Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Semi-Final – Limerick 2-12 Waterford 2-9

Sparkling Shannonsiders march to Munster final

Limerick 2-12 Waterford 2-8

By Fintan O’Toole from the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, June 13, 2011

LIMERICK will contest the Munster IHC final on July 13 against either Cork or Clare after beating Waterford in yesterday’s semi-final in Semple Stadium. The decision of Limerick County Board to use the intermediate side as an U25 development squad was vindicated as they produced a bright performance. Players like Niall Maher and Denis Moloney have featured for the senior side in the past and on this evidence a few more could make that jump. Full-back Brian Kelliher was a rock at the edge of the square, while midfielder Jason Hayes was full of energy. Up front Donie Reale, impressive for Limerick IT on their way to this year’s Fitzgibbon Cup final, was to the fore at corner-forward, while Seanie O’Brien’s searing pace caused constant difficulties for the Waterford half-back line. Limerick’s other corner-forward showcased his versatility. Tommy Quaid kept goal for Cork IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup this season but here he chipped in with 1-2 and alongside him Denis O’Connor picked off a healthy 1-4.

Waterford, captained by former senior defender Brian ‘Bull’ Phelan at right half-back, had an ace marksman in centre-forward Stephen Power, who ended up with 1-6. However Waterford were too reliant on the Ballygunner man for inspiration. Until Paudie Nevin found the net in the 57th minute, Power was the only Déise attacker to contribute scores although midfielder Dean Twomey notched two points. Waterford settled better in the early exchanges and with Power on fire from placed balls, held a 0-4 to 0-2 lead by the 14th minute. However, Limerick’s challenge was boosted 60 seconds later when Denis O’Connor found the net. Waterford goalkeeper Stephen O’Keeffe made a brilliant initial block to deny Quaid but the rebound fell kindly to O’Connor who bundled his shot to the net.

Waterford restored their lead courtesy of points by Twomey and Power yet Limerick closed the half in powerful fashion. Quaid and Reale shared three points between them to push Limerick into a 1-5 to 0-6 lead by the 25th minute. An O’Connor free and a converted 65 by Conor Allis extended Limerick’s lead to 1-7 to 0-6 by the half-time mark. Power helped bring Waterford into contention in the second half and when he smashed home a penalty in the 41st minute, they were only a point adrift. However Limerick’s response was impressive. Seanie O’Brien rifled over a pair of good points before the insurance score arrived in the 54th minute. Allis saw his shot blocked on the line by O’Keeffe but the alert Quaid stole in to scramble home a goal. That ensured Limerick led 2-12 to 1-8 and despite Nevin’s late goal, Limerick hung on for success.

Scorers for Limerick: D O’Connor 1-4 (0-2f), T Quaid 1-2, D Reale, S O’Brien 0-2, C Allis (0-1 ‘65), S Madden 0-1. Scorers for Waterford: S Power 1-6 (1-0 pen, 0-6f), P Nevin 1-0, D Twomey 0-2.

LIMERICK: B Hennessy; D Moloney, B Kelliher, J Dillon; N Maher, P Begley, T O’Callaghan; J Hayes, D Hanley; C Allis, S Madden, S O’Brien; D Reale, D O’Connor, T Quaid. Subs: M Ryan for O’Connor (48), W Griffin for Quaid (57), D Ahearne for O’Brien (57).

WATERFORD: S O’Keeffe; B Coughlan, I Flynn, M O’Brien; B Phelan, C Ryan, S Hannon; D Barrett, D Twomey; P Nevin, S Power, P Power; C O’Gorman, T Connors, A Brophy. Subs: K Cashell for O’Gorman (46), R Power for Brophy (46), H Barnes for Twomey (52).

Referee: Jer O’Connell (Cork)

Team News

Please find listed herewith Waterford Intermediate Hurling Team to play Limerick on Sunday next in Semple Stadium at 1.45 pm.

1. Stephen O’Keeffe – Ballygunner

2. Barry Coughlan – Ballygunner

3. Ian Flynn – De La Salle

4. Mark O’Brien – Tallow

5. Brian Phelan – De La Salle – Captain

6. Chris Ryan – Mt Sion

7. Seamus Hannon – Ballyduff Upper

8. Eddie Barrett – De La Salle

9. Ian Twomey – De La Salle

10. Paudie Nevin – De La Salle

11. Stephen Power – Ballygunner

12. Paul Power – Portlaw

13. Adam Brophy – St. Saviours

14. Tommy Connors – Passage

15. Chris O’Gorman – Lismore

Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information

For the Record

2011 Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship Matches played to date

Cork 2-16 Tipperary 2-12 – May 29^th @ Semple Stadium Thurles (Munster Quarter-Final)

CORK: D McCarthy; J Carey, R Cashman, S White; T Healy, M Ellis, S Corry; B Corry, M Sexton; D Drake, M O’Sullivan, C Casey; J Wall, T Murphy, B Lawton.
Subs: B Withers for White (half-time), E Conway for O’Sullivan (60).

TIPPERARY: J Logue; A Byrnes, G Hannigan, K Maher; J Moloughney, T Stapleton, R Sherlock; J Ryan, P O’Dwyer; D Hickey, W O’Dwyer, P Austin; E Sweeney, P Ivors, R McLoughney.
Subs: B Fox for P O’Dwyer (27), D O’Brien for Austin (40), D O’Brien for W O’Dwyer (47), L Dwan for R McLoughney (50), T Dalton for Ivors (55).

Referee: Declan O’Driscoll (Limerick)

2011 Top Scorers – Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship

Michael O’Sullivan (Cork) 1-2
Maurice Sexton (Cork) 0-5 (0-4 frees)
Philip Ivors (Tipperary) 1-2
Colm Casey (Cork) 1-1
David Drake (Cork) 0-4 (0-1 sideline)
Liam Dwan (Tipperary) 1-0
Tony Murphy (Cork) 0-2
Ray McLoughney (Tipperary) 0-2 (0-2 frees)
Johnny Ryan (Tipperary)  0-2 (0-1 free)

Jamie Wall (Cork), Brian Corry (Cork), Joey McLoughney (Tipperary), Thomas Stapleton (0-1 free), Paudie O’Dwyer (Tipperary), Darragh Hickey (Tipperary), Evan Sweeney (Tipperary), Brian Fox (Tipperary)  0-1 each.

Munster GAA HURLING Intermediate Championship Roll Of Honour

Cork (13) – 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010

Tipperary (7) – 1961, 1963, 1966, 1971, 1972, 2000, 2002

Limerick (3) – 1968, 1998, 2008

Waterford (1) – 2007

Kerry (1) – 1970

Galway (1) – 1962

Munster GAA HURLING Intermediate Championship – List of Winning Teams

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete list of each winning team since the competition began 1888 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/ih_teams/

Munster Intermediate HURLING Cup

The Sweet Afton Cup presented by Mr. Jerry Shelly of Tipperary in 1961.

All Ireland GAA HURLING Intermediate Championship

In the Intermediate Hurling All Ireland Roll of Honour, Cork lead the way with 7 titles followed by Tipperary with 5. Wexford (4), Kilkenny (3), London (2) and Galway (2) are the only other counties to have won an All-Ireland title in this grade.

Useful Information

Cork hold the record for the longest streak of success in finals. They won four championships in-a-row between 2003 and 2006.

Tipperary hold the record for the longest streak of defeats in finals. They lost three championship deciders in-a-row between 2004 and 2006.

Cork have won 6 of the last 8 Munster titles in this grade, winning 15 of their last 17 matches in the Munster Intermediate Hurling Championship, including their 2011 first round victory over Tipperary.

Tipperary have lost 6 of the last 7 matches in this grade dating back to the 2006 Final.

Cork hold the record for the most consecutive appearances in Munster finals. They played in four-in-a-row on two separate occasions, firstly between 1967 and 1970, and most recently between 2003 and 2006.

Clare have lost two Munster finals, however, they have yet to win one. Intermediate is the only grade of hurling in which Clare have never won a provincial title.

Three counties have completed the Munster intermediate and senior double in the same year:

Cork in 1969, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006

Tipperary in 1961, 1971

Waterford in 2007

Cork is the only county to have completed the Munster minor, under-21, intermediate and senior ‘grand slam’ in the same year. This was achieved in 1969 and again in 2005.

Only one player has captained his county to Munster titles in both the intermediate and senior grades:
Pat Mulcahy captained Cork to the intermediate title in 1997 and the senior title in 2006.