Cummins makes no excuses for defeat

By Michael Dundon

“Absolutely gutted” was Tipp manager Brendan Cummins’ reaction after his under 20 hurling team suffered defeat at the hands of Clare in the Munster semi-final on Monday.

After drawing with Clare in Ennis in the round-robin series the Ballybacon/Grange clubman’s charges were confident that they could go one better in Thurles. It was not to be as a below-par Tipp performance saw Clare deservedly emerge nine-point winners.

“We’re absolutely gutted the way things went,” Cummins added.

“But look, congratulations to Clare. They deserved to win though I would say that a three-goal win flattered them.”

He added: “We did not play as well as we can but some of that could be down to Clare’s performance. We were not let. The big thing was that they took their goal chances when they got them and that won it for them. We had chances but did not make the most of them.

“We knew they would lorry high balls into their full-forward line, and they did. They are a big strong team, and they were very strong in the tackle, and that was always going to be difficult to counter. All those things added up in the end.”

Tipp were guilty of too many handling errors and also let some key chances go abegging in the second half, both from play and frees, but the manager was not for apportioning blame.

This was Tipp’s fifth game in the championship and their record shows two wins (over Limerick and Waterford), two losses (to Cork and Clare) and a draw with Clare also.

“These lads have been unbelievably committed right through the campaign,” Cummins added.

“They did everything we asked of them and could not do more. They cannot be faulted for lack of commitment. It is a pity that this is the end of the road for them for this year but that’s how it goes in hurling.”

So, Tipperary’s wait to bridge the gap since the Liam Cahill-led side triumphed four years ago continues. There will be optimism that last year’s successful minor hurling side could be the nucleus of the team to halt the slide but the difference in the age span between the two grades is considerable and the younger lads may require more time before they are up to title-winning level at the under 20 grade.