Pictured at Cahir Castle is Cork manager Denis Ring, ahead of this weekends Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Final.
By John Harrington
Cork manager Denis Ring is very wary of the challenge that Tipperary will pose in Sunday’s Bord Gáis Energy All-Ireland U-21 Final even though the Rebels beat them convincingly in the Munster Final.
Their margin of victory that day was 13 points, but Ring doesn’t expect this repeat fixture to be nearly as straight-forward against a Premier County team that will be itching for revenge.
“We know that no two games are the same,” said Ring. “Tipperary had a blip against us in the Munster Final and we're not naive enough not to understand that this is going to be a totally different ball-game.
“I think the match against us then was just a bad day at the office for them. We had a similar performance against Waterford and we were lucky to get through it.
“Teams have that. How you adjust and react to that is the thing and they reacted extremely well.”
Tipperary certainly rebounded impressively from their Munster Final defeat by beating a very fancied Galway team in the All-Ireland semi-final.
Ring believes that performance and their win in Munster over a Limerick side featuring a clutch of their All-Ireland winning senior panel is a far more relevant barometer of Tipp’s ability than their Munster Final melt-down.
“You must remember that three years ago Galway won this minor All-Ireland and they beat Tipp in that Final, so Tipp have rectified that on their score," said Ring.
“And they won the All-Ireland Minor Final the following year, so if ever a team can go deep into their resources and look at what they have, Tipp can.
“They have alternatives and options that other counties may not have had. They had five new players in terms of personnel against Galway.
“If you look at their performance against Limerick in the Munster semi-final and you look at those guys like Seamus Flanagan and Kyle Hayes last Sunday in the All-Ireland Senior Final for Limerick, then for Tipp to beat them you know they're an exceptionally good team.
“It's going to be a very, very difficult challenge for us.”
Ring has managed a series of Cork underage teams over the years and knows better than most how much work has gone in and to what degree standards have risen in recent times.
Cork U-21 manager Denis Ring pictured with team-captain Shane Kingston after their Munster Final victory over Tipperary.
He was in charge of the minor team that was beaten by Galway in last year’s All-Ireland Final, so is keenly aware that the next step for Cork is to end their long wait for an underage All-Ireland title.
“Absolutely,” said Ring. “We need a big boost. Winning the last two senior Munsters has been fantastic and getting to the All-Ireland Minor Final last year was a big boost and the U-17s winning their All-Ireland Final was fantastic.
“But, look, you're still conscious of the fact that it's 20 years since we won an U-21 All-Ireland and we haven't won a minor All-Ireland since 2001.
“From that point of view we're trying to recticfy those imbalances that are there. We're seeing improvements, but you can't be resting on your laurels, you're only as good as your next game and our next game is this All-Ireland Final.”
This Cork team is backboned by seven senior panellists in the shape of Mark Coleman, Shane Kingston, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Jack O’Connor, David Griffin, Robbie O’Flynn, and Tim O’Mahony so they’re hot favourites to win this All-Ireland Final with good reason.
After beating Tipperary by 13 points in the Munster final they then beat Wexford by 22 in the All-Ireland semi-final, and Ring admits he’s confident they will lift the Cup on Sunday if they play to their potential once again.
“We were absolutely delighted with our performance in the Munster Final and in the All-Ireland semi-final,” he said.
“They're a fantastic bunch of young fellas and we trust them completely. We have huge time for them. We know them very well going back to their minor days.
“You have to have belief and trust in your players, and we believe that if we can deliver and get our performance levels up to where they were for the last two games, then we'll be very hard to beat.
“But we're going to be playing a Tipperary team that will be extremely well prepared and we will be absolutely ready for a monumental battle against a very experienced bunch of players.”
