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Tipp U-21s determined to do themselves justice

Tipperary U-21 Hurling manager, Liam Cahill.

Tipperary U-21 Hurling manager, Liam Cahill.

By John Harrington

Tipperary U-21 hurling manager, Liam Cahill, says his players want to make amends for their poor Munster Final performance against Cork when they play the same opposition in Sunday’s Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland Final.

The Premier County were completely outclassed in the provincial final, losing by 13 points, so they’re coming into Sunday’s match in a very highly motivated frame of mind.

“You'd have to be,” said Cahill. “We're looking forward to it, to be honest. It's a case of really trying to ensure we don't repeat our Munster Final performance.

“We want to come back to see have learned a few things, improved a few things, and are capable of doing much better.

“I think the margin of defeat in the Munster Final was 13 points and we really feel that Cork deserved that win, but on the day we just felt we didn't turn up and play the way we're capable of playing.

“So we'd like to do ourselves justice and contribute to a really decent final on Sunday.”

Tipperary went into that Munster Final as underdogs but the manner in which they were overpowered by Cork was still surprising.

They were a pale shadow of the side that had fought so tenaciously for every ball in their semi-final victory over Limerick as Cork dominated them physically and then cut them to pieces with their pace and skill.

Cahill admits the number one priority going into Sunday’s clash with the Rebels will be to compete for the ball in a way they simply didn’t in the Munster Final.

“There were so many areas on the night in Cork where Cork exposed us,” he said. “It's debatable whether we can rectify them all in time.

“But I suppose a couple of basic ones would be our ability to contest the breaking ball in the middle of the field because Cork have a lot of pace there.

“We have to stop their runners because they have exceptionally fast forwards that can cut you open on the smallest of breaks. So, we need to close down the space for a lot of their speedier players which will take a lot of work and organisation.

“Basically we just want to be competitive and being able to go with these fellas and have the energy to do it. That's what we'll be looking to do.”

Jerome Cahill of Tipperary with his team-mates after defeat to Cork in the Bord Gáis Energy Munster U-21 Hurling Final.  

Jerome Cahill of Tipperary with his team-mates after defeat to Cork in the Bord Gáis Energy Munster U-21 Hurling Final.  

Tipperary redeemed themselves after that Munster Final defeat by playing some tremendously spirited hurling to defeat a very fancied Galway outfit in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final.

The nature of that win has given them the perfect boost going into Sunday’s Final.

“It does, yeah,” said Cahill. “It was encouraging from everyone's perspective to see the way the players reacted. We just really honed in on having a performance and doing ourselves justice, really.

“That's what we'll be honing in on again for Sunday. To bring a massive performance and see where it takes us, that's basically it.

“We're really up against it. This Cork side is as good a Cork side that has ever come out of Cork and that's well-known and well-documented.

“We just have to come with massive energy levels and really good organisation and concentration for as long as possible and see what will happen.”

This Cork team is backboned with senior stars like Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon, and Shane Kingston, whereas none of Tipperary’s likely starting XV have played on a regular basis yet for the senior inter-county team.

Cahill reckons “five or six” of them will eventually make the grade at the highest level, and believes a win on Sunday would accelerate their development massively and be a huge boost for the short-term future of Tipperary hurling.

“It would be massive,” said Cahill. “This is a really big game for the county of Tipperary and an opportunity for this team to perform and back up their semi-final performance.

“It's vitally important that these fellas really believe they can give a good account of themselves. Obviously if we win it would be absolutely phenomenal and would give us a great spring-board for 2019 at senior level.

“There's no fear going into this game. And the really encouraging thing for me and the management team is when you see the likes of the Limerick seniors winning on Sunday with players like Seamus Flanagan, Kyle Hayes and Tom Morrissey who are currently U-21 or just out of it playing so well on the big stage.

“Having played against those players at underage and competed with and beaten them on the odd occasion, that gives us great hope.”