Workload will determine line-out for Offaly - Cahill

Tipperary manager Liam Cahill declared himself “pleased to get the two points on the board” following Saturday’s victory to open their National Hurling League campaign in ideal fashion.

“It was a really a good workout under difficult conditions for everybody,” he continued.

“Galway, on reflection, would be disappointed they didn't go in three or four up, maybe even five up at half-time. They had a few fairly poor wides.

“But we were aware of that at half-time and we felt we needed to start the second half well, which we did. Went into a three-point lead and gave away a soft enough goal.

“I’m really delighted with the resilience, the communication and togetherness on the field to really finish with a really strong quarter after that incident, to kick on and just get the result.

“It was really the objective to get plenty of work into the legs and the lungs, as well as trying to obtain, obviously, the two points.”

It wasn’t all perfect with Robert Doyle limping out in the first half with a hamstring issue while Joe Caesar was also forced off with a soft tissue leg problem in the second half, joining Brian McGrath (ankle) and Alan Tynan (shoulder) on the treatment table.

“It takes a little bit of managing now to really make sure that we're not doing major harm to these fellas, especially with the championship coming around the corner,” added Cahill who was pleased with the tone set by the players so far.

“They came back; they have huge demands and standards and expectations of one another. They drive that from within. We obviously give them as much support as we can to get them into that mindset.

Jake Morris began where he left off in 2025 with a man of the match performance while four players made their senior league debuts, including Cathal O’Reilly who made one of the plays of the game in denying Aaron Niland a near certain goal before half time.

“Jake has come back in great condition, to be fair to him, as have all the lads, really,” Cahill added.

“There's obviously another tranche of more, let's say, established players from last year still to come back into play. But they're all in good shape and they're working behind the scenes and we'll try and introduce them as the league progresses.

He added: “Cathal is no stranger to us all. A minor and under-20 All-Ireland winner. Tenacious player with his club, Holycross-Ballycahill, and has integrated really well into our set-up.

“He's quiet, but he's a guy that's hugely competitive. A great young man to train and has hit the ground running with us, as has a number more of the younger lads that have come in. So, it's really positive.”

In terms of who might return for the trip to Tullamore next Sunday to play Offaly, Cahill said captain Ronan Maher might be in the shake-up but in the aftermath of the injuries already sustained, he will thread with caution.

“You just don't want to maybe introduce these fellas immediately and then run the risk of something going wrong with them,” he added.

“A few of the more established players, as we’ll call them, have come back in early January so we'd like to maybe have another little bit into them before we go pressing any buttons. But you could see one or two of them featuring on the matchday panel.

“Jason (Forde) was on our 26 there tonight so he's well ahead. And obviously Séamus Kennedy has come back in great shape as well after a really good performance tonight.

“Ronan, a couple of little injuries with Craig (Morgan) and Brian McGrath is unfortunate as well to pick up a nasty foot injury. So, we have all of them things going on in the background as well which we're going to try and get a handle on as soon as we can.”