LIAM CAHILL AND PAT Ryan have been accustomed to underage success.
Between 2018 and 2021 the pair were unbeatable as managers as the U21 grade drew to a close and the new U20 level was introduced. Cahill guided Tipperary to back-to-back All-Ireland titles, Ryan repeated that trick of consecutive successes while at the helm of Cork.
Youthful promise is one thing, both know that adult consistency is a more demanding challenge. Cahill saw that first-hand over the course of three seasons of fluctuating fortunes with Waterford, Ryan witnessed the difficulty of the task while previously serving as a Cork coach.
2023 has seen both assume senior managerial reins in their native counties. They couldn’t be separated after a breathless encounter on Saturday night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and now occupy the top two spots in the table, the only unbeaten teams at the halfway point of the Munster hurling championship.
But what are the key recurring themes for both managers, two games in to their Munster reigns?
1. Defensive issues
For Tipperary there is a glaring statistic two games in, that is linked to their rearguard operation. Cahill’s Tipperary underage teams were defined by their capacity to find the net at the other end but shipping seven goals over two games is a real concern.
Tipperary teams in the Munster round-robin only conceded six goals across the entire 2018 and 2019 campaigns, before shipping 11 in last summer’s disastrous run. The timing of the recent concessions is also noteworthy. Clare netted twice before the break in Ennis, a similar juncture at which Robbie O’Flynn scored for Cork on Saturday night. Then Clare grabbed a late goal through Aidan McCarthy, the same phase where Cork raised two green flags to rescue a draw.
Cork will have their own headaches. They kept a clean sheet against Waterford but required second-half heroics from Patrick Collins and Damien Cahalane to repel a series of shots. Tipperary were not as wasteful with Gearoid O’Connor and Mark Kehoe surging through corridors of space on Saturday night. The first half was also defined by Tipperary’s range of passing and movement that disjointed Cork, opening up the room for Premier points to flow.
2. A show of spirit
Davy Fitzgerald spoke after Waterford’s defeat to Cork about the emotional damage inflicted on the group by their struggles last year. Liam Cahill was the manager of that Deise team but the description could equally be used to sum up the Tipperary setup he inherited.
Tipperary lost all four of their games, were rooted at the bottom of the table and their last game was a bruising 12-point defeat at home to a Cork team that racked up 3-30. After that 2022 misery, the Tipperary hurling following can find solace in their away trips, an impressive win against Clare and remaining unbeaten following the Cork tie. There’ll be regrets at not taking the full points on offer on Saturday night but their 2023 mood music is positive.
For Cork, the tie on Saturday was a curious experience. They began and finished the game in a similar free-scoring fashion as they hit the net but there was vast chunks of the action in between where they played second-rate and struggled to keep tabs on Tipperary. The game looked beyond them at times, particularly when they trailed by five with six minutes of normal time left on the clock.
Yet they rallied and dug out a result. That demonstration of defiance offers something to build on.
3. Bringing through new talent
Taking up their senior manager positions, it felt natural that both Cahill and Ryan would draw on their knowledge base of the underage talent that existed in both counties. Putting their own stamp on proceedings, it felt logical to turn to those they trusted and had thrived at underage level with.
Bryan O’Mara and Gearoid O’Connor have been lighting it up for UL in the Fitzgibbon Cup over the past two seasons, their graduation to senior level always looked assured and in O’Mara’s case would have been fast-tracked sooner only for a broken arm in 2021 and a spell in San Francisco in 2022.
Johnny Ryan and Sean Ryan have both made their mark of late but the Saturday standout was Alan Tynan. The 25-year-old has taken a circuitous route to bigtime hurling after a Munster rugby career but his blend of footwork, mobility and striking left Cork reeling as he popped over four points in a man-of-the-match showing.
Ryan has infused the Cork setup with fresh blood. Tommy O’Connell and Brian Roche made their first starts against Waterford, Eoin Downey and Brian Hayes made their debuts against Tipperary. Roche was man-of-the-match that first day out, Hayes the saviour on Saturday with his clever running and flick for Cork’s last goal of the night. There are a bunch of others Ryan has worked with previously, who he will aim to develop further.
