Tipp 20's take huge learning moment from Clare defeat

By Shane Brophy

Tipperary under 20 hurling manager Brendan Cummins said the hurt generated by the experience of the late loss to Clare spurred them to the victory they needed over Limerick to progress directed to the Munster Final.

With Cork beating Clare by four points in the other game in the final round, all three teams were tied on six points from four games played, meaning Tipp needed to beat the Shannonsiders by thirteen or more to finish top of the table and secure direct passage to the final on May 13th.

“You could say that it fell in our favour, maybe, but we made it happen, that was the important thing,” said the Tipperary manager, not only of the win, but also the margin of victory they managed to achieve.

“While there was a lot of doom and doom after the Clare game, we knew with the bunch of men we had, the opportunity that might be there if Cork could win.

“In fairness to the lads, whatever about the scoreboard for me, it didn't really matter, it was the way we played.”

He added: “They were really dialled in, they moved the ball, and scoring chances that would have been 50% chances, they moved it one more pass to make it 70-80%, and that was what we wanted to work on.

“In fairness to Charlie Ryan and Sam (Rowan) around the middle of the field; Charlie gives us huge energy, huge ambition to go up to pitch.

“There was a good maturity to the way that we played our hurling and that more than anything else is what impressed me the most. The scoreboard always looks after itself in situations like that.

“We had to factor in Limerick were missing their seniors, and we saw it last week without Oisin (O’Donoghue), when you don't have your senior player and that focal point, it does make it that little bit more difficult.”

Tipperary laid the platform for the win with a strong first half performance into the stiff breeze, scoring 2-11 from fifteen shots, building on their second half display against Clare which Cummins feels was forgotten in the two minutes of madness at the end in which they conceded 2-1 to lose by a point.

“From minute 35 to minute 61 against Clare was the best hurling we played all year and we brought that into here,” added the Under 21 All-Ireland winner from 1995.

“Part of our role is to try to nurture and mind these men through adversity. None of us are any good unless we get adversity and see what we're going to do next. It's another layer, and when they're in a Tipperary senior dressing room in a couple of years and there is adversity coming, and the walls feel like they're closing in, they can lean on moments like we have now, and that's a big piece of what we try to do with the players.”

The Tipperary manager also praised the panel who when they gathered together for a recovery session 24 hours after the Clare loss, “the smiles were there, the swag was there” which in turn lifted the management team.

“Like anything else in life, it is what you're going to do next is more important, and we locked down really well for the week,” he added.

“Training had gone really well. We learned a huge amount of the Clare game. We learned even more from the Waterford game and obviously the Cork game. So, all those learnings together came the way we used the ball tonight and affected the scoreboard positively.

The win didn’t come without its cost with Tiarnan Ryan, Jamie Ormond, and Adam Ryan all forced off with minor knocks, with Robbie Ryan’s the most concerning with a hamstring strain so not having to play a semi-final is certainly welcome according to the manager.

“They have gone through hell and back over the last couple of weeks,” he continued.

“That game against Clare was really intense and to be fair to the group tonight they kept the intensity up. It would have been very easy to just drop down a level or two, and that's why bringing on Oisin would help us to focus us again.

“Fair play and a big thanks to Liam Cahill for allowing him to play as well. The relationship we have is absolutely key and thankfully it's been successful for us and Oisin can go back to the seniors for a while.

The Munster Final is fixed for Wednesday, May 13th, three days before the Tipp seniors crucial third game in the Munster Championship against Clare in which under 20 captain O’Donoghue will be expected to start and a discussion will take place over the availability of the Cashel King Cormacs clubman for the final.

“We said we'd worry about that further down the road,” Cummins added.

“The senior team has to win; there's no left or right on that.

“I'm just delighted and proud of those men there that we've got into another Munster final, and that’s the absolute key.

“Now, the next question is, can you do it again, and that's going to be the big one for us because we've nothing won, just an extra week’s rest for the bodies is what we've gotten, and we just have you ready again?