Tipp rejoin the championship fray as McCormack joins panel
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INSET: Paddy McCormack celebrates his second goal in the All-Ireland Under 20 Hurling final. Photo: Bridget Delaney BRIDGET DELANEYImage 2 of 2
Tipperary’s Jake Morris and Podge Delaney of Laois, with the Liam MacCarthy Cup, during the national launch of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Series at Kinnity Castle, Co. Offaly. Photo: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILEBy Shane Brophy
Tipperary senior hurling manager Liam Cahill isn’t looking beyond the challenge of Laois as they resume their championship campaign this Saturday.
After a four-week break since their last outing against Waterford on May 18th, that secured their passage through Munster to the next phase which proves to be a place in the preliminary quarter finals of the All-Ireland Championship and an away game against the runners-up in the Joe MacDonagh Cup. That proved to be Laois who were decisively beaten for the second time in the competition by Kildare in the final at Croke Park last Sunday, with the lilywhites facing off against Dublin in the second preliminary quarter final.
However, the focus for Tipperary will be on Portlaoise this Saturday at 1.45pm in what will be the first part of a double-header along with the senior football championship clash between Cork and Roscommon which starts at 4.15pm.
Tipperary will be expected to progress past a demoralised Laois side who will have just six days to recover from their MacDonagh Cup final disappointment, with the prize on offer being a quarter final against Leinster runners-up Galway on Saturday week.
Off the back of achieving their initial target for the year in progressing out of the bear-pit that is the Munster Championship, a new one has been set which is trying to get back to Croke Park for an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 2019.
“There is a huge appetite in the group to go after the next couple of games and the next target for us would be to reach the last four of the championship, without looking too far ahead,” Cahill revealed.
The Tipperary manager also confirmed that Paddy McCormack has officially joined the panel after the Borris-Ileigh clubman’s stellar campaign in helping the under 20’s win the Munster and All-Ireland titles in recent weeks.
“Paddy was invited in earlier in the year, and he just felt he needed to go after the under 20 campaign. He has accepted the invite back in, if we get a run, it will open doors, and if not is a good place for Paddy to be ahead of next year to kick on in his own development,” Cahill revealed with Conor Martin and Aaron O’Halloran also rejoining the senior panel having been released to prepare fully with the under 20’s after the end of the National League.