Tipperary Supporters Club

Founded 1986

Co. Tipperary

Honours even at the Gaelic Grounds as final quarter Limerick comeback denies Tipp victory

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Source: Irish Independent

All-Ireland champions Limerick salvaged a draw at the Gaelic Grounds as they began their bid for a third league title in a row yesterday.

They threw on big guns Cian Lynch and Gearóid Hegarty in the final quarter but it was a brace of points from another substitute, Peter Casey, which proved pivotal in the finish.

Tipperary failed to score from play in the second half but an 0-8 return from ace free-taker Jason Forde put them in the driving seat. By the 54th minute they were five points clears (0-19 to 0-14) but they were outscored 0-6 to 0-1 at the business end of the contest.

It wasn’t the new sin-bin rule which dominated the post-match debate, rather it was the change in the advantage rule which resulted in a significant increase in the number of frees awarded and it was Tipperary who benefited most from the change.

According to Limerick boss John Kiely, the free count was 21-10 in favour of the visitors, but they deserve a lot of credit as well. Their blocking and work rate particularly in the first 40 minutes was outstanding and as Liam Sheedy remarked afterwards they would have been very disappointed had they not gone home with a point.

Though the result will probably be forgotten long before we reach the business end of the season, there was an unmistakable message that Tipperary are up for the battle this year.

Not surprisingly the game lacked fluency and essentially it turned into a battle between the free-takers. Jason Forde hit 0-14 for Tipperary with his Limerick counterpart David Reidy replying with 0-8 for the home side.

Limerick sported a new commemorative hooped jersey to mark the centenary of the county’s 1921 All-Ireland win, the first winning team to be presented with the Liam MacCarthy Cup — unfortunately it was virtually impossible to see the numbers on them.

Richie English returned to the side for the first time since damaging his cruciate ligament in a league tie against Galway in February of last year.

The sides were level on three occasions in the early exchanges before three scores on the spin put a more fluent Limerick 0-6to 0-3 ahead. But a brace of Jason Forde points cut the deficit to a minimum at the end of the first quarter.

Tipperary had a much more productive second quarter and took the lead for the first time in the 25th minute. Forde’s frees and two super long-range efforts from Ronan Maher — one from a free — were the key scores as Limerick’s inclination to concede frees proved costly.

Tipperary’s blocking and overall work rate was particularly noticeable and had Forde been more accurate with his long range frees — he missed three — they could have been further in front. Jake Morris had a goal chance seven minutes before the break, but his weak effort was comfortably saved by Nickie Quaid.

Limerick dropped three shots short into rookie Tipperary goalkeeper Barry Hogan. But points from captain Will O’Donoghue, Adrian Breen and Diarmaid Byrnes (free) kept the scoreboard ticking over, though they were a shade fortunate to be level 0-12 each at the break.

A big play from Dan McCormack drew a free which Forde converted to give the visitors an early advantage in the second half.

They continued to dominate, forcing Limerick to concede frees and Forde obliged. By the 50th minute they were four clear (0-18 to 0-14).

By then Limerick had introduced Cian Lynch in an effort to stem the one way traffic but the hard running of Adrian Breen and Niall O’Meara made the Limerick defence look very ordinary.

Richie English and Will O’Donoghue were booked as the pressure mounted. Gearóid Hegarty came on at the start of the final quarter and they finally achieved some traction with a brace of frees from Reidy and Seamus Flanagan’s fourth point from play — it was the first point from play in the second half by one of the side’s starting forwards.

The gap was now down to two as the game entered its final ten minutes. Substitute Peter Casey snatched his second point and David Reidy tied up the scores with a 66th minute free. Forde edged Tipperary ahead again with his 14th free.

Thirty seconds into the allocated three minutes of injury time, David Reidy tied up the scores yet again and it was obvious that Tipperary were tiring, but they held on to end Limerick’s 100 per cent competitive record which stretched back to the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final.

Scorers —

Limerick: D Reidy 0-8 6f, S Flanagan 0-4, A Breen 0-3, P Casey 0-2, D O’Donovan 0-1, W O’Donoghue 0-1, D Byrne (1f) 0-1 each.

Tipperary: J Forde 0-14, 11f, 1 65, R Maher 0-2, 1f N O’Meara 0-1, W Connors 0-1, D McCormack 0-2, M Breen 0-1

LIMERICK: N Quaid; A Costello, S Finn, R English; D Byrnes, K Hayes, B Nash, W O’Donoghue, D O’Donovan; T Morrissey, D Reidy, C Boylan; A Breen, S Flanagan, D Dempsey.

Subs: Casery for Dempsey 45, C Lynch for O’Donovan 45, G Hegarty for Boylan 56, D O’Connell for Breen 60, B O’Grady for O’Donoghue 67

TIPPERARY: B Hogan; C Barrett, R Maher, B Heffernan; B McGrath, S Kennedy, B O’Meara; A Flynn, M Breen, D McCormack, P Maher, N O’Meara; W Connors, J Forde, J Morris.

Subs: N McGrath for O’Meara (54), C Darcy for Connors 60, M Kehoe for Flynn 63, P Maher for O’Meara 67

REF: Colm Lyons (Cork)

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