Cahill: Cork are still raging hot favourites. There’s only one man smiling tonight and that’s Pat Ryan

CORK STILL FAVOURITES: Tipperary manager Liam Cahill believes that Cork are raging hot favourites to win the All-Ireland SHC. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Despite the ease with which they secured a semi-final spot against Kilkenny and the remarkable upset in the other quarter-final, Tipperary manager Liam Cahill isn’t getting carried away.

The Munster outfit cruised past Galway in the Gaelic Grounds with an eight-point victory. Dublin’s win over Limerick earlier on Sunday means they will face Cork in the other semi-final. A wide-open championship now?

“Cork are still raging hot favourites.,” said Cahill post-match.

“I'd say there's only one man smiling tonight and that's Pat Ryan. Look, we have to prepare and fix a few things that we need to go after for two weeks' time and try and embrace the challenge, which is a huge challenge.

“But it's an exciting time in Tipperary, brilliant to see the huge volume of Tipperary supporters on the field, the kids, boys and girls there. It does your heart good really to see it and it's something that I've always longed to see happening under my own watch here with this group of players.” 

Tipperary were five clear at half-time and looked comfortable throughout despite hitting 13 wides.

“Today was about getting the job done. It wasn't pretty at times. I suppose we showed snippets of what we've been capable of doing all year, but plenty to work on and a real opportunity now for us to go after it and see if we can sneak into a final.” 

Cahill was appointed in July 2022. He has finally steered his county back to HQ for the first time since 2019. It was always going to take some time.

“I think patience is tough,” he said.

“It's hard to have patience. I played corner forward for a few years myself and it's a place where in my time you had to have patience for the ball to come in. It wasn't like the modern day where you could roam off out the field. It's something that I've never really been blessed with.

“It was the case of having to over the last two seasons, you're dead right, but I think now the players that I suppose were on our radar are now starting to come of age. They're still very young. I still think that the mix of the more experienced cohort that are still with us are really bringing brilliant culture and standards to the set-up.

“As I said from the outset, it's a really nice mix. It'll be a big challenge in two weeks' time to go to Croke Park with a group of players that a high percentage of them won't have played there. That will probably more than likely hand us the tag of being real underdogs, to be fair, and rightly so.” 

Meanwhile, Galway boss Micheál Donoghue was left frustrated by several missed chances. He stood outside of a disappointed dressing room.

“It is the worst place in the world when you are knocked out of the championship,” he said.

“I have nothing but admiration for them. It is the hardest on them. They will get flak, but they will stick together and hopefully regroup again.” 

There is a prospect that some stalwarts won’t return in the maroon and white.

“It’s not for me to say. There are lads in that dressing room that have given unbelievable service. We will see what unfolds over the next few weeks.” He continued: “Look, today is raw. Today will hurt. In terms of where we are, where the boys were, where they came from last year, today might not be the right day to say it is a step forward. I think we have made a step forward. There is huge learnings to take from the season. We will reflect on that and regroup again.”