Not easy to change gameplan - Cummins

By Shane Brophy

Tipperary under 20 hurling manager Brendan Cummins was pleased with the way his side recovered from a perilous position to retain the Munster title.

“It was always going to be the hard way,” began the former All-Star goalkeeper.

“That game in Sixmilebridge was a once off and we knew it was going to fire up Clare as well and that is exactly what we got.

“In fairness to the lads, when we were under pressure we suffered really well, and then in the passages where we were able to express ourselves the inside forwards did very well and that helped us get across the line.”

Tipperary’s full forward line of Darragh McCarthy, Paddy McCormack and man of the match Oisin O’Donoghue proved to be the match-winner, particularly when given quick direct ball which they profited from but could have done with more of.

“Trying to get rid of the adventurous nature of Joe Egan, Adam Daly, and the boys around the middle, they just want to step out of the tackle and break the tackle,” Cummins said of changing a gameplan the players have been trained to all year.

“It is instinctive what they are trying to do and goes against the grain to just lamp the ball in and that is what we had to do.”

He added: “They are programmed to do that. We had pushed closer to our goal to create that space around the back. Of course, it is a great tactic of Clare too, they followed us everywhere, they backed themselves that we couldn’t get to swing the hurley and have to run it, and in passages we did.

“Hurling is never a game of perfect, it is a game of work and a game of keeping your head when the pressure is at its highest and those young fellas did that today and thankfully, we have a cup inside which is the fruits of their labour.”

Tipp’s ability to get the goals proved crucial, scoring three but also created a number of other opportunities which weren’t taken.

“We missed a couple of chances in the first half as well, but we were happy we were creating them” Cummins added.

“In fairness to Cathal (English), whatever way he got it across the line, he got it there and that was the main thing.

“Darragh’s penalty was ice cold because there was a lot of furore after they got a buy on a black card, it was a real pressure shot but there is no one in the world I would like to see hit it only Darragh and he came up front.”

Much of the talk in the build-up to the final was whether any of the senior players would feature, particularly captain Sam O’Farrell who played almost the entire match for the seniors in an energy-sapping game against Clare four days previous. The Nenagh Eire Og clubman was named in the starting team but was replaced by David Ryan prior to the throw-in.

“That was the plan,” Cummins revealed.

“I discussed it with Liam (Cahill). Player welfare is really important. Sam came off with cramp against Clare (senior) so we thought fifteen minutes might be okay for him to play ahead of another game at the weekend.

“In fairness to Liam Cahill he had no problem with Oisin or Darragh playing, and he gave us Sam for that fifteen minutes, and we are grateful for that.”

Having secured back to back Munster titles for the first time since 2003/2004, attention now turns to trying to win a first All-Ireland title in the grade since 2019 on the June Bank Holiday weekend.

“We have that couple of weeks break,” Cummins welcomed.

“Last year, we won the Munster Final on the Friday and were out in the All-Ireland Final the following Saturday week against that Offaly juggernaut.

“But whoever comes out of Leinster, it’s Dublin and Kilkenny in the final, they are going to be serious as well, and hungry.”

“In the four years we have been here, this is the third Munster final, fortunate enough to win two, but the job is half done.

“We’ll enjoy the next few days because you have to enjoy the victories, but we’ll get the bodies back and get planning for whoever wins Leinster.”