Hope springs eternal for manager Liam Cahill as Tipperary show signs of being a summer team
Saturday's win in Ennis was only
Tipperary's
third in the province since winning the 2019 All-Ireland. During that time, the county has played 18 matches in the Munster championship, winning three, drawing four and losing 11.
This is the sixth round-robin provincial championship. To date Tipp have qualified only twice.
For manager Liam Cahill, the 4-18 to 2-21 victory over All-Ireland champions
Clare
marked a turning point after a difficult opening couple of weeks in the campaign.
An encouraging draw against Limerick gave way to the trauma in Cork where they lost their exciting young forward Darragh McCarthy to a red card in the first minute and were beaten by 15 points – by far the worst defeat in this year's Munster championship.
READ MORE
When Tipp beat Kilkenny in March, Cahill acknowledged the perception he would be battling.
'People say Tipperary under Liam Cahill will win matches in the spring, but can they do it in the summer? We have to prepare in the spring to make sure that we give ourselves a fighting chance in the summer.'
[
Nicky English: Subduing the champions is a big step forward for Tipperary
Opens in new window
]
[
Tipperary ride out the storm to leave Clare on the precipice
Opens in new window
]
Even when he led the county out of Munster two years ago, it was an anti-climax, as the final-day loss to Waterford stopped them reaching a first provincial final since 2019. The same opponents are next on the list.
After two frustrating years, he has started to introduce younger players into the team and panel. That process looked stalled when Cork beat them easily in April's league final. Afterwards, he sounded a bit out of ideas given how comprehensively they had been defeated.
But two good performances out of three has raised the prospects of progressing again to the All-Ireland series.
Michael Breen of Tipperary celebrates after Saturday's Munster SHC victory against Clare at Cusack Park, Ennis. Photograph: Natasha Barton/Inpho
Asked about the emotional release of winning on Saturday, the manager opened up on the pressures of rebuilding and the satisfaction of getting a good result.
There's still a lot of work to be done from a management point of view and a navigation point of view
—
Liam Cahill
'Absolutely. It's been difficult enough, to be honest, to navigate over the last 2½ years. There's been little bits of progression, the introduction of new players, but it takes time and it's still very early for a lot of these guys.
'We had a nice mix of youth and experience. It's still very much a case of this squad and our flagship team in Tipp finding its way. There's still a lot of work to be done from a management point of view and a navigation point of view to try and get to the real levels that are required to compete at the very top over a period of time. We're going in the right direction.
'I'm really proud of the way all players in Tipperary put their shoulder to the wheel, kept their nerve, continued to make good decisions on the ball and grind out a really important result for us to keep the championship hopes alive.
'The challenge now is to recover well and pick ourselves back up for a really formidable Waterford side that are full of energy coming to Thurles next Sunday, so the tasks just get bigger and bigger.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
25 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Last month was personal for Limerick – this time it has to be business
Munster SHC final. Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 6pm (T. Walsh, Waterford) Live RTÉ. In the Netflix series Squid Game, the competitors are divided into groups for a fatal game of 'juldarigi' or tug-o-war as we know it. In one battle, the contrast in physical strength is obvious but one of the weaker group realises if they slacken the rope temporarily before giving an almighty collective pull, they might win. Another version of rope-a-dope, if you will. Cork certainly didn't want to lose by 16 points last month but in their hearts of hearts they probably knew they would meet Limerick again. You might beat Limerick in Limerick once but the chances of beating them there twice? Slim. In that defeat, if Cork absorbed even half of the emotion Limerick felt after what transpired 11 months ago then it actually might turn out to be a cloud with a silver lining. Pat Ryan's side are going to give a far better account of themselves here. The adjectives he has used in public about that loss have been damning – can you imagine what ones he has been using behind closed doors? Nothing and nobody in the Cork group has been spared and even if their sense of justice isn't meted out here,they'll take it upon themselves to deliver it. Brian Hayes' start against Limerick suggested Dan Morrissey was going to have his fill of it only for the shrewd full-back to get his way. Hayes is playing too well to be put down twice and for Morrissey it may be an evening of limitation than negation. Declan Dalton is the type of in-your-face player that Limerick find a handful and he is a sore loss and Rob Downey, while named on the bench, would be the right man to anchor a half-back line that lost all its shape 20 days ago. In naming Aidan O'Connor for Shane O'Brien, John Kiely is again demonstrating he is picking on form. Ironically, it was O'Brien who was the surprise draft for last year's provincial final when he made his championship debut start. The bush telegraph rings with how strong training has been with a full complement of players available. That's not to say the word out of Cork hasn't been good – it certainly is – but with the added bonus of Limerick's substitutes having started against Clare in this, their seventh straight Munster final, they have probably never had a more ready squad. Last month's game wasn't a typical Limerick win. It bore all the hallmarks of hurt pent-up from last year's defeats, particularly the five-in-a-row ending one. Instead of the usual slow start/third-quarter crush, their engine was combusting from the outset. Knowing that Cork are the ones now doing the hunting, Limerick might not be able to repeat that trick again. Instead, they will probably look to revert to their trusted practices, looking to dodge more than dismantle their opponents in the first quarter then measuring them to put them away. Last month was personal, this time Limerick have to be all business. Just as well that they are hurling's greatest final team. Because instead of being shells like they were on their previous visit, Cork are going to be throwing plenty of them. Verdict: Limerick.
The Irish Sun
33 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
John Kiely has fixed last year's critical error while Cork's old weakness has returned & been ‘a disaster'
LIMERICK are at the gates of seventh heaven — and Cian Lynch is the man who holds the key. If this year's Championship has taught us anything, it is 3 Tipperary legend Michael 'Babs' Keating writes for SunSport 3 John Kiely was right to make Cian Lynch captain for this year So much of what is good about Limerick goes through Lynch. He possesses all the skills that we have ever seen from any hurler, plus a few unseen ones too. Whoever Cork task with shackling the two-time Hurler of the Year, he cannot afford to play the Patrickswell man from behind. His skill level is too high to be disrupted by that kind of challenge. Read More On GAA Above all else, unstinting concentration for 70-plus minutes is required to limit his impact because Lynch only needs a split-second to land a fatal blow. Cork have been left with a monumental task in trying to close the 16-point gap that The reality for Pat Ryan is their style has not evolved enough and they have not been able to cope with the aggression the likes of Limerick can bring on the biggest days. While Cork had their number twice last year, John Kiely must take some of the blame for that. Most read in GAA Hurling That especially goes for the All-Ireland semi-final, when he persisted with Declan Hannon at centre-back for far too long. That was something he would certainly have had regrets over. Tipperary GAA star 'had to do live apology on RTE' the day after cursing during All-Ireland interview - Having said that, even the greatest managers can be guilty of mistakes and Kiely has made more than his fair share of good decisions over the years. Hindsight makes experts of us all. On current form, there are question marks over every member of the Cork forward line. The only doubt about the Limerick attack relates to how Aidan O'Connor will Going into the attack as a new recruit in a Munster final will be a big ask. O'Connor has been named at full-forward, which is somewhat surprising, though Kiely is sure to have ideas on how to shuffle his deck come throw-in. Predicting the Limerick manager's next move has never been easy. Regular readers of this column will know that I did not hold back in my criticism of Patrick Collins when he took over from Anthony Nash in goal for Cork. To his credit, the Ballinhassig man was one of the stars of their run to last year's All-Ireland final. 3 Patrick Collins' puck-outs have been shaky this year However, Collins appears to have returned to his worst habits. His puckouts have been a disaster. At times, the communication and understanding between Cork's goalkeeper and forwards seem to be non-existent. When I played in the half-forward line for Tipperary, I always knew where John O'Donoghue was going to puck the ball. So too did Larry Kiely, Mick Roche and Theo English in the middle of the field. This idea of exchanging a one-two with Séan O'Donoghue and then sending the ball up the field drives me spare. A goalkeeper should know at underage level that forwards want quick deliveries. When a back has time to settle and size up a situation, he will win the ball 80 per cent of the time. The Cork half-forward line must curtail the influence of Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes and Barry Nash. Even if you have to hit him with your a***, you do whatever you can to stop your opponent from gaining possession. If the Limerick half-back line — and their midfield too, for that matter — are given free rein again, Cork may as well stay at home. The Munster champions are perfectly placed here. Aside from the strength of their starting XV, they have subs for every situation. Their bench boasts five All-Stars. WIDER OUTLOOK A defeat this evening will not be the worst thing in the world for Cork as long as there are lessons learned in the event that the teams meet again. With the crowd and the hype and everything else that accompanies it, Croke Park can bring a different dynamic to any match-up. Should the Liam MacCarthy Cup reside on the banks of the Lee by the end of July, you will hear very few Cork fans lamenting a provincial final defeat. If their team's performance hits the 80 per cent mark, they will be happy enough coming back through Charleville tonight. Nevertheless, Limerick will prevail to make it seven Munster titles in succession — a remarkable achievement. LEINSTER LOOK The defending champions should also come out on top again in tomorrow's Leinster final, though Kilkenny's prospects will not be helped by the absence of Eoin Cody. Still, this is the best position that the Cats have been in for some time. Galway are coming into this decider on the back of a deserved win over Dublin. But for 20 minutes of that game, what was conjured up was some of the worst hurling I have ever seen at this level. There has been improvement in Galway since the first-round hammering they took against Kilkenny. Their performance that day bordered on embarrassing. But will there be enough to tip the balance back in their favour? Even with Cody unavailable to Derek Lyng, I am not convinced Galway have what it takes to claim a first Leinster title since 2018 at the expense of a Kilkenny side who have progressed to this stage in second gear.
Irish Examiner
37 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
With red mist in rear view, Barrett's focus turns to dismantling Kiely's well-oiled green machine
Munster final Saturday. We should and will look forward to this evening, but Shane Barrett is in our company and willing to reflect upon his moment of lapsed judgement. And so we'll begin with the opening day of Munster rather than the closing. The second-half at Cusack Park was 20 minutes old. Cork were nine clear. There was no danger. The potential danger sparked by Clare's resurgent second-half start had been dealt with and quenched. One red card later and a contest was reignited. It was a contest 14-man Cork were incredibly fortunate to come away from with a point. Barrett had been on the field when Damien Cahalane and Seán O'Donoghue's respective sending-offs had derailed their opening two championship bouts of 2024. And yet here was Barrett now engaged in a similar act of irrationality, of senseless behaviour. His off-the-ball lashing out at David Reidy was spotted and sanctioned. It would be four weeks before we'd again see sight of the All-Star centre-forward. It would be four weeks before Barrett had the opportunity to restart his championship and begin anew. 'Look, it happened, and I was thankful we got out of Ennis with a point. If we had lost up there, we would have been under a lot more pressure and I would have been feeling a lot worse, but once we got a point, and Tipp and Limerick also drew, no team was worse off,' Barrett rationalised. 'It cost us a point in Ennis and I was very regretful, but we weren't any worse off than when we got up there.' The subsequent Tipp fixture was Barrett's first championship match since the 2022 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to sit out. A self-inflicted benching and so no sympathy was held or sought. 'Yeah [tough to watch], but it was my own doing so I couldn't really give out to anyone else. I probably hadn't watched a game like that in ages, so it was an experience I hadn't got since I was about 18. 'I didn't think much of it before the game but at the game it was horrible. The lads were brilliant on the day and put the game to bed in the first half. So, I enjoyed the second half.' Barrett was in the conversation for hurler of the year on the eve of last year's All-Ireland final. And yet the 24-year-old says there were no guarantees he'd reclaim his starting spot for the May 18 trip to Limerick. In spelling out the competition for the three half-forward jerseys, he lists Seamus Harnedy, Declan Dalton, Diarmuid Healy, Conor Lehane, Brian Roche, and Darragh Fitzgibbon. Robbie O'Flynn and Shane Kingston are others for that conversation too. 'That keeps you on your toes. You have to come into training every night firing – doing the things the manager wants and doing the things that work for us. 'Pat always talks about us having to represent the jersey, because it is such an iconic jersey in GAA. He always says you have to really cherish it when you put it on because you don't know when the last time you'll get to wear it will be. You could get injured, dropped, go out of form or whatever.' Suspension served, the Cork vice-captain and KPMG audit associate was restored to his new wing-forward berth for the Gaelic Grounds trip. The trip became a massacre. They go back up the road this afternoon for redemption and restoration of their bigger picture credentials. 'Everything really,' replied the Blarney clubman when asked where they left themselves down last time out. 'There wasn't anything we could have taken as a positive. They blew us completely out of the water. We had no answer for them whatsoever. 'They're an unbelievable unit, a well-oiled machine. They know each other inside out. It's about weathering the tough moments against them, and trying to impose your own game-plan on them.' One of the reactions to that 16-point thumping was to switch Darragh Fitzgibbon from No.11 back to midfield for the subsequent Waterford visit. It was the first time since March 1 that Fitzgibbon, at midfield, and Barrett, at centre-forward, lined out in the positions they thrived in on the run to the 2024 All-Ireland final. That selection has been maintained for Munster final Saturday. Barrett's task so is Kyle Hayes and significantly reducing the impact of the man of the match from their opening instalment. Barrett's task is to ensure his own impact at the close of Munster is far more positive than that of the province's opening day. Red chaos rather than red card.
