PREVIEW: Brendan Cummins and his U20's hurlers looking to go one step further in 2023

Munster U20 Hurling Championship - Round 1

Tipperary vs Clare, Cusack Park Ennis, Saturday March 25th @ 2.00 

The Tipperary U20 hurlers will be hoping to go at least one step further this year as they are currently in preparations to face Clare in the opening round of this year’s Munster U20 Hurling Championship in Cusack Park next Saturday week.

All the U20 hurling fixtures had been designated for Wednesday nights but Clare's inability to find a suitable ground with lights has led to the game being re-fixed from the evening of Wednesday 22nd to the following Saturday in Cisack Park.

2022 was a bitter sweet campaign for Brendan Cummins and his management team, with really good wins over Waterford, Cork, and Kerry eventually culminating in a Munster final appearance where they fell to Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds after a physical and enthralling contest.

Just under twelve months on and a very strong 35-man panel has been selected by Cummins and his management team in the past week, with a fair mix of youth and experience at this level.

Of the team which took to the field in the loss to Limerick in last year’s decider, a substantial number remain with captain and vice captain Darragh Stakelum and Jack Leamy integral to this year’s group, along with Luke Shanahan, Michael Corcoran, Conor McKelvey, Seanie Kenneally, Peter McGarry, Cathal Quinn, and Eddie Ryan all underage again for this campaign and that will be a huge help according to Tipp boss Brendan Cummins.

“We have 18 of the panel that we had last year that are still available to us this year, so there is that bit of continuity for sure, and the minors winning the All Ireland has certainly been a boost to us,” he said.

“To have those young men coming in with that extra bit of maturity having won, so it was great to get those lads on board.

“Those reinforcements will be a huge boost to Cummins’ team this year with a number of players from last year’s All Ireland minor winning team making the step up in the form of Paddy McCormack, Adam Daly, Damien Corbett, and Darragh McCarthy, so the mix of players from various age groups is certainly interesting at first glance, but Cummins says that they won’t really know how that mix of youth and experience will blend until the action gets underway.

“You never really know until you get onto the field the first day,” he acknowledged.

“Preparations have been going okay despite picking up a few injuries over the past week and a half, but we’re hoping the strength and depth of the panel will be okay to cover for that.”

This team’s corresponding appearance at minor level was one of the most unusual championship they could have participated in, with empty stadiums in the winter of 2020 proving to be a huge challenge for the young players at the time, but despite that, they had a good run-in that winter by beating Kerry convincingly in a quarter-final, before moving on to beat Waterford by eight points in the semi-final.

Limerick were the opposition in the Munster final just five days before Christmas and the Treaty just edged out Tipp by three after extra time in what was a magnificent contest in an empty Gaelic Grounds.

However, Cummins was quick to dispel the link between the minor players three years on and says there can’t be too much read into what the results were in that championship three years ago.

“If anything told you that that counts for little is what happened last year. Looking at the way we performed over the Munster championship it means absolutely nothing.

“Last year we beat Cork and beat them and that team would have been streets ahead of Tipp at minor level.

“Players develop differently and suddenly the penny drops with fellas and the preparation takes on another level with lads preparing, in general.

“You can see with the work Woodie (James Woodlock) has done with his players that they are physically that bit stronger,” he added.

A lot will be different this time around for all the teams involved so it might be foolish to read too much into that rushed format in 2020, as this U20 competition takes on its most elongated in its history; at U20 or U21.

Five teams will compete in a round robin format at this grade for the very first time which means Tipperary will play Clare, Limerick, Cork, and Waterford once with the first placed team after the completion of the matches going straight into the Munster final, while the second and third placed teams will face off in a semi-final to see who will be the final team in the provincial decider.

First up for Tipperary is a tough trip rto Sixmilebridge to face Clare in the Munster opener next Wednesday evening, and has always been the case in recent times, it is always tough to come back across the Shannon with a win at any grade.

“Clare above in Clare is going to be a big challenge and it will no doubt be an unbelievable atmosphere and we’re really looking forward to the challenge they are going to give us.

“We have to be 100 percent right and there will only be a point or two one way or the other and hopefully we’ll be the ones on the right side of it,” he finished

Should Tipp manage to pull off a win on their travels in this game, they will have the benefit of a bye week in round two, before they go on to face another away tie against Cork, before finishing off their round robin campaign with consecutive home games in FBD Semple Stadium against Limerick and Waterford respectively.

Tipperary U20 hurling panel for 2023: Jack Collins (Ballina), Cian McCormack (Ballingarry), Paddy McCormack, Eddie Ryan (Borris-Ileigh), Jason O’Dwyer, Danny Slattery, Robert Doyle, Stephen Ferncombe (Clonoulty Rossmore), Ronan Connolly, Cathal Quinn (Cashel King Cormacs), Tony Cahill, Maidhc Fitzpatrick (Drom & Inch), Jack Leamy, Ben Currivan (Golden Kilfeacle), Damian Corbett, Conor Gleeson (Gortnahoe Glengoole), Joe Caesar, David Fogarty (Holycross Ballycahill), Luke Ormond (JK Brackens), Adam Daly, Eoin Horgan (Knockavilla Donaskeigh Kickhams), Ciaran McCormack (Loughmore Castleiney), Sean Kenneally (Moneygall), Joe Egan (Moycarkey Borris), Conor O’Brien (Mullinahone), Stephen Dee (Solohead), Conor McKelvey, Michael Corcoran (Silvermines), Peter McGarry, James Morris (St Mary’s), Darragh McCarthy (Toomevara), Darragh Stakelum, Jock Fogarty (Thurles Sarsfields), Pat Ryan, Luke Shanahan (Upperchurch Drombane).