023 championship, all momentum has fallen away, and he and his players now find themselves in the same position as Waterford last year, facing into a game with nothing at stake, bar pride.

“When you are Tipperary senior hurling manager it’s a massive responsibility and we are where we are in Tipperary at the moment,” Cahill added.

“Look, I’ll continue to do my best as long as I’m asked to. I’m not somebody that runs away from tough times. We’ve been brought up to roll up our sleeves and work hard and that’s what I’ll be trying to ingrain into my players.

“That dressing room is a close dressing room. We are fully together. We try to keep one another accountable and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

He added: “This will turn. Whether it will turn on my watch or not, I don’t know, but I’ll do my best to make sure it’s in a better position for whoever is coming after me, or please god it will happen during my reign - maybe not.

“But if it doesn’t, it will be some bit healthier for the next person coming in.”

When asked about why his side have crumbled for the second time in three championship games in the second half, Cahill refused to accept it was a confidence issue.

“Our preparations are top class. I can’t really make an argument around that,” he insisted.

“Confidence? These guys, the majority of my players would have had underage success against a lot of those Cork players, who would have gone toe-to-toe with them and done really well. I can’t really give us an out on that, that our confidence isn’t where it needs to be.

“We need to have more leadership on the field. That’s something that needs to become better, and we have the leaders there. They just need to start embracing it a bit more and that’s something we will continue to work on.”

He added: “There was a lot of ball that wasn’t clean forward ball. That comes from intensity in that middle area to free it up to give it in correctly and it comes from players putting their hand up and saying, ‘I want the ball’ and ‘I need it’ and finding that space and running hard and we just didn’t run as hard as they did.

“We didn’t run as hard as Cork. Cork covered every blade of grass out there; they had options for the men on the ball. It was a really good Cork performance.”