McGrath Cup Quarter Final – Limerick 2-16 Clare 2-13

Limerick show extra mettle as Clare lapse

By Diarmuid O’Flynn for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Limerick 2-16 Clare 2-13

An open and entertaining McGrath Cup quarter-final in chilly Foynes yesterday and an ultimately deserved but skin-of-the-teeth win for the home side. With the clock running down in normal time, Limerick trailed Clare by five points, a deficit that would have been much greater had Clare not been so wasteful in the second half (eight wides). However, they kept their cool, none more so than local man and captain-for-the-day Ian Ryan, who tapped over two points to bring them within a goal as the match went into injury-time. In those extra minutes up popped Seamus O’Carroll to fire home the equaliser. Cruel on Clare, compounded when Limerick then proved the stronger outfit in extra-time, worthy if fortunate winners. “It was one we left slip,” said Clare manager Mick O’Dwyer, “We should definitely have won it in regular time, there’s no doubt about that but we conceded two soft goals. Still, those are the kind of things that will happen at this time of the year. Overall I’m happy enough with the way they played.”

Ironically, his Limerick counterpart, Maurice Horan, also complained of two softly-conceded goals by his side. “We started off very brightly, we were quite satisfied with the first 20 minutes but then for some reason we stopped playing, they were creating overlaps all over the place. The two goals were too soft but after half-time they got only 1-5 for the rest of the game (1-6), including extra-time, so I’m quite happy with that, we contained them better.” Could be that Maurice is being a little hard on his side there though, on the first goal especially. It came in the 28th minute, Limerick leading 0-6 to 0-5, when corner-forward Podge McMahon just beat Cian Cody to a high centre, his touch beating Brian Scanlon from close range. Clare dominated the rest of the half and led 1-7 to 0-6 at the break.

Clare’s second goal came just after half-time and yes, that one was something of a gift, McMahon left with a simple tap-in after Scanlon dropped the ball at his feet. It put Clare seven points in front, a commanding lead, but it was also to be McMahon’s last act. “We lost a couple of good players, McMahon and Alan Clohessy,” Micko pointed out; “Podge has a hamstring problem, Clohessy hurt his ankle, very unlucky. No great disappointment on his part, however, that Clare’s interest in the McGrath Cup is over — that’s not where Micko places his emphasis. “No, I never did, did I? That was a good workout, will prepare us for the league — we know now exactly where we stand with a lot of the players we put in today, we’re learning all the time.”

For Horan, the campaign continues, Kerry next Sunday in the semi-final, with the prospect of some very strong and experienced players yet to return. “All going to plan John Galvin will be back in the middle of March, Jim O’Donovan around the same time, Stephen Lucey hopefully before that. Seanie Buckley will have an MRI on Monday, we don’t know exactly what’s wrong with him, something around the hip or groin. “Our approach this year is that we’re not really experimenting in the McGrath Cup, we’re trying to get as far into the competition as we can. Kerry next now, we’re looking forward to that, you can’t beat that kind of competition.”

Scorers for Limerick: I Ryan 1-7 (4f); S O’Carroll 1-3 (2 45s); E O’Connor 0-2; G Collins 0-2; D O’Connor 0-2.

Scorers for Clare: P McMahon 2-1; D Tubridy 0-5 (3f); I McInerney 0-3 (3f); A Clohessy 0-3 (1f); G Brennan 0-1.

LIMERICK: B Scanlon; C Cody, J McCarthy, M O’Riordan; S Lavin, P Browne, P Ranahan; T Lee, B O’Brien; J Riordan, T O’Meara, S O’Carroll; E O’Connor, G Collins, I Ryan.

Subs: D O’Connor (O’Meara 35); D Treacy (Lee 50); M Sheehan (O’Riordan 54); S Kelly (Collins inj. 60); L O’Dwyer (Cody 62).

Extra-time: D Neville (Nevin 80).

CLARE: J Hayes; S Collins, C Dixon, D Callinan; S Haugh, G Kelly, M McMahon; G Brennan, C O’Connor; A Clohessy, I McInerney, S McGrath; P McMahon, C Talty, D Tubridy.

Subs: C Dunning (Talty inj. 12); M McCarthy (McMahon inj. 52); N Kelly (Clohessy inj. 52); T Downes (Haugh 70); F Hayes (McGrath 71). Blood sub: S McNelis (Collins 44/54).

Extra-time: S Ryan (McCarthy 70); G Quinlan (O’Connor 75).

Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry)

THE Limerick senior footballers have opened their 2013 account with a victory thanks to a 2-16 to 2-13 win over Clare

Report from the Limerick Leader newspaper

Sunday’s extra-time victory in Foynes was the first opening day win since 2010, when Limerick beat Colleges side Waterford IT at the same stage of the McGrath Cup. The win over Clare books a semi-final spot away to Kerry next weekend, with Tipperary playing Waterford in the other semi-final of the early season provincial competition. The three point win over Mick O’Dwyer’s Clare ends The Banner’s winning streak over Limerick after the men in Saffron and Blue won both encounter’s last year – in the league and championship. For long periods it looked like Clare were once again going to get one over on their Shannonside neighbours.

Limerick needed an injury-time goal from Seamus O’Carroll to force extra-time. Entering the final 10-minutes, Clare were 2-10 to 1-8 clear. It was a strong Limerick team with Cian Coady (Na Piarsaigh) and Bobby O’Brien (Bruff) handed opportunties to impress with starters. Darragh Treacy, Derry O’Connor, Mike Sheehan and Danny Neville were among the fresh faces to see action during the game.

Playing with the wind from the off, Limerick looked sharp and led 0-6 to 0-4 after 18 minutes. Inside forward duo Ger Collins and Ian Ryan had helped themselves to two points each and Limerick looked to be moving well. Then all went wrong and Clare began to dominate. Indeed Limerick failed to score for the final 17-minutes of the first half and it was Clare that led 1-7 to 0-6 at the break with Podge McMahon just about getting a fist to a cross-field ball in the 27th minute to divert to the net. McMahon’s second goal three minutes after the restart had Clare in command, 2-7 to 0-6.

Limerick used their substitutes bench and it finally had the desired result with a 57th minute goal from Ian Ryan bringing the home side to life. That left it 2-9 to 1-8 with 13-minutes to play. Clare will rue their 11-wides and a lack of concentration that allowed Limerick to garner momentum in the final quarter. Captain for the day, in a game played in his home pitch, Ian Ryan added two frees to his goal and Limerick were now chasing an equaliser.

It came in injury-time when O’Carroll kicked to the net after a goalmouth scramble. In extra-time Limerick played with the wind in the first 10-minute period and sub Derry O’Connor kicked two fine points to inspire those around him. Ryan and O’Carroll added points as Limerick led 2-14 to 2-12. Limerick were now on top with subs Darragh Treacy and Mike Sheehan doing well and Clare’s chances were at a minimum. Eoghan O’Connor and Ryan (free) sealed the win and progress in the competition for the first time in three years.

SCORERS – Limerick: Ian Ryan 1-7 (0-4 frees), Seamus O’Carroll 1-3 (0-2 ’45s), Derry O’Connor, Ger Collins, Eoghan O’Connor 0-2 each. Clare: Podge McMahon 2-1, David Tubridy 0-5 (two frees), Alan Clohessy (one free), I McInerney (all frees) 0-3 each, Gary Brennan 0-1.

LIMERICK – Brian Scanlon; Cian Coady, Johnny McCarthy, Mark O’Riordan; Stephen Lavin, Paudie Browne, Pa Ranahan; Thomas Lee, Bobby O’Brien; John Riordan, James O’Meara, Seamus O’Carroll; Eoghan O’Connor, Ger Collins, Ian Ryan. Subs: Derry O’Connor for O’Meara (h-t), Darragh Treacy for Lee (50mins), Mike Sheehan for O’Riordan (54mins), Stephen Kelly for Collins (57mins), Lorcan O’Dwyer for Coady (61mins), Danny Neville for Lavin (11mins, e-t).

CLARE – Joe Hayes; Stephen Collins, Chris Dixon, Declan Callinan; Sean Haugh, Gordan Kelly, Martin McMahon; Gary Brennan, Cathal O’Connor; Shane McGrath, Ian McInerney, Alan Clohessy; Podge McMahon, Conor Talty, David Tubridy. Subs: Chris Dunning for Talty (12mins), Mark McCarthy for McMahon (38mins), Niall Kelly for Clohessy (51mins), Thomas Downes for Haugh (70mins), Francie Hayes for McGrath (71mins), Shane Ryan for McCarthy (h-t, e-t), Ger Quinlan for O’Connor (15mins, e-t).

REFEREE – Padraig O’Sullivan (Kerry)

Team News

1 Brian Scanlan, Gerald Griffin’s.

2 Cian Coady Na Piarsaigh.

3 Johnny McCarthy St. Kieran’s.

4 Mark O’Riordan Croom.

5 Stephen Lavin Adare.

6 Paudie Browne Fr. Casey’s.

7 Pa Ranahan Ballysteen.

8 Thomas Lee Ballylanders.

9 Bobby O’Brien Bruff.

10 John Riordan Fr. Casey’s.

11 James O’Meara Ballysteen.

12 Seamus O’Carroll Cappagh Kilcornan.

13 Eoghan O’Connor St. Mary’s/Sean Finns.

14 Ger Collins Monaleen.

15 Ian Ryan St.Senan’s.

Manager Maurice Horan

Selector: Joe Lee

Coach: Mickey McGeehin

Conditioning Coach: Andy O’Neill

Doctor: Mick Lucey

Physio: Jamie Bowman

Asst Physio: Gordon Cagney

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

For the Record

Fixtures and Results

Preliminary Round

Saturday January 5^th

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney       Kerry 4-22 IT Tralee 0-10

Sunday January 6^th

@ Miltown-Malbay                            Clare 1-19 LIT 1-2
@ Cork IT GAA Grounds                 Cork 1-15 CIT 0-10

Quarter-Finals (Extra time)

Sunday January 13^th

@ Foynes                                          Limerick v Clare                                                        @ 2:00pm

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney       Kerry v UCC                                                              @ 2:00pm

@ Pairc Ui Rinn                                Tipperary v Cork                                                       @ 2:00pm

@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore Waterford v UL                                                          @ 2:00pm

Semi-Finals (Extra time)

Sunday January 20^th

Limerick or Clare v Kerry or UCC

Venue Permutations

Limerick v Kerry – Kerry venue

Clare v Kerry – Clare venue

Limerick v UCC – Limerick venue

Clare v UCC – Clare venue

Cork or Tipperary v Waterford or UL

Venue Permutations

Cork v Waterford – Waterford venue

Tipperary v Waterford – Tipperary venue

Cork v UL – Cork venue

Tipperary v UL – Tipperary venue

Final (Extra time)

Sunday January 27^th

McGrath Cup Senior Football – Odds and Ends

Since 2000, Cork’s McGrath Cup success rate is 89% (best of any county) with 17 wins out of 19 in the competition.  In the same period, Kerry have won 12 of their 14 matches (a 86% success rate).

Despite a goal-less final, there was an average of 2.4 goals per match in the 2012 McGrath Cup competition (22 goals scored in total). This contrasts with 16 goals scored in the 2011 competition over 11 matches (an average of 1.4 goals per match).

The record of the Third Level Colleges in the McGrath Cup since entering in 2005 is Won 21, Lost 47 (31% success rate). None of the six colleges have a winning record in the competition during that period. UCC have the best record, winning 7 of their 15 matches (47% success rate) while UL have won 5 of their 12 matches (42% success rate).

Since 2011, the record of Third Level Colleges when playing an Inter-County team in the McGrath Cup is Won 2, Lost 14 (13% success rate)

Kerry have not lost a match in the McGrath Cup since the 2006 final where the Kingdom lost to Cork by 1-9 to 0-6 at Pairc Ui Rinn.

Limerick footballers have won 1 of their last 6 matches in the McGrath Cup. Waterford have won 1 of their last 5 matches.

Tipperary is the only team to have won at least 1 match in the last 3 years of the McGrath Cup with a 66% record during that period, Won 6 Lost 3.

Clare footballers have won 5 of their last 7 matches in the McGrath Cup over the last two seasons. During that span, Clare have scored 4 goals and conceded 4 goals.

McGrath Cup Senior Football Roll Of Honour

Clare (12) – 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2008

Cork (6) – 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Limerick (5) – 1985, 1987, 2001, 2004, 2005

Tipperary (3) – 1989, 1993, 2003

Kerry (3) – 1996, 2010, 2011

Waterford (1) – 1981

London (1) – 1988

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete Roll of Honour since the competition began in 1981 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/mcgrath-cup-football/

McGrath Cup

Presented by Joe McGrath on June 21st, 1981 for the promotion of Senior Football in Munster

McGrath Cup – 2013 Scorers