Tipperary were knocked out of Munster Championship contention as they were inflicted an 18-point defeat at home to Cork at Semple Stadium. Even with a match to go Tipp are stranded at the bottom of the table yet to score a point so far this campaign.
They play Clare next week in what is a game with huge ramifications for the top end of the table but for Tipp, they look like they need this campaign to end and regroup to see what's going wrong at the Premier County.
He might not have admitted it but Dónal Óg Cusack was probably delighted that Cork inflicted their heaviest defeat since 1898 onto their age-old hurling rivals to knock them out of the championship.
Speaking on the Sunday Game the former Rebels shot-stopper questioned The Premier Men and their fans.
I have to say do, and I don’t want to give false pats on the head, but Tipperary were shocking.
They were blown away. If it was a boxing match, the towel would have been thrown in with 25 to 30 minutes to go, and you would have to wonder if the fight had gone out of Tipp.
Even their supporters, where were all their supporters today? Tipp’s a hurling county. Cork outnumbered them I don’t know what it was, but it looked ten to one.
It is a pattern this year. The day against Limerick, I was down there; Limerick won by 15 points. I would say only for the unfortunate thing that happened to Peter Casey. They would have won by 20 points. The referee gave a foul against Patrick Horgan. It was actually a sympathy vote from the referee today. There was nothing wrong with the goal.
Antrim stalwart Neil McManus called for Tipp to put a plan in place to introduce more younger players to replace the old guard still involved with the panel.
They are struggling for quality,
I would say you look at the older guard that came on off the bench to try and save the game for Tipperary Dan McCormack, John McGrath, Bonner people that have given unbelievable service to Tipp tough men who have been in the heat of battle and delivered for Tipperary. They're looking to the new guys coming through, but they're not performing for them. Look, I think Tipperary need to rethink it now.
They might have to go with younger players and give them the opportunity like Tipperary getting that beating in Thurles is something we’ve seen so rarely it was such a shock, really
'Tipperary were shocking... you'd have to wonder, is the fight gone out of Tipp?'
The panel on a dark day for Tipp hurling#rtegaa pic.twitter.com/Yfy1d4OTq8
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 19, 2024
They look to be team far away from contending with any Championships that Tipp are normally associated with and hopefully for their fans they can find form sooner rather than later.
READ MORE: Liam Sheedy Thinks Cork Hammering Could Be The End Of An Era For Tipperary
