Bloodied and bandaged, Tipp Senior’s owe it to their people to respond; Minors and U20’s title bids.

Today is a dark day for Tipperary hurling in a lot of senses and respects. We’ll keep trying and that’s what we do in Tipperary. We’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll take whatever criticism and analysis comes, and deservedly so.

“When you put on a Tipp jersey you can’t represent it the way we did, definitely towards the end of that second half. It has to be better and we know that. We will get our heads around that and make sure that we do that. That’s what you sign up for when you take on a role of this magnitude.

“When you are Tipperary senior hurling manager it’s a massive responsibility and we are where we are in Tipperary at the moment. Look, I’ll continue to do my best as long as I’m asked to. I’m not somebody that runs away from tough times. We’ve been brought up to roll up our sleeves and work hard and that’s what I’ll be trying to ingrain into my players.

“That dressing room is a close dressing room. We are fully together. We try to keep one another accountable and that’s what we’ll continue to do. And this will turn. Whether it will turn on my watch or not, I don’t know, but I’ll do my best to make sure it’s in a better position for whoever is coming after me, or please god it will happen during my reign – maybe not. But if it doesn’t, it will be some bit healthier for the next person coming in.”

The words of Tipperary Manager Liam Cahill are worth reproducing in this weeks column because he just about summed it up in a nutshell. Tipperary’s performance against Cork on Sunday represented a bad day; was not good enough; is worthy of the criticism that comes with the territory; needs a big dust-down ahead of next Sunday; and hard work to help the situation to turn.

After that, there was not a lot more to be said – unfortunately, a lot more was said, and some of it was as nasty as one could imagine.

Stating that the players “don’t care, don’t give a f**k, & are in it for what they can get out of it” – off the wall comments from people who do not know what they are talking about. Yes, they are entitled to their opinions and entitled to voice them, but come on, a little bit of perspective is needed here.

Tipperary were beyond bad in the second half, but they had put in a massive first half performance in what was a most magnificent spectacle. It was thrilling hurling and I would venture to say that the game turned on Ronan Maher’s departure just before half time to have his gashed forehead stitched – Cork scored 1-2 without reply when the Tipp captain was in the treatment room and that gave the Rebels the momentum they needed.

Don’t get me wrong, the second half was as bad as we have seen, and we have seen some dark days – seeing some players throwing in the towel with twenty minutes to go was very disappointing  – they owe it to Tipperary, to their colleagues and to the management team to bust a gut next Sunday when Clare come to Thurles.

Apart from the result and the performance, Sunday was a magnificent day – the Rebels came in force, conquered and left home having filled their boots in the pubs, cafes and restaurants of the Cathedral Town. It was a superb boost to the local economic coffers, even if the outcome left us feeling anything but joyous. It was Thurles of old really and it was brilliant even if the dominant colours were red and white. A pity that – we were outnumbered again at home

Minors and U20’s can restore some pride

It falls to our minors this evening and to the U20 hurlers to help restore pride in the blue and gold jersey. Can the John Doyle Cup being presented  for the first time, find its way into the hands of a Tipperary man – Doyle’s clubmate Cathal O’Reilly? What a closing of the circle that would be.

As for the U20’s – their task will be to halt the Rebel march towards absolute domination.

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