Cummins satisfied to leave Ennis with a point after tight encounter in Munster opener

A game that really could ended in a win for either team was witnessed in Cusack Park last Saturday, and you could see the relieft in Tipp boss Brendan Cummins in the aftermath, with what he called a “fair result” being played out at the final whistle.

“In a lot of ways we’re happy to get out of here with a point,” Cummins admitted.

“I know from my days playing here with Tipperary that it’s no joke coming here and we had a lot of work done on Clare, so we knew how good they are.

“It could have gone either way really.

“Maybe when Eddie (Ryan) got the point you felt maybe that Clare deserved maybe one last play and in fairness to them they took their chance, but we’re happy enough leaving here having not played to our full potential.

“We spoke to the lads in there (dressing room) about last year when we played Kerry, and we were very sluggish against them and we eventually ended up picking ourselves up as the year went on.

“But again, the challenge is there in Pairc Úi Chaoimh in two week’s time.

“This is Munster championship hurling, whether it’s minor, senior, U20 it’s not simple but we’ll dust ourselves down and we’ll get going again.

Borris-Ileigh’s Eddie Ryan excelled in the second half but Cummins was delighted with the overall effort.

“He was brilliant ya, but I think everyone in the group contributed.

“We got Darragh McCarthy and Paddy McCormack into the game; Darragh scoring a great score.

“We were eight points to two down in the first half playing against the breeze but the lads really dug in and I’d be most pleased about that; the spirit the lads showed was really strong.

“There’s always that sort of cold water shock sensation with all these kind of things. “These young men are still learning their trade and it’s just great experience to come here and get a draw in a game where you know you’ve really been tested.

But again, it’s an incredibly hard place to come to because they’re an incredibly proud county and they have all the same ambitions as our lads have in trying to get on the senior panel and it certainly accelerates your chances of doing that if you can win a Munster championship or an All-Ireland.

“But we have to forget about this now, that’s the bottom line this game is gone; it’s the round robin, you play your game and hopefully get a result and move on to the next one quickly,” he finished.