2023 has worked out very well for Tipp’s Tynan

FIRST REAL YEAR: Alan Tynan of Tipperary in action against Conor Cleary, left, and Brandon O'Connell of Clare during the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

Bearing in mind it was as he says his “first real year” as a Tipperary senior hurler, 2023 worked out reasonably well for Alan Tynan.

The team’s failure to perform in the All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Galway left a rotten taste in his mouth but as a proper debut year goes it was a solid one.

Man of the match in the thrilling Munster SHC Round 2 draw with Cork in Páirc Ui Chaoimh, Tynan gave a demonstration that he is as good with the ball as he is in trying to retrieve it. The consistency of his displays for Roscrea these past three seasons underline that.

Coming from Munster rugby where he played a number of “A” games after being part of their academy and Ireland’s full-back in the 2017 U20 World Cup, his progression to elite hurling since Liam Sheedy brought him in at the start of the 2021 season has required patience but he’s repaid the faith put in him.

“Apart from the first game in the league against Laois, I started every game for Tipperary last season,” says the 25-year-old who is promoting Fiserv’s one-year extension as Tipperary sponsors. “I like to think I’ve eventually made that transition, later than I would have thought. Under Colm Bonnar in 2022, I thought I would have been worthy of a chance as I was going well with the club but unfortunately that didn’t happen.

“It was fantastic to have Liam Cahill back, someone who I would have played under a lot at under-age. His first year was my first year with the minors so I’d know Liam and he knew the character I was.

“Without Liam Sheedy’s help and Tommy Dunne who would have put a lot of time and effort into me, I probably wouldn’t have made it. I was way off the pace in that first year but they saw something in me and in fairness to Tommy he put the time into me and it helped me.

“Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans then helped me step up further and we knew how to work together. It’s my first real year playing inter-county hurling and there’s a lot more than I can give.” Tynan can be pigeon-holed as an enforcer because of his rugby and Gaelic football background and his run-ins with Will O’Donoghue and Kyle Hayes also come to mind but that portrayal doesn’t bother him for he knows it tells only part of his story.

“There are a couple of players in the Tipp team that are there to do a job but you don’t make Tipperary teams if you can’t hurl. We pride ourselves on our hurling and skillset in Tipperary.

“I’m no Jason Forde or Noel McGrath but I like to think I have different attributes to my game that I look to impose in games. I would be confident in my hurling and felt I was always a decent hurler.

“I wouldn’t let someone in the crowd change my opinion in that regard. I know I’m there to break up the play but I’m also there to get on the ball as much as I can and feel when I do something good can come from it.” 

With the win over Clare being Tipperary’s sole win against Liam MacCarthy Cup opposition in the last championship, the group are aware they have to improve greatly, says Tynan.

The back-to-back draws with Cork and Limerick promised more but they largely faltered thereafter. “Coming up against Limerick, there was a lot of talk about them and us from the (semi-final) game in the league, that we wouldn’t be able to match them physically if they got a run on us. Although we didn’t win, it was pleasing to not wilt like we did in the second half of the league game.

“Our season went downhill after that. We never got out of the blocks against Waterford and they imposed their game-plan on us. We regrouped to put up a massive score on Offaly and mentally felt we were in a good place against Galway but again the first half let us down in that game. They brought a fierce intensity that we didn’t match and left it too late to make a comeback.

“We’re judged on winning trophies, winning All-Irelands so to fall short in both Munster and the All-Ireland makes it very disappointing.” A member of the sales team in Herdwatch based just outside Roscrea, the sting of that Galway game has stayed with Tynan. “Galway dropped Cathal Mannion and he swept up a lot of play and maybe we played into their hands a bit.

“As players, we’re disappointed we didn’t adapt to that and realise what Galway were doing. I know our management team have worked really hard in the off-season from chatting to them. They’ll put a lot of work into us soon and ensure we don’t put in a performance like that again.”