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It was a good start for Michael Ryan and Tipperary to their Allianz Hurling League Division 1A campaign. Ken Sutton/INPHO
Up and Running

'Can you imagine running around trying to control a bar of soap?' - Tipp boss Ryan

Saturday night in Thurles wasn’t the time for flashy hurling, Tipperary manager Michael Ryan insisted.

NEW TIPPERARY SENIOR hurling manager Michael Ryan declared himself satisfied with the Premier County’s Allianz Hurling League start.

Tipp ran out 14-point winners against Dublin in last night’s Division 1A opener at Semple Stadium.

It was a night for grit and workrate as Tipp proved far too powerful for the visitors, on a night when the home side employed a distinctly direct approach.

“You certainly couldn’t be dilly-dallying around with the ball, putting your skill on show but look, that directness led to the first goal. We’ll take that any time,” said Ryan.

Agreeing that it was hard going for the players on a heavy Semple sod, Ryan added: “Very, I was only standing on the sideline.

“Can you imagine running around trying to control a bar of soap, which is what it would have looked like at times out there.

“But I think both teams went at it very honestly and served up as good a game as they possibly could. Thankfully, scores seemed to come a little bit easier for us.”

Jason Forde (12) scored the only goal of the game at Semple Stadium - and finished with a personal haul of 1-5. Ken Sutton / INPHO Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO

Tipp’s win has set them up nicely for a crack at Kilkenny on Noreside next Sunday.

And while Ryan insisted that game will bring its own pressures, he doesn’t believe the heat is off just because Tipp collected two points from their opening fixture.

Look, I’ve sat in this dressing room the first round several times and we were under pressure for the next game to gather up two points.

“We’re very happy that we’ve collected the first two available and we’ll compete for the next two. I’m certain sure Kilkenny will feel exactly like that.”

Ger Cunningham Ger Cunningham's Dublin were well beaten in Thurles. Ken Sutton / INPHO Ken Sutton / INPHO / INPHO

Dublin boss Ger Cunningham admitted that it was a disappointing performance from the Sky Blues, who beat the same opponents by 12 points when they met in the divisional opener at Parnell Park in 2015.

“It was a disappointing performance really,” Cunningham acknowledged.

We were well beaten by a very good Tipperary team. So we’ve no complaints from that point of view.

“Just the things that we’ve been trying to do didn’t work out tonight so we’ve got to go back to the training ground and work on it and see if we can get ready for next week.”

Dublin play Galway next Sunday at Parnell Park in a game that will already be billed as ‘must-win’.

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