Tipperary manager Liam Cahill will know 'an awful lot more' about younger players after Antrim game

Tipperary manager Liam Cahill says he’ll know “an awful lot more” about the younger players in the panel after this Sunday’s final group game in the Allianz National Hurling League against Antrim at Corrigan Park in Belfast (throw-in 1.45).

Last weekend’s win over Waterford means that Tipp have already qualified for the league semi-finals the weekend after next, March 24-25, meaning that the manager can afford to rotate players ahead of this Sunday’s long trip north.

“Antrim is a tough place to go, I experienced that last year with Waterford. It’s a really tough environment, Antrim are hurling really well at the moment. It’s a nice opportunity, it will ask me good questions of fringe players, new players”.

When questioned about what value he places on the league, Cahill says “It is fairly tense in the league, week after week, and then obviously if you get to a final it’s only two weeks from the first round of the Munster championship, where ultimately every team is judged in the summer.

“The league is a national title. I have a lot of respect for the league and was fortunate to win two of them myself as a player. Not too many county players have league titles, and at this stage we’ll be going after it and doing our best to get to the final and try and win it”.

He attributed his side’s strong start to the season, with four wins from four under their belt, to the panel of players at his disposal.

“We’ve rotated our panel well, and still remain very competitive. That’s a great lift for myself and the management team, that we have such willing and honest players, players who have a massive desire to play for Tipperary, and they’re really loving training hard and working hard together.

"We just hope it continues now for the next number of weeks into the championship (Tipp begin their campaign against Clare in Ennis on Sunday April 23)”.

When asked what it was like coming up against his former team last Saturday, he said “It’s difficult. You don’t realise until you go and analyse Waterford properly during the week as to how good they really are. When you think of all the key players and big performers they have, it’s a difficult task. One or two of them got injured early on there tonight, which probably had a big bearing on the game as well.

"There’s no doubt Waterford will be a dangerous animal come the championship.

“I think the honesty of the match and the physical stakes were really good. These boys train hard and we’re always trying to bring our training game out onto the field and we like to think we play the way we train. There was lots of intensity in that game tonight for a game in March, conditions weren’t what they’ll be come May when we do battle again. It’s just a nice little taster, I suppose, for what’s coming down the tracks”.

He admitted that Jamie Barron’s sending-off “probably came at an opportune time for us as well, when we had a bit of a foothold it really gave us that extra bit of momentum to kick on.

“I just like the way we were so clinical, when we got in one on one for goal chances, we took them well. We missed one or two afterwards, but I think Waterford would have left a couple after them as well.

“The likes of Jake (Morris) and Conor Bowe, they’re good finishers when they get in one on one”.