LIAM CAHILL says Tipperary’s road to redemption starts now after blowing Galway away at Pearse Stadium.
The Premier sizzled in Salthill as debutant Dylan Walsh fired 1-3 and goals from Darragh McCarthy’s penalty and Geaóid O’Connor completed the rout.
Walsh dazzled in Cahill’s attack as 10 different players scored – and they were a class apart from the Tribesmen.
Tipp endured a horror 2024 as they failed to win a championship game and finished bottom of the round-robin Munster SHC.
Cahill admits patience is still needed ahead of their round 2 clash with Wexford this weekend – but beamed at their dream start to the season.
He said: “It’s building blocks. There’ll be ups and downs in this campaign. I think the knowledgeable people that know the hurling landscape in Tipperary and know what’s going on will understand that.
“We will meet bumps in the road that will create difficulty but it’s about patience now as well and I know that’s not going to cut much slack with the impatient, less knowledgeable Tipperary hurling folk that are out there.
“But as I said, I’m very, very clear on where this needs to go and today is just the start of it really.
“It would be no secret that we would have been very disappointed with the level of our fitness and our ability to see out games last year.
“A lot of what you saw today you would have seen for 45 minutes, 50 minutes last year but unfortunately Championship Hurling has played over 70 minutes and probably didn’t get it right.
“Probably, I’m holding my hands up, we didn’t get it right in that regard and I think we’re on the road to getting it right this year to have us that little bit more consistent and seeing out games better.”
Galway struggled to cope with Tipp’s desire and intensity as skipper Ronan Maher pulled the strings at centre back and Craig Morgan lorded the middle, firing 0-2.
Michéal Donoghue’s return as Tribes boss saw him name four debutants in his team as Sean Murphy, Michael Garvey, Rory Burke and Oisín Lohan all made their senior bows.
Despite the poor playing surface, Tipp made hay with the first half wind and led 1-13 to 0-9.
McCarthy’s penalty just 11 minutes in set the tone when Murphy fouled Walsh and the Toomevara man made no mistake.
Tipp killed Galway with their short puck-outs and efficiency in moving the ball with pace. They hunted at packs as the hosts conceded cheap frees for McCarthy to tap over to stretch their lead.
Captain Conor Whelan always looked dangerous in Donoghue’s attack but was often starved of ball.
They failed to deal with a loose ball as O’Connor lashed in their second goal 10 minutes after the restart and the game was all but over at 2-16 to 0-11.
Just six minutes later, Maher’s long range pass was collected by Walsh who left Murphy for dead to send Tipp 16 points up.
Galway fired late consolation goals thanks to John Fleming and Declan McLoughlin but there was no chance of a comeback such was Tipp’s dominance.
And Cahill issued a rallying cry to their supporters ahead of Wexford’s visit to Thurles on Sunday.
He said: “We understand that we have to show the traits of what we showed today to let people know that we’re competing hard.
“All I can say is that we are really trying hard behind the scenes, we really are. I mentioned bravery there earlier about the direction we’re going and the change we have to make.
“I’d ask the Tipp supporters to be brave as well and come out and support them. There’s not much bravery in going up to Croke Park every year over the last decade for semi-finals and All-Irelands and all that.
“They’re easy things to do and I think regardless whether people believe in Liam Cahill and his coaching team or his coaching philosophy, these players will be around long after I’m gone.
“They’re the catalyst to everything that gives us the joy that is being a Tipperary supporter so get in behind them, support them and they’ll respond, that I’m sure of.”
And Galway boss Donoghue stressed that patience is needed during his second spell as boss as a host of new faces filter into the team.
He said: “We know we have to work, we have total belief in the squad that’s there and confidence that they will grow. But it’s going to take time, we’re not naive to that.
“It’s not just three or four weeks and ‘hey, presto.’ That’s not the way it works. I think it was really evident obviously against a well-seasoned team, well-coached team.
“When we got turned over, they punished us. So big learning, but that’s part and parcel of it.”
GALWAY 2-16
TIPPERARY 3-25
GALWAY: E Murphy; J Grealish, F Burke, S Murphy; M Garvey, S Cooney, TJ Brennan 0-1; C Fahy 0-1, D O’Shea; R Burke 0-4f, T Monaghan 0-1, O Lohan 0-3; C Whelan 0-3, K Cooney 0-2, 1sl, L Collins 0-1.
Subs: J Fleming 1-0 for O’Shea 47mins, C Whelan for Garvey 47, D McLoughlin 1-0 for K Cooney 53, S Morgan for S Cooney 55, A Burns for Collins 68
TIPPERARY: R Shelly; M Corcoran, E Connolly, B McGrath; S O’Farrell 0-1, R Maher 0-1, C Morgan 0-2; M Breen, W Connors 0-3; A Tynan 0-2, J Morris 0-3, G O’Connor 1-2, A Ormond 0-2, D McCarthy 1-6, 1pen, 5f, 1 65, D Walsh 1-3.
Subs: R Doyle for Corcoran HT; C Bowe for Ormond 52mins, S Kennedy for Doyle 53 (blood), J Fogarty for Tynan 55, Kennedy for B McGrath 59, C Martin for O’Connor 65
REFEREE: C Lyons (Cork)
