Kilkenny will arrive in Thurles with 'a pep in their step' says Tipperary boss Liam Cahill

Their win over Waterford last Sunday means that Tipperary's National Hurling League relegation fears have been banished, with one game remaining.

When it was put to him that his team will have a free hit in their final group game against Kilkenny at FBD Semple Stadium this Saturday evening (7pm), Tipp manager Liam Cahill replied 

“It does, but Kilkenny will be coming as they always do to Thurles with a pep in their step and will be the first to admit themselves that they need to start correcting a few areas that have left them down, such as in their previous game against Galway.

“It will be the usual intense game against Kilkenny in Thurles, and it will be great preparation for both sides leading into the first round of the championship.

"I think we’ll see a good game again”.

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With his team behind by eight points at half-time against Waterford, were there harsh words spoken in the dressing room at the interval?

“Not really, there was a lot of awareness in the room, these players have great awareness. You don’t have to come in and tell them where they went wrong, they know themselves," said Liam Cahill.


“It’s not that everybody was to be faulted, there were a number of players who knew individually they were a little behind where their expectations would be. Once we addressed that, and started making sense of what happened in the first half, the players themselves started to really go after it.

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“We never panicked, kept the scoreboard ticking over and got great intensity back into a few more of the established players who were coming back from injury, and the few newbies as well had their opportunity to get a taste of inter-county hurling”.

One of those newer players who particularly impressed was Carrick Swan’s Stefan Tobin, who scored four points from play.
“He’s a great young fellow, he’s really loving the challenge of trying to step up to inter-county senior hurling,” said the Tipp boss.

“He’s a real tenacious young man who chases everything, and today wasn’t going to define his inter-county senior career. It’s only the start for him, but it’s nice to be able to put players like Stefan and Kevin McCarthy and a few others who we have introduced during the league into those kinds of environments. We have to make sure we’re bringing through as many as we can, as well as staying competitive and trying to make sure we pick up silverware along the way”.