PREVIEW: U20 hurlers looking to find form early in first round clash with Limerick

O'Neills.com Munster U20 Hurling Championship - Round 1

Tipperary vs Limerick in Mick Neville Park, Rathkeale, 

Friday, April 12th @ 7 pm

Tipperary’s U20 hurlers will be the final underage team from the Premier County to get their championship underway this coming Friday night as they travel to Rathkeale for a clash with Limerick in the Munster Championship.

It is an understatement to say that it will have been a long, long wait for Brendan Cummins and his management team to banish the demons of the disappointing exit in the Munster semi-final to Clare in Thurles last year; a game in which the performance merited the defeat inflicted with the Banner having nine points to spare at the end of the game.

Looking back on that campaign as a whole, it started with a lot of promise with the opening round draw in Ennis but as the matches went on - and despite the resilience of the players in wins over Limerick and Waterford - the overall performance never reached the expected levels which eventually seen Tipperary limp out of Munster at the final four stage.

Most frustrating for the public was how the team played with the running game being adhered to religiously, even when the game against Clare in the semi-final was being chased, and it seemed like a style of play that was alien to the players at the degree of which they were being asked to perform it and that seemed to come back and haunt the team in the latter stages of the competition with the legs going against a fitter looking Clare team.

Legendary Tipperary player Brendan Cummins returns for his third year in charge of the team and he will feel pressure to deliver more consistent performances throughout the round-robin stage, and with the manner of the previous year’s exit he acted with the appointment of new team coach Paddy Stapleton late last year; the Borris-Ileigh man replacing his namesake Shane Stapleton in the role.

There has been a massive turnover of players between last year’s panel and this year’s, but the vast makeup of the panel for this year is littered with All-Ireland winners from the minor grade back in 2022 and it gives Cummins a decent hand to pick from this year.

That would lead to a degree of confidence that Tipperary will be - at the very least - competitive this year but soundings around the county are that the preparations for this year’s team have been hampered by injury and a lack of cohesion in the squad. This is largely down to a crossover with senior involvement for some players while the late run into the year from Nenagh CBS has meant that Cummins and co have seldom had their full deck at hand in training or challenge matches.

Regardless of that, there will be close scrutiny on the performance of this team given the success they’ve had recently and the quality that exists in the squad and it will mean pressure for the management team.

Limerick will represent a very tough opener for Tipp with the game being changed earlier this week to Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale as the TUS Gaelic Grounds has undergone recent work and given the recent heavy rain and the Munster Senior Championship on the horizon, the decision was made to move the game.

The Treaty suffered a narrow loss to Clare in the first round in what was a very close game and the fact that they have a competitive match under the belts will be an advantage to them, especially now with the need for a win that bit greater after the opening round defeat.

Senior panelist Shane O’Brien was withdrawn in the second half of the Clare game through injury and that will be a concern for Limerick given the injuries he has had recently he is a doubt for this game which would be a huge boost to Tipperary but they have quality elsewhere in Fionn Fitzgerald and Oisin O’Farrell in attack who performed well the first day out.

Tipp will be hopeful that the scattered preparations eventually get ironed out on the day and they will be looking to a few younger players to show their qualities in the likes of Sam O’Farrell, Darragh McCarthy, Conor Martin, and Paddy McCormack - all of whom have another year to come at this grade.

It is a very young Tipperary squad this year with the vast majority being underage again next year but there is still more than enough quality in the panel to be having a good run in Munster and, hopefully, beyond.