Cummins delighted with win but acknowledges bigger tests ahead

Tipperary edged a huge battle with Waterford on Wednesday night in FBD Semple Stadium and Premier boss Brendan Cummins was delighted to have gotten the better of the visitors on the night on what he seen as a massive battle.

“It was the exact dogfight that we knew we were going to have. In fairness to Waterford they brought huge energy, and so did we,” Cummins reflected in the aftermath of the victory.

“I suppose it was always going to come down to who could get the better of it down the home straight and to be fair to the lads, they worked their absolute backs off and the lads we brought on gave everything they had too, so it was great to see.”

Intense passages of attritional hurling was a real feature of this contest, we both sides almost nullifying each other in their work rate throughout the match, but Cummins wasn’t surprised that his team left every inch of effort in them out on the pitch in order to claim the win.

“It’s been the hallmark of the group since we got together in January that the spirit of the group is very strong,” he revealed.

“We’ve done a huge amount of work with them and we just know that coming down the home straight that we would have the legs. There was no real need to panic in a lot of ways, so that just won us a home semi-final but we know there are bigger nights down the track.

“It’s the work rate that’s the key because it’s all about how quick you run back towards your own goals and that is what satisfied me the most tonight, that the lads had a willingness to chase back.

“When Ed Connolly looked at me and said he was all out, it shows a real honesty within the group. ‘Ok you’re out,’ and someone else goes in, and it’s nice to see that maturity in the players. 

“Tonight was a good night, but the next test will be even sterner, it’s just nice that we’ll have the right to have that test here in Semple Stadium.”

With the game in the melting pot going into the last fifteen minutes, some of Tipperary’s shooting let them down in a big way as they struck three or four very scorable chances wide, but Cummins refused to be critical of his players and acknowledged the scale of effort being applied in that period.

“They did (hit poor wides). When you think about it, when you consider the work and the running that they’ve done of maybe running 50 or 60 yards onto a pass, sometimes it can be tricky to get a shot away, especially with the Waterford backs being all over you and that’s great credit to them.

“There were a couple of those shots that went wide but thankfully Peter McGarry gave us the goal late on to give us that bit of breathing space late on.

Cork’s defeat of Clare in the other group now sets up a clash between the Rebels and Limerick next week, with the loser of that contest fixed to travel to Thurles as Tipperary’s semi-final opponent, and Cummins knows there will be a marked increase in the calibre of opposition in two weeks time, come what may.

“Whichever team it is, they’ll probably be favourites for the All-Ireland so we’re just trying to build character in the group and we'll see where it takes us. But the gears go up a massive amount the next day. 

“Waterford were without their senior players today and that weakened them a good bit so we appreciate all that, and we’re happy with the result tonight but we also know there is a massive challenge ahead of us in the semi-final so we’ll put the heads down and try to prepare as best we can,” he finished.

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