Ryan bemused by Tipp performance

Tipperary manager Michael Ryan was at a loss as to explain the reason behind his side's below-par performance in Sunday's Allianz Hurling League final.

The reigning All-Ireland champions went into Sunday's decider as favourites to be crowned league winners, but they were no match for Galway at Limerick's Gaelic Grounds, going down 3-21 to 0-14.

Galway dominated the first half and deserved to take a six-point lead in at the break before turning on the style in the second-half to claim their first league title since 2010.

"I can't explain where it all went wrong. That was a complete non-show," Ryan reflected.

"We weren't prepared for that kind of a game - we weren't prepared for any kind of game with that kind of performance. It was the worst performance we've had in the length of time I've been looking after these boys.

"It's very disappointing in a national final that we'd choose to come up with one of those. We'll go back and have a think about things but nothing appeared out of order to us since last week.

We were just flat and, to be fair, counter that with Galway, who gave a sterling performance and showed all the right attributes - hunger, power, passion, precision, they had those things in abundance.

"Credit Galway, they were deserving winnings by a country mile, as it was on the scoreboard."

Galway manager Michael Donoghue could not contain his delight at the county's tenth Division 1 title, but he insists they have plenty of work to do ahead of their Leinster SHC opener against Dublin on May 28.

"We were very conscious of the start, that we were still in the game after ten or 15 minutes. I thought the lads did really well on that and then we just pushed on. We've the height of respect for them. We're delighted with the win but we're still very, very conscious of the year and trying to get our ship in order," Donoughe said.

"We had the win and the margin was wide but there's still a lot to work on now over the next couple of weeks. Winning is a habit and we're trying to feed the habit as much as we can.

"It's going to be good for our confidence but May 28 still isn't far away." 

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