Underage trends prove Tipp are more than capable of stunning the Rebels

TOWARDS the end of the Munster U21 hurling final in July, the TG4 cameras honed in on Liam Cahill, the Tipperary manager.

Cahill had his head bowed. He was rubbing his forehead with his fingers. 

Cahill looked disorientated and even when he lifted his head and looked at the action again after a couple of seconds, he almost had that vacant, blank stare. Going to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to take on a star-studded Cork team was never going to be easy, especially with the final coming just three days after Cork had won the Munster senior title. 

The whole of Cork was on a high but Cahill still expected his players to perform. And when they didn’t, the shock, disappointment and bewilderment was written all over his face.

Cahill had been in a similar position before. When that team were minors, they went into the 2015 All-Ireland final as favourites against Galway but they were well beaten. Back then, Cahill appeared to blame the hectic dual-schedule for contaminating the team’s preparations, and chance of winning that All-Ireland. 

Tipperary also reached the All-Ireland minor football final that season and there were a host of dual players involved in both sides. Cahill made some hard choices regarding dual players after that season and he atoned for the 2015 loss by defeating Limerick in the All-Ireland minor final the following season.

Cahill had to wait 12 months for that opportunity but he and his players only had to wait five weeks to make up for the Munster final hammering to Cork.  And they made the most of it, defeating a highly fancied Galway team in the semi-final by six points.

When Cahill was interviewed on TG4 afterwards, the relief and joy was clear on his face and audible in his tone.

“I believe they revived a bit of hope in Tipperary hurling and in themselves in particular,” said Cahill. “Great credit to the players. They took a bit of flak and rightly so because of their performance in the Munster final. 

"But fair play to every one of them, to a man they came out with a massive performance tonight.” 

It’s unknown if Cahill will be the next Tipperary senior manager but he didn’t do his chances any harm with the team’s performance against Galway. And a win now against Cork in Sunday’s All-Ireland final could put him in pole position, if he was interested.

It has also handed Cahill and Tipperary the ideal chance for revenge. “It’s a massive incentive for us, I won’t tell a lie,” he stated.

Cork will still be hot favourites but Tipperary will also feel they learned a lot from that game. For a start, Cahill felt afterwards that they got their preparations wrong. 

They had the opportunity to train in Páirc Uí Chaoimh beforehand but they declined it. The weather was really hot at the time and they felt a bus journey south would have been counter-productive. 

But with none of the squad having played there before, Cahill regretted it afterwards. He regretted it even more when considering how highly beneficial travelling to Páirc Uí Rinn to train before the 2016 minor semi-final had been for his side.

Tipp had their chances early on too that night in July, which they didn’t take.  They missed a penalty while Cork got four points which, on another evening, they might not; Mark Coleman and Declan Dalton cut sidelines over the bar while Dalton fired over two huge frees, one from the sideline and another from his own 65. 

And once Cork got momentum, Tipperary couldn’t stall it.

Traditionally, Tipperary have enjoyed the greater dominance over this Cork group, having beaten them in the Tony Forristal final at U14, in the U15 final a year later, and the U16 semi-final in 2013. 

They didn’t meet at minor level in 2015 but when they did a year later in Páirc Uí Rinn, Tipp blitzed Cork in the second half, outscoring them by 0-14 to 0-3 from the 33rd minute onwards.

That minor team from 2016 is effectively this U21 team; 14 of the players which played against Cork in the 2016 minor semi-final played in the U-21 final in July. Some of those players also featured on the 2015 minor team but of the squad of 35 from the 2015 All-Ireland minor final, only 10 of that group are still involved in this U21 panel. 

Of the 19 players Tipperary used in that 2015 All-Ireland minor final, only five appeared against Cork last month.

Cahill has shaken up the team even more since then. Squad players were given their chance against Galway and Tipp had a new goalkeeper, a reconstructed half-back line, a different midfield pairing, and a reconfigured attacking spine.

Goalkeeper Barry Hogan certainly gave Tipp something different with his puck-outs. Hogan’s striking was excellent but the movement on the Tipp puckout was superb. 

In the first half alone, Tipp got five points directly off their own puck-out. Cork have won their last two matches by an aggregate margin of 35 points but Tipperary got a test against Galway that Cork haven’t experienced since the Munster semi-final against Waterford in June.

Tipp may have been blown away by Cork in June but this Tipp forward line is moving far better now, especially Mark Kehoe and Jake Morris. 

They will probably target the Cork full-back line. 

They may be able to get at them if David Griffin doesn’t make it back in time. Griffin pulled his hamstring in training the week before the All-Ireland senior semi-final.

Cork are deservedly favourites but this Tipp team has a history of success; an All-Ireland minor, an All-Ireland Colleges with Templemore. 

Their management have good experience too with this being Cahill’s third All-Ireland final in four years.

Cork should win but certainly not by as much as they did in July.