Bonnar likes what he is seeing from Tipperary at the moment

Tipperary Manager Colm Bonnar, though not getting carried with his teams victory over Kilkenny in this afternoon's Allianz National Hurling League tie at FBD Semple Stadium, likes what he is seeing from his charges.

Tipp secured a stirring one point victory over the visiting Cats, courtesy of a Jason Forde free late on, but the manner in which Tipp staved off a Kilkenny second half fight back, pleased the Manager and his backroom team which has been very busy putting the players through their paces since Christmas.

Tipp mixed it up a lot in terms of style. They went short, played through the lines, drove it long and remained patient throughout the game. And, though the short game broke down on occasions, the Manager lauded the players who were trying things and were brave enough to mix it up.

Denis Maher on the attack for Tipperary

"I liked the style that I saw there today in terms of what the players are trying to do. There were occasions there today where we went out of the game big time and Kilkenny came back at us and scored four, five, six points on the trot. That is something that we will have to look at and see how we can stop any team. But, at this level you are not going stop the likes of Limerick or Kilkenny or Waterford, and they will always have a dominant period. It is all about the response and our response was positive.

"We want players to have courage and I know there were a lot of cagey times when we were playing the ball out and maybe it breaks down. But we want players to be brave and we would commend them on trying to do the right thing even if a score comes off it because it is not easy when we are trying to play the ball out. But sometimes we try to transition it, sometimes we play it long so it is about getting a mix and match to see what suits us best," he said.

He added: "It is only a league game in the middle of February and it took a while for the players  and the crowd to warm up to the game. I thought we were going well with a 0-4 to 0-1 lead and we were pushing on. We got a goal out of nowhere and it gave us a bit of more belief, but the game came to life in the second half as Kilkenny came at us big time and it forced us to come back - we had to come back with a response because if we let them dominate any more than they did in the first ten minutes of the second half, they were going to roll over us.

"I was delighted with the character that the boys showed and how they stood up to it," Colm said adding that there are plenty of more players in the squad who are looking for game time in the Allianz league and who deserve to get a run out.

Next up for Tipperary is a clash with Dublin in Semple Stadium on Saturday February 26 as part of a double header with the footballers who take on Sligo.