A big win for the Treaty county.
So often Tipperary’s bogey team in Munster, Limerick came back to haunt the Premier County again in The Gaelic Grounds on Sunday afternoon. And this was thoroughly deserved. In the end, the winning margin was six points as John Kiely’s men went onto win this first round Munster round-robin clash by 1-23 to 2-14.
A job well done for the Shannonsiders, their young players, many of whom were part of last year’s All-Ireland under-21 team, were hungrier and sharper than an out of sorts Tipperary who were lacking in all areas.
Limerick’s use of possession was precise, it was economical, and it was exactly the opposite of Tipperary’s, who on countless occasions pucked the ball aimlessly and hopelessly into the abyss.
But this was all about Limerick. This was all about the flamboyant Aaron Gillane, the classy Graham Mulcahy, the measured Cian Lynch and the mammoth Diarmuid Byrnes.
The Treaty County horsed Tipperary out of it all over the field and in truth, their winning margin could have easily been ten points. The game is perhaps best summed up by the stat that this Tipperary forward line, best known for their skill, their point-taking, their free-flowing tendencies, only managed to score five points from play in 70 minutes of hurling.
They did manage two goals, through Dan McCormack and Jason Forde, but even these green flags, which you expected to drive the men in blue and gold on, were against the run of play.
Dan McCormack rattles home the opening goal in the Limerick-Tipp Munster championship clash after a ferociously competitive passage of play pic.twitter.com/nTQIRaWazU
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 20, 2018
Limerick had the better of the first half but they didn’t make their supremacy count. John Kiely’s men weren’t converting chances they should have and on the other end of the field, full back Seamus Hickey coughed countless cheap and needless frees. Jason Forde would punish this indiscipline and these free pucks were the only things that would keep Tipperary in the game.
The Premier County went into the break with an undeserved one point lead and Limerick must have been kicking themselves.
But the second half was a different story with the home side eventually beginning to make their dominance count. Corner forwards Aaron Gillane and Graham Mulcahy both had the better of their men and they would help fire Limerick into a three point lead after 45 minutes of play.
A Jason Forde goal would paper over a number of Tipperary cracks as the Silvermines club man levelled the game up with a stunning finish in the 45th minute of the game.
That was as good as it would get for Michael Ryan’s men, however as they would crucially never kick on to lead this game. Limerick always had them at arm’s length and with Diarmuid Byrnes and Declan Hannon taking over in the half back line, this set the platform for Cian Lynch to bomb forward and forwards Gearoid Hegarty and Aaron Gillane to prosper.
Barry Murphy batted home late on and that would be the final nail in the Tipperary coffin, but they were beaten well before this.
Goal for Limerick! Barry Murphy bats to the back of the Tipperary net. pic.twitter.com/zqdBTm0PQk
— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 20, 2018
Now, it’s hard to see how they’ll regroup in less than seven days for the second round, while Limerick will bask in the glory of this with a weekend off ahead of them next weekend.
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