Munster GAA SHC Quarter Final – Tipperary 2-20 Limerick 1-19

Tipperary 2-20 Limerick 1-19

Report from the RTE.ie web site

Munster champions Tipperary staged a remarkable comeback to break Limerick hearts, 2-20 to 1-19, in a thriller at Semple Stadium. Limerick seemed set for a shock win when they built on a 1-9 to 1-8 interval lead by hitting six points without reply against the wind in the opening 13 minutes of the seconds-half. But the All-Ireland finalists never panicked and Tipp clawed their way back into contention and hit the front seven minutes from time when Brian O’Meara flicked home a goal. Tipp powered on from there to set up a Munster semi-final with Cork.

Limerick opened at a blistering pace with teenage debutant Shane Dowling leading the way as he landed four points, two of them from play, in the opening ten minutes. Tipperary captain Paul Curran had opted to play against the wind and the Limerick fans in the crowd of 22,068 must have been given great hope by their impressive start, with only Tipp’s only response being a long-range effort from Thomas Stapleton. But Tipperary refused to panic, even when Eoin Kelly missed a couple of frees, and Pa Bourke and the hard-working Brian O’Meara reduced the deficit.

Then John O’Brien found O’Meara in space and rather than pick off a point the full-forward found the unmarked Bourke who drove low into the bottom left corner to level the match at 1-03 to 0-06, after Dowling and Graeme Mulcahy had increased Limerick’s lead. Conor Allis and Noel McGrath exchanged points before Kevin Downes restored Limerick’s lead after 23 minutes. A minute later Mulcahy, having been denied by Brendan Cummins, blasted to the net to put Limerick 1-08 to 1-04 in front.

The response from Tipp against the wind was good with O’Meara getting his second point as they hit four on the spin as Bourke, Kelly and McGrath found the range, although Limerick led 1-09 to 1-08 at the break when Sean Tobin pointed in stoppage time. Tipp were clearly rattled as Kevin Downes, Dowling, David Breen, Mulcahy, Sean Tobin and Conor Allis all found the range to lead by 1-15 to 1-08 after 48 minutes. But Pa Bourke settled them with a couple of points and they got the margin down to two before O’Meara struck for the decisive goal to break Limerick hearts in a gripping contest.

Tipperary scorers: P Bourke 1-7 (0-4f, 0-1 65), B O’Meara 1-2, N McGrath 0-3, S Callinan 0-2 (0-1 free), E Kelly 0-1f, T Stapleton 0-1, J O’Brien 0-1, S Bourke 0-1, S McGrath 0-1, C O’Brien 0-1.

Limerick scorers: S Dowling 0-8 (4f), G Mulcahy 1-2, S Tobin 0-3, K Downes 0-2, C Allis 0-2, D Breen 0-1, D Hannon 0-1.

Tipperary: B Cummins; D Maher (C O’Brien 48), P Curran, M Cahill; T Stapleton, C O’Mahony, Padraic Maher; J Woodlock (S McGrath 28), B Maher; G Ryan (S Callinan 50), N McGrath, P Bourke; E Kelly (Patrick Maher 42), B O’Meara, J O’Brien (S Bourke 63).

Limerick: N Quaid; S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; W McNamara (T Ryan 68), D O’Grady, G O’Mahoney; P Browne, J Ryan; D Breen, C Allis (B Geary 63), S Dowling; S Tobin (N Moran 65), K Downes (D Hannon 50), G Mulcahy.

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath)

 

Tipperary have just about enough in reserve

SEÁN MORAN at Semple Stadium for the Irish Times newspaper

Tipperary 2-20 Limerick 1-19: QUALIFIERS notwithstanding, yesterday must have been a time of great stress for Tipperary connections. Trailing by seven points heading into the last quarter, the GAA Munster hurling champions were staring down the barrel of the biggest surprise in the province for a while.

Their misfiring team, groomed for a few years as the only serious contenders in the world of Kilkenny and the team that interrupted the gilded sequence of the All-Ireland champions two years ago, were on the verge of elimination by a wholehearted, young Limerick side. Somehow, Tipp found a response and in the final 15 minutes doubled their score from 1-10 to 2-20, sufficient to take them past and keep them in front of the by now faltering challenge.

There will, by the time postmortems have been concluded, be something for everyone in this provincial quarter-final. Limerick were under pressure after a disappointing but hamstrung league campaign had failed to deliver promotion, whereas Tipp had not impressed in Division One A. They proceeded to come out sluggishly on to what should have been a perfect afternoon – Semple Stadium’s broad expanses glistening in the hot summer sun. But it was the outsiders that struck the early tempo and Tipperary struggled.

By the time the match headed into its endgame from the 55th minute, Declan Ryan had thrown in a full complement of replacements and, as acknowledged by both sides, the quality of the Tipp bench made a sufficient impact to shift the match on to a different track. Balancing the feeling of satisfaction for Ryan and his management must have been the underperforming display of the selected 15.

They took a long time to get settled, as both teams shuffled their starting line-ups around with Tipp’s forward zipping in and out of various positions and it was Limerick, chiefly through the efforts of Shane Dowling, who had a most impressive debut, who pushed into early command of the match. Their movement was good and their shooting economical – two wides in each half, one of which wasn’t an attempt at a score – but the home side played into their hands with sloppy defending and some poor clearances.

Dowling capitalised with the first five of Limerick’s points, two from play, to the two that Tipp could muster. Despite all of this adversity, the favourites were hanging on and in the 18th minute closed the three-point gap when Brian O’Meara, the only starting forward to impress consistently and who had just hit a nice point, laid off neatly to Pa Bourke in support and his low shot across Nicky Quaid arrowed into the bottom corner of the net.

Tipperary’s forwards were still far from clicking and Eoin Kelly was wide with a couple of shots and Noel McGrath’s input was intermittent, but they managed to stay in touch after Graeme Mulcahy had been gifted a second chance – after Brendan Cummins had saved his first shot, but the defence failed to clear – to put Limerick 1-8 to 1-4 ahead.

At the other end, Limerick’s defence were enthusiastically throwing themselves around at every assault – one passage of play just after the half-hour featuring four separate blocks on Tipp attackers. Again, though, Limerick didn’t pull away and the champions presumably felt happy to be just a point behind, 1-8 to 1-9, at the break.

Nonetheless, the third quarter was the stuff of nightmares for Tipperary. Far from exploiting their proximity to the challengers they watched as six unanswered points rained over from all points, as Kevin Downes, Dowling, David Breen, Mulcahy and Seán Tobin converted chances with a crisp aplomb. Eoin Kelly was replaced – his last action to be fouled a couple of times without reward on a run through the middle – and significantly Patrick Maher made his reappearance, the first since last year’s All-Ireland final.

It nearly got worse for Tipperary in the 50th minute when trailing, 1-9 to 1-15, they watched as Kevin Downes took possession immediately after Limerick had conceded the first score of the second half and flicked the ball into David Breen but, with a goal at his mercy, the wing forward fumbled and Paul Curran cleared. The match turned as Patrick Maher began to make a nuisance of himself and Limerick mysteriously withdrew Downes, allowing Conor O’Mahony to get into his stride and mop up a succession of dropping ball.

Referee Barry Kelly emerged from his reluctant period with the whistle and began to call fouls and Tipp began to cut the deficit – hitting six points to one in the 10 minutes until the 65th when the vital breach was made. Patrick Maher was instrumental but could have been penalised for charging; instead O’Meara came in behind the ruck and clipped the ball into the net to put Tipp ahead at 2-15 to 1-17. From then on, they outscored Limerick by 0-5 to 0-2 and Tipperary had effected their escape. Cork are next up and are unlikely to be as accommodating, but the outing will stand to the winners.

TIPPERARY: B Cummins; D Maher, P Curran, M Cahill; T Stapleton (0-1), C O’Mahony, P Maher; J Woodlock, B Maher; G Ryan, N McGrath (0-3), P Bourke (1-7, four points frees and one 65); E Kelly (0-1, free), B O’Meara (1-2), J O’Brien (0-1). Subs: S McGrath (0-1) for Woodlock (28 mins), Patrick Maher for Kelly (42 mins), C O’Brien (0-1) for D Maher (49 mins), S Callanan (0-2, one free) for Ryan (52 mins), S Bourke (0-1) for J O’Brien (64). Yellow card: Cahill (15).

LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; W McNamara, D O’Grady, G O’Mahony; P Browne, J Ryan; D Breen (0-1), C Allis (0-2), S Dowling (0-8, four frees); G Mulcahy (1-2), K Downes (0-2), S Tobin (0-3). Subs: D Hannon (0-1) for Downes (51 mins), B Geary for Allis (64 mins), N Moran for Tobin (65 mins), T Ryan for McNamara (70 mins). Yellow cards: Condon (19 mins), Dowling (42 mins), Walsh (48 mins), Mulcahy (50 mins), McCarthy (59 mins).

Referee: Barry Kelly (Westmeath).

 

THE SUBSTITUTIONS WE MADE WORKED’

BEING AS he is, unflappable, Declan Ryan’s demeanour bore little witness to the fact that he had been very tight margins from having to conduct an altogether more disagreeable post-match media scrum. Instead, he was able to reflect on a late deliverance, chiefly the work of his extensive list of replacements. “The substitutions we made worked reasonably well, all the lads that came on made a huge contribution, they added a lot of energy to the game. It was very warm out there and it was great they had the impact they did,” said Ryan.

Although there were improvements all over the pitch – replacement corner back Conor O’Brien even got up for a point and Shane McGrath energised a static centrefield – it was the first appearance of the season by Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher that really got the crowd buzzing. “Patrick has great energy about him,” said Ryan, “Shane (McGrath) has been going very well in training in the last three weeks. Im just delighted with what they added when they came on.”

Captain Paul Curran was just relieved. “It was looking dodgy because you could hear the Limerick supporters in full voice and I suppose we just dug deep. There were seven points in it at one stage and it ended up four so we were lucky.” Limerick manager John Allen was torn between satisfaction with his young side’s storming attempt at a major upset and regret at what, trimmings aside, was a championship defeat. “Well you see I thought we were going to win the game and I went to the bookies yesterday to prove it. Our training in the past six weeks had been really good. We had a game last Friday night, a green versus white we’ll call it, where a number of altercations took place which kind of was really the way our training had gone all along. “There was a real intensity in training. The team on Wednesday night wasn’t a foregone conclusion. There were players who certainly weren’t sure that they were going to get on the team. I’m extremely proud of the team. They were heroic really, but this game is about winning. “This game will bring us on, but championship games are all about winning. Today’s performance is great for confidence – I’m sure the Limerick public will have been impressed so yes, it will bring us on.”

 

Premier making the right moves

Tipperary 2-20 Limerick 1-19

By Diarmuid O’Flynn for the Irish Examiner newspaper

What a close call for champions Tipperary in this first-round Munster senior hurling championship clash in baking heat in Thurles yesterday. But what a heroic performance by a precocious Limerick side also. With only 15 minutes remaining the youngsters in green were seven points ahead (1-16 to 1-9), their hosts having been held to just a point in the second-half, and a shock of major proportions looked on the cards. And Limerick were full value for that seven-point lead, had hit the ground with an intensity that seemed to catch Tipperary completely off guard but more importantly, they had maintained that intensity right through those 55 minutes.

Their defence was hurling superbly, hooking/blocking/harassing the Tipperary attack to complete distraction, tigerish corner-backs Stephen Walsh and Tom Condon typifying the visiting effort. Midfielders James Ryan and Paul Browne were more than holding their own, while up front teenage championship debutant Shane Dowling was playing like a veteran, aided and abetted by David Breen and Conor Allis alongside him in the half-forward line, the flying trio of Graeme Mulcahy, Kevin Downes and Seanie Tobin doing damage inside.

It was a magnificent team effort from Limerick and the champions were on the ropes — one big punch and it was all over. However Tipperary are champions for a reason with a deep well of self belief and strength developed over the last four years during which time they’ve gone toe-to-toe with Kilkenny. In those final 15 minutes that talent finally surfaced and when it did, a tiring Limerick had no answer.

Onto the pitch came Patrick ‘Bonner’ Maher, Conor O’Brien, Seamus Callanan and Shane Bourke, to join Shane McGrath who had been brought on in the first half. Oh, what an impact those five had on the game in those final minutes, what an impact made by Bonner Maher especially. He’s been missing for a while due to injury, and though it took him a while to get to the pace of the game, when he did he was like a fox among the hens, creating panic every time he was on the ball.

Maher inspired the Tipperary comeback. He didn’t score but then that isn’t really his forte; he drew two fouls for pointed frees and gave a scoring pass to start Tipperary on a 1-11 to 0-3 run in that final quarter, a run that saw them turn a seven-point deficit to a four-point win.

Even the goal — Bonner it was who won possession and ran straight at Nicky Quaid (did very well overall, the Limerick keeper), drew a crowd of defenders, dropped the ball to the sod (after what seemed an age!), to be pounced on by Brian O’Meara. Delight at the end then for the huge Tipperary contingent in the 22,068 attendance, heartbreak for Limerick. And it is heartbreak; forget the patronising, the consolation talk about great effort — this is a game Limerick should have won.

Right from the start they were in control. After 17 minutes they led by three (0-6 to 0-3, the deadly Dowling with five of those points). They were then caught by a sucker-punch, John O’Brien and Brian O’Meara (lovely stick pass) combining to set up Pa Bourke for Tipperary’s first goal — didn’t matter. Back they came again and a goal of their own, rocketed home by Graeme Mulcahy moments after he had been denied by a miracle point-blank Brendan Cummins save, had them back in charge in the 26th minute, four in front (1-8 to 1-4).

Tipp pulled it back to one by the break (featuring a superb O’Meara point — Richie McCarthy did as good a job as any one man could have managed on the Tipp giant), 1-9 to 1-8, but with the breeze now going to favour Limerick, things were looking rosy for the visitors. Things were looking even rosier 20 minutes after the restart. Six points to start the new half, one each from all six forwards and the game seemed gone from Tipperary. Then came the cavalry and that late charge.

Great showing from Limerick but it must also be said — while Tipperary did so much right on the sideline, Limerick’s substitutions and switches were somewhat baffling, taking off guys who were still full of running (Tobin particularly), bringing out a man who was causing problems inside (Mulcahy), leaving on a guy who had run himself to a standstill (Dowling). If they learn from this, however, on and off the pitch, they will be a force yet this year. Either way they’ll be a force in a year or two.

Scorers for Tipperary: P Bourke 1-7 (4fs, 1 65), B O’Meara 1-2, N McGrath 0-3, S Callanan 0-2 (1f), T Stapleton, E Kelly (f), J O’Brien, S Bourke, S McGrath, C O’Brien, 0-1 each.

Scorers for Limerick: S Dowling 0-8 (4fs), G Mulcahy 1-2, S Tobin 0-3, C Allis, K Downes 0-2 each, D Breen, D Hannon 0-1 each.

Subs for Tipperary: S McGrath for Woodlock (28), Patrick Maher for Kelly (42), C O’Brien for D Maher (49), S Callanan for Ryan (51), S Bourke for J O’Brien (64).

Subs for Limerick: D Hannon for Downes (65), N Moran for Tobin (65), B Geary for Allis (65), T Ryan for McNamara (69).

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath)

Tipperary (SH v Limerick): B Cummins; D Maher, P Curran, M Cahill; T Stapleton, C O’Mahony, P Maher; J Woodlock, B Maher; G Ryan, N McGrath, P Bourke; E Kelly, B O’Meara, J O’Brien.Limerick (SH v Tipperary): N Quaid: S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; W McNamara, D O’Grady, G O’Mahony; P Browne, J Ryan; D Breen, C Allis, S Dowling; G Mulcahy, K Downes, S Tobin. 

Team Announcement

Player Profiles

New Players on panel for 2012:

Sean Curran (Mullinahone) –  forward

Timmy Hammersley (Clonoulty Rossmore) – forward

Donagh Maher (Burgess) – defender

Shane Maher (Burgess) – defender

Conor O’Brien (Eire Og Annacarty Donohill) – defender

Adrian Ryan (Templederry Kenyons) – forward

Johnny Ryan (Drom and Inch) – forward

Timmy Hammersley, Conor O’Brien and Shane Maher were on the 2010 panel.

Injured Players

Adrian Ryan – recovering from broken collar bone – out for game v Limerick

Paddy Stapleton – groin strain – may be out for game v Limerick

Management Profiles

Declan Ryan was Manager of the Tipperary minor hurling team in 2007 when they won the All Irleand title. Tommy Dunne was coach and Michael Gleeson was a selector. Tommy Dunne was coach to the Tipperary U-21 team which won the 2010 All Ireland title and was also Manager of the Toomevara senior hurling team in 2010. Michael Gleeson managed Thurles Sarsfields to victory in the Tipperary senior hurling championship in 2009 and 2010 and has also managed Thurles Sarsfields minor teams to win county titles in both hurling and football.

Declan Ryan won three All Ireland senior hurling medals with Tipperary in 1989, 1991 and 2001. He played 41 championship games for Tipperary between 1988 and 2001, scoring 9-64 in 26 wins, 4 draws and 11 defeats. He represented Tipperary at minor and under 21 levels and captained the under 21 team to win Munster and All Ireland titles in 1989. He also won 4 National Hurling League medals, 5 Munster senior hurling championship medals, 2 All Star awards and 2 county senior hurling championship medals with his club, Clonoulty Rossmore, in 1989 and 1997.

Tommy Dunne captained Tipperary to win the All Ireland senior hurling title in 2001 and was named Hurler of the Year in 2001. He played 44 championship games for Tipperary between 1993 and 2005, scoring 6-109 in 24 wins, 4 draws and 16 defeats. He won an All Ireland under 21 hurling medal in 1995 and also represented Tipperary at minor in 1991 and 1992. He won 10 Tipperary county senior hurling championships with his club, Toomevara, including 2 as captain and 3 Munster club championship medals. He also won 3 National Hurling League medals, 2 as captain, 2 Munster senior hurling championship medals, a Munster minor championship medal and 3 All Star awards.

Michael Gleeson played senior hurling for Tipperary against Clare in the 1977 Munster senior hurling championship. He also played in the 1975/76 and 76/77 National Hurling Leagues. He played senior hurling with Thurles Sarsfields for 10 years between 1974 and 1983, winning a county championship medal in 1974 and 3 Mid Division senior hurling medals. He began his career in team management with the Durlas Óg club in Thurles and has made a major contribution to the recent revival in the fortunes of Thurles Sarsfields at underage and adult level.

Trainer

Ross Dunphy is in his first year as Strength and Conditioning Coach (Trainer) to the Tipperary Senior Hurling team. 33-year-old Ross is a native of Wexford and holds a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science from the University of Limerick. Ross is from the Clonard GAA Club in Wexford town and has represented Wexford at all levels of Gaelic Football.

Ross has been involved in coaching both hurling and Gaelic football since 2004. He trained the Toomevara senior hurling team for three seasons and the Kildare U21’s in 2009. He has also been on the coaching and management team with Sarsfields GAA club in Newbridge County Kildare over the past few seasons

Captain and Vice Captain

28 players lined out for Tipperary during the 6 matches compared with 35 for 7 matches in 2011.

Scorers

Tipperary played 6 games in this year’s Allianz hurling league campaign scoring a total of 140 points (5-125) and conceding a total of 143 (10-113). 15 players in total scored with the top scorers being: Pa Bourke (2-38), Noel McGrath (1-23), Brian O’Meara (1-11) and Shane Bourke (0-12).

League Debuts

4 players made their Allianz League debuts during this year’s campaign – Sean Curran (Mullinahone), Donagh Maher (Burgess), Adrian Ryan (Templederry Kenyons) and Johnny Ryan (Drom and Inch).

Clubs represented on panel

There are 32 players on Tipperary’s training panel at present representing 18 clubs. Thurles Sarsfields have most representatives with 4, followed by Clonoulty Rossmore, county SH champions 2011, Drom and Inch, Mullinahone and Templederry Kenyons with 3 each, and Borris-Ileigh, Burgess and Toomevara with 2 each. 10 clubs have 1 representative each – Ballinahinch, Ballybacon Grange, Eire Og Annacarty Donohill, JK Brackens, Kilruane MacDonagh, Lorrha and Dorrha, Loughmore Castleiney, Moyne Templetuohy, Newport, and Portroe.

Brendan Cummins; Paddy Stapleton, Padraic Maher, Paul Curran, Declan Fanning, Conor O’Mahony (Capt), Brendan Maher; James Woodlock, Shane McGrath; Pat Kerwick, Seamus Callanan, John O’Brien; Noel McGrath, Eoin Kelly, Lar Corbett.

Subs: Benny Dunne for S McGrath (54), Gearoid Ryan for Woodlock (62), Micheal Webster for Kerwick (63), Paul Kelly for E Kelly (65), Willie Ryan for Corbett (67).

Scorers — Tipperary: L Corbett 3-1, E Kelly 1-6 (6f), P Kerwick 1-3, N McGrath 1-2, S Callanan, C O’Mahony (2f 1 ’65) 0-3 each, J O’Brien 0-1.

Last Munster Championship Meeting Munster SH Semi Final 2^nd Replay June 24^th 2007

Limerick 0-22   Tipperary 2-13 aet

LIMERICK: B. Murray; S. Lucey, D. Reale (c), S. Hickey; M. O’Riordan, B. Geary, M. Foley; Mike O’Brien, D. O’Grady; M. Fitzgerald, O. Moran, N. Moran; A. O’Shaughnessy, B. Begley, K. Tobin.

Subs: P. Lawlor (Reale inj. 10); J. O’Brien (Begley 48); P. Tobin (K. Tobin 70). Extra-time subs: B. Foley (Fitzgerald 80); H. Flavin (P. Tobin 83).

TIPPERARY: G. Kennedy; E. Buckley, D. Fanning, D. Fitzgerald; E. Corcoran, C. O’Mahony, H. Maloney; S. McGrath, J. Woodlock; J. Carroll, D. Egan, B. Dunne (c); S. Butler, E. Kelly, L. Corbett.

Subs: T. Stapleton (McGrath inj. 55); P. Bourke (Carroll 64); W. Ryan (Dunne 68).

Scorers for Limerick: A. O’Shaughnessy 0-6 (0-3 frees 0-1 65); N. Moran 0-5; B. Geary 0-3 (0-1 free 0-1 65); O. Moran 0-3; M. Fitzgerald 0-2; K. Tobin 0-2; D. O’Grady 0-1.

Scorers for Tipperary: E. Kelly 0-9 (0-7 frees); D. Egan 1-0; W. Ryan 1-0; S. Butler 0-2; S. McGrath, P. Bourke, 0-1 each.

Referee: S. McMahon (Clare).

Tipp Top Scorers v Limerick

Tipperary’s top scorers in their last 15 championship meetings with Limerick were:

1991     Nicky English 1-2 & Michael Cleary 0-5

1995     Michael Cleary 0-4

1996     Liam Cahill 1-3

1996(2) Michael Cleary 0-6

1997     Michael Cleary 1-3

2001     Declan Ryan & Lar Corbett 1-1 each

2002     Eoin Kelly 0-12

2004     Seamus Butler 1-2

2005     Eoin Kelly 0-7

2005(2) Eoin Kelly 0-7

2006     Eoin Kelly 0-14

2007     Willie Ryan 0-7

2007(2) Eoin Kelly 0-9

2007(3) Eoin Kelly 0-9

2009     Lar Corbett 3-1

Snippets

Championship Debutants under Declan Ryan

Declan Ryan gave 4 players championship debuts in 2011 – Shane Bourke v Waterford, John Coghlan v Clare, John O’Keeffe v Cork and John O’Neill v Dublin.

Youngest on the Panel

Noel McGrath for the first time since he joined the Tipp SH panel in 2009 is no longer the youngest player on the panel – that honour now falls to Sean Curran of Mullinahone who was born on September 15^th 1991 compared with McGrath’s birth date of December 17^th 1990.

The Older Brigade

Now in his 20^th season on the Tipp SH panel, goalkeeper Brendan Cummins is comfortably the oldest player on the panel at 37. The second oldest is Lar Corbett who was 31 on March 16^th and he narrowly holds this position ahead of the squad’s other goalkeeper, Darren Gleeson who was 31 on March 19^th. The other over 30s on the panel are Shane Maher, Paul Curran, John O’Brien and Eoin Kelly.

Family Affairs

There are two sets of brothers on the Tipp panel – Paul and Sean Curran of Mullinahone and Shane and Donagh Maher of Burgess. Pa Bourke is a first cousin of Johnny Ryan and they are both second cousins of Padraic Maher. Gearoid Ryan and Adrian Ryan are first cousins.

Limerick Management Connections to Tipperary

Limerick hurling selector, John Kiely is a teacher at the Abbey CBS in Tipperary Town and Limerick trainer Donach O’Donnell was manager of the Nenagh CBS team which won this year’s All Ireland Colleges A hurling final.

Eoin’s Quest for a Green Flag against the Green and White

One of the surprising aspects of Eoin Kelly’s Tipperary career since making his senior debut at Croke Park in 2000 is that he has only scored one goal against Limerick and that was in their most recent meeting in the 2009 All Ireland semi-final. However, in ten meetings between 2001 and 2009, he has recorded a total of 1-71 for a splendid average of 7.4 points per game.

Goals Against Limerick

Over their past 12 championship meetings Tipperary have scored a total of 22 goals against Limerick. They were scored by Lar Corbett (4), John Carroll(3); Darragh Egan, Seamus Butler and Ger “Redser” O’Grady (2 each); and Eoin Kelly, Pat Kerwick, Noel McGrath, Willie Ryan, Evan Sweeney, John Devane, Tommy Dunne, Declan Ryan and Michael Cleary (1 each).

Venues for Tipp v Limerick

The most popular venue for championship games between the counties has been Cork, with a total of thirty played between the old Athletic Grounds (23) and Pairc Ui Chaoimh (7). Thurles has hosted 13 games – the first on July 1st, 1923 ended in a 2-2 each draw and the most recent, on June 16th 2007, also ended in a draw and was still level after extra time!

Record Winning Margins

Tipperary’s biggest win in championship hurling against Limerick was achieved on July 3rd 1960, when they won a first round game by 10-9 to 2-1, at the Cork Athletic Grounds.

Limerick’s highest winning margin was claimed on June 22^nd 1947 when they won a semi final clash at Cork Athletic Grounds by 6-8 to 2-3.

The most significant turnaround occurred in 1962 when the counties drew a semi final in Cork on July 1st and three weeks later Tipp won the replay by 5-13 to 2-4!

Goalless Games

While goals have been a feature of Tipp v Limerick clashes over the years, there were two occasions when neither team could raise a green flag. It first happened at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in their 1988 Semi Final meeting, which Tipp won by 0-15 to 0-8. The second occasion was at the same stage and venue in 1995, when Limerick just made it to the final by 0-16 to 0-15.

School Colleagues from Tipperary and Limerick

On April 13th 1997, Cistercian College, Roscrea, (Leinster Champions) lined out against St. Cuan’s Castleblakeny, Galway (Connacht Champions) in the All Ireland Colleges ‘B’  Hurling  semi final, at Nenagh. Their full back was Stephen Lucey from Croom in Limerick, while the goalkeeper was John O’ Brien from Toomevara in Tipperary. The CCR team was captained by John’s brother, Paddy, at centre forward, and his ten point contribution helped them to reach the decider on a 1-14 to 1-5 scoreline. The Connacht Tribune match report paid tribute to ‘’..an uncompromising Roscrea defence based around the prowess of Toomevara’s John O’ Brien and the power hurling of No. 3, Stephen Lucey, who gave an exhibition of full back play’’.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a happy ending to the story, as CCR lost the final two weeks later at Nenagh to the Munster Champions, St. Clement’s College, Limerick, whose line out included Stephen Lucey’s future Limerick colleagues Dave Bulfin, Brian Begley and Conor Fitzgerald. The final score was 1-8 to 0-7.

Limerick Men Playing with Tipperary

Over the years there has been a tradition of players lining out with counties other than their own. In the modern era, Limerick have given three notable players to Tipperary.

On June 7th 1981, Mossie Carroll (Garryspillane / St Mary’s, Clonmel) who had played for Limerick, in the 1980 All Ireland final loss to Galway, lined out at centre back for Tipperary in the Munster semi final against Limerick at Semple Stadium. In opposition was his brother Brian ‘Bomber’ Carroll, who played at midfield. Mossie scored a point from a free for Tipp while Brian scored a vital second half goal, as Limerick came back from an early second half deficit of 2-11 to 0-3 to earn a draw, with Joe McKenna’s late point. John Grogan was top scorer for Tipp with 2-6 (0-5f) while Joe McKenna with 3-1 was Limerick’s leading marksman. Limerick won the replay comfortably, in the Gaelic Grounds, two weeks later and this time the top scorers were Eamon Cregan on 1-5, (1-0 pen, 0-1f) and Seamus Bourke on 2-3 (0-2f). Mossie later served as a Limerick senior hurling selector.

The following year Brian Carroll lined out for Tipp at wing forward in the Munster championship against Cork, joining Mossie, who was again at centre back. Cork won by eight points and that was the last time the Carroll brothers wore the blue and gold in championship hurling.

Conor O’Donovan (Effin / Nenagh Éire Óg) played for Limerick in their losing Munster Minor finals of 1979 and 1980. On the latter occasion, he lined out at right half forward and was marked by Denis Finnerty (Eire Og Nenagh as it was then known) who soon became a club colleague. Conor played at midfield for the Tipp under 21s in their 1982 loss to Limerick, which brought the quest for a four in a row to an end. In 1983 he was at centre forward on the Tipp under 21 team, which won Munster but lost the All Ireland final to Galway. He subsequently represented Tipp at senior level and his versatility was well proven with stints at left half back (Open Draw Cup 1985), right full back (1988 NHL victory) and full back (1989 All Ireland success). Conor captained his club to victory, from full back, in the 1995 Tipp Senior Hurling championship.

Joe McKenna’s Tipp connections

Joe McKenna, a native of Shinrone, Co. Offaly, who enjoyed many successful championship days for Limerick against Tipperary is the uncle of Owen and Darragh Maher from Roscrea, both of whom played Minor Hurling for Tipperary. Owen was involved with the 1988 team, while Darragh was with the 1989 edition. Owen was also a Tipp under 21 for two seasons, 1990 (Munster champions) and 1991.  Owen and Darragh have another legendary uncle in Brendan Maher, who won six Co. SHC medals with Roscrea, between 1968 and 1980, along with the first ever All Ireland club title in 1971. Brendan now resides in New York where he remains involved in GAA affairs.

Next game

The winners of the Tipperary v Limerick game will play Cork in the Munster SH Championship semi-final on Sunday June 24^th. The losers go to the qualifiers.

Feel free to use any of this information as appropriate.