Captain's Blog 21 July 2010

Following Tipperary's win over Offaly at the weekend and Cork eventually losing out to Waterford in the Munster final replay it meant that a draw for the Quarter final pairings wasn't needed and left us looking forward to renewing our rivalry with Tipperary in Croke Park at 4 o clock on Sunday.

Training has gone well since we regrouped after the last round of club games, we got through as much work as we could while still trying to make sure bodies are fresh for the weekend. Thankfully we picked up no major injuries, though Cyril Donellan picked up a nasty hand injury which required stitches but feels he will be 100% for Sunday so it leaves the management with a full squad to pick from for the do or die clash. And we'll certainly need to be at full strength,Tipp were easily the second best side in the country last year and, despite not retaining their Munster crown, are still second to Kilkenny this year in the opinion of many.

With quality players all over the park,especially up front we know its going to take a mammoth effort to reach the semi final stage but one that we feel is within our range.

After the poor showing in the Leinster final we'll be hoping for a big performance come Sunday and hope the our supporters will get behind us once more and shout us on in a game that is sure to go down to the wire.
 
Shane Kavanagh