Magnificent Cummins fights the pain of defeat

OUT of the Munster SHC, still in the race for the All-Ireland, that was the determined reaction yesterday of Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins, after his side’s late, late loss to Waterford.

“You could spend the day moaning and complaining about what might have been, but that achieves nothing.

“We came within a point of drawing with a team that had looked unbeatable in their win over Clare in the first round, and despite all the disappointment yesterday evening, when all the dust settled on this defeat, that was some consolation.

“We have to learn from that and come back from it. Fellas who didn’t play as well as they can still have an opportunity to put that right.

“We’re back to training on Wednesday, we are back in the hat for the qualifiers, and I don’t think anyone out there will be wishing they get Tipperary. We’ll just have to wait and see who it throws up.”

One of those who should in no way feel disappointed in his own performance is Cummins. His intelligently-placed puck-outs apart, his goalkeeping was superb. He produced one great catch of a ball that was going over the bar, two brave grabs under pressure of dropping balls on the edge of his square and three top-drawer goal-saves that drew praise even from the Waterford players and supporters.

That Tipp led by two points with just a minute of normal time remaining was due in no small part to the brilliance of their giant keeper.

“We were right behind the posts where he made the save from Paul Flynn in the second half,” said Tony Browne Senior, father of the injured Waterford star; “my son, Tommy, turned to me and said, that was the greatest save I ever saw.”

Waterford corner-forward John Mullane, who managed to notch one goal but was denied another, and wing-forward Dan Shanahan, who put two unstoppable efforts past Cummins, were similarly effusive.

“He’s absolutely fantastic,” reckoned Mullane. “If a fella was doing that kind of thing in the English premiership, he’d be a hero forever.

“For him to continue doing that at this level, unbelievable.”

“He couldn’t have done anything about the two goals I got,” said Shanahan. “I caught the first one, Eamonn (Corcoran, his marker) kind of burst out ahead of me; the second one was a flick on a high ball coming in and it went in. But the save he made off Paul Flynn near the end was outstanding, I couldn’t believe it. It was heading for the right top corner, you have to acknowledge the brilliance of it, absolutely outstanding.”

With Philly Maher outside him, Eoin Kelly at the other end of the park, Cummins was one of the few consistent bright lights in a disappointing Tipperary performance.

Nevertheless, and as he said, they came within a couple of minutes of making the Munster final. Certainly, there is something there for them to build on.

“Everyone is saying how this result is great for hurling, and I know most neutrals were happy that Waterford won, but I don’t have all those Munster medals that Tipperary won over the years, the 24 All-Irelands. I’ve been on the Tipperary team since 1993, and I have one Munster medal, one All-Ireland. I’m only a few miles from the Waterford border and don’t begrudge them this win. They’re a decent crowd with great supporters.”

But Tipperary hurling also needed another Munster championship and needs another All-Ireland.

“At least it’s not all doom and gloom this year; last year, we were well beaten by Clare in Munster, well beaten again by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final. This time, even with a lot of fellas not at their best, we still came within a few minutes of beating Waterford.” But the pain remains.

“This hurts, it has to hurt; everything looked good coming into the game, training had gone very well and expectations were high. Now, we need to get a bit of meanness back into our play, a bit more passion and come back fighting.”