League Final Grounding
By Shane Brophy
The 2025 National Hurling League had been good to Tipperary, that was until last Sunday as the ten point final defeat to Cork came as a timely reminder to everyone that for all the progress made so far this year, they still have a way to go.
The 3-24 to 0-23 defeat was decisive but better off get issues highlighted in a game like this which can be rectified for championship.
“You can have twenty training sessions, to the benefit of having what we got out there today,” admitted manager Liam Cahill following the humbling defeat.
“With the experience these newer players will get from playing in a big arena like that, with the big crowd and the big Cork support.
“There's a couple of things Cork came at us today that we probably didn't think they would come at us which is great from our perspective.
“I'm not sure will anybody come away from today saying Tipp are excellent in one or two certain areas.”
He added: “Thankfully, we came through today without any injuries.
“This was all a stepping stone towards the Munster Championship, which is the ferocity of this over the next six weeks and the navigation of what is going to be required to get out of that as one of the three is going to take a lot of work and we start that work again now.”
After a positive first six games of the league which saw Tipperary win five matches, the only loss coming against Limerick, the optimism that was growing among the supporters was punctured leaving Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
However, the Tipp manager offered a more optimistic assessment ahead of the championship which starts on Sunday week at home to Limerick.
“When we look out now at this current Tipperary team, while we're far from the finished article, we have a lot of players that are interchangeable,” Cahill added.
“Our full back line, - I know we give away three goals there - were excellent because they were peppered there with ball for fifteen minutes before half-time and they really went toe-to-toe with three of the best inside forwards in the country at the moment and either one of them can come out, either one of the corner men can come out to a wing and vice-versa can swap back inside.
“It's all good for us as regards options, it's just now I suppose to start really creating chances up front and especially green flags, they're the ones that are going to get these teams over the line in tight matches, to get you out of the gap.
“It was disappointing that we didn't create a proper goal chance.”
See more league final reaction on pages 69-71