Cummins appeals for support ahead of Under 20 semi-final

By Noel Dundon

Tipperary under 20 hurling manager Brendan Cummins cut a satisfied figure having watched his side emerge victorious to qualify for the Munster Championship semi-final on Friday evening.

The victory over Waterford, though not entirely a flawless showing, sets up a second championship clash with Clare on Monday evening next in Semple Stadium and the Tipp boss sent out a rallying cry to Premier County supporters to come along and support the team.

“It's going to be a big game here and I would just ask Tipperary supporters to come and lend their support,” he said.

“It will be a home game for us, and we need people to come and shout these lads on because the young men togging out here on Monday are the future of Tipperary hurling and they need all the support they can get.

"We played two games away from home at the start of this campaign and that was really difficult. But that one point we got against Clare in Ennis, I knew leaving there that that would be a big one for us, and now we have to play Clare again. We have them here in Thurles and the last time we played them there was nothing in it, and it will be the same again next Monday.”

As for the game he had just presided over against Waterford.

“We showed great composure and took our scores when they were on,” Cummins reflected.

“We got 44 shots at goal which was a great mark and we tackled more than we have done at any stage in the championship as well. It was all very positive for us.” Asked about the concession of goals - Waterford got three of them to keep them in the match for long periods - the former All-Star custodian pointed out that the Deise lads had created goal chances in all of their games so far, but against Tipp they managed to score them.

“When they got the goal chances, Waterford took them,” he said. “If you had seen their earlier rounds, they had goal chances, but they missed them.” It was just our hard luck that they were on tonight and they pinged them. So, the challenge for us was there and the lads managed to overcome that.

“We showed good composure on the ball, and we were able to tick-tack the ball up the pitch and get it to the shooters. It wouldn't have taken Einstein to see that we had to push up because they were trying to work the ball out really well, but in fairness the lads intuitively knew what to do and they did it.”

While Tipperary don't have anybody tied up with the senior squad and are free of having to worry about losing players, the same is not true of the Clare lads with Adam Hogan’s availability in the game in doubt as next Monday will come inside the seven-day period with the Clare seniors playing Waterford on May 13th, also in Thurles.

And Brendan pointed to the fact that his management is focused on ensuring that there are players in the under 20 squad who will develop and push on to the senior set-up next year and in the years to come. Progression to senior is a big goal, but he is adamant that whoever lines out for Clare in the semi-final, Tipperary will be ready for them.

"Clare will come with everything they have and no matter what they have it will be fine and good, and we'll be as ready as we can be for them," he said.

TIPPERARY v CLARE

FBD Semple Stadium

Monday, 8th May

Throw-in @ 7.30pm (E.T. & Pens)

Referee: TBC