Christy O’Connor: Tipperary need to get their public behind them again

Challenge games in January are never an accurate barometer, but Liam Cahill certainly wasn’t happy after one of Tipp's

RUNNING UP THAT HILL: Tipperary hurlers train in Templemore when their challenge game against Clare was called off Pic: Stephen Barry

Nine days before the All-Ireland club hurling final, Sarsfields played Tipperary in a challenge game in Riverstown. Sarsfields didn’t expect to win but they didn’t lose by nearly as much as they thought they might. Was that more down to Sars performing better than they calculated or Tipp not being as good as Sars had expected?

Challenge games in January are never an accurate barometer, but Liam Cahill certainly wasn’t happy afterwards. It can be easy to read too much into a running exercise after a match, especially when some players have to get the miles into their legs, but the punishing blast of runs that some of the Tipp players were put through after the final whistle underlined Cahill’s frustration.