Noel Furlong and Cork U20s expecting tough Tipp challenge

In 2022, the Electric Ireland Munster MHC final saw Tipperary they beat Clare in a penalty-shootout before going on to All-Ireland glory.

Three years on, it is that pair that provide the opening games for Cork. Having come out of Sixmilebridge with a draw against Clare last Wednesday, Noel Furlong’s side entertain Tipperary at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this evening (7pm).

While the manager is aware of the size of the challenge – especially with Tipp coming in off the back of a loss at home to Limerick last week – he feels the character shown in earning a point against Clare will stand to them.

“We're coming away from Clare, All-Ireland champions at minor within the last two or three years and in three last three Munster finals,” he says, “and then next thing we're adding to Tipperary. who are two out of the last three minor All-Ireland-winning teams, three Harty Cup-winning teams, All-Star players everywhere, five seniors.

“Again, we're going to be massive underdogs, we're going to be massively up against it but, all we can control is, you know, that our lads go out and represent that jersey with pride and give it everything they have.

“We were able to come away from Sixmilebridge saying we definitely did that.”

Cork never led at any stage last week and rode their luck at times against a Clare side that were wayward in front of goal.

Against that was the fact that they were having to deal with a number of injuries to attacking players.

“I suppose, if you're looking at this squad and players that have been there for the last three years,” Furlong says, “definitely Ross O’Sullivan, Adam O'Sullivan, Mick O’Driscoll, Ronan Dooley and fellas like this, they all stand out.

“With three years together in Cork, we would always say that, with the quality of player out there, we should be able to compete against any county and I think we proved that against Clare.

“It's great now for those players who are coming back and returning from injury to say that our squad's strength is going to be built on the back of that and we're exposing young lads – two young lads just out of minor, for example – and playing in that environment.

“It was a huge experience for us and we were coming out of there certainly in positive spirits and looking forward to the Tipp match.”

As mentioned by Furlong, the Brendan Cummins-managed Tipp squad features a number of players who are also involved with Liam Cahill’s set-up. By contrast, Cork do not have any players engaged in such double-jobbing.

Naturally, one reason for that is that a fairly young senior panel already features players from the successful U20 sides of 2020, 2021 and 2023, as well as last year’s team that reached the Munster final. It also means that Furlong can work with his charges without any other distractions.

“There are pros and cons,” he said.

“Obviously, if you have players involved with the senior squad, that's your job – in the U20, you want to train to develop players for the senior squad.

“You saw Tipperary, they had the Thurles CBS lads, and obviously guys involved with the seniors – did that disrupt their preparations?

“Who knows, we don't know, but in our camp all we know is that our lads are together, they're training consistently, they're giving it everything for us.

“I think they showed that against Clare and you've seen it at the back of the performance, so we'll just control whatever we can.”