Colm Bonnar recorded his second victory as Tipperary boss, with the defeat of Kilkenny at the weekend.
The former Carlow boss seen his side run out four point winners against 14 man Laois in their opener with Jason Forde scoring 11 points to help them on their way. However a battle against the Black and Amber of Kilkenny was a bit more of a challenge. Despite creating a good lead going into the second half, The Cats clawed their way back into the game. After the game Bonnar was happy with the win, but happier to give some new players some experience;
“We were six points up at half time, I thought we were in a good position. But Kilkenny being Kilkenny, they came back within ten minutes. Our lads showed great character, and it was a ding-dong battle after that. We had goal chances, they had goal chances so I am happy to be on the right side of a one point game.”
“They want to play big games. They want to show what they have to offer for Tipperary. We have 33 very dedicated lads and every time we announce the team, a lot of them are disappointed. We are building, it is about building a team. We are eight weeks away from championship. As nice as it is to win, we need to get players onto the field and experience games like that.”
Embed from Getty ImagesRonan Maher came on the field and brought the game up a couple of notches, scoring a point from afar and setting up two others, and this is the reaction Bonnar wanted to see;
“Ronan was very disappointed he was not starting from the start. Our first home game, with him as captain, he would of loving to lead the team out on the field. We just felt with Dylan Quirke and Barry Heffernan playing so well against Laois, it was an opportunity to keep their development going. When Ronan came on there was such a roar from the crowd, and then his introduction and what he scored just says here I am so do not forget about me. It is what we want, players making that kind of contribution and having that attitude.”
“It is about a group of players coming together and battling until the end.”
Listen back to the full interview on Scoreline Extra below :
