2022 McGrath Cup Football Group B Round 2 – Tipperary 1-12 Limerick 0-14

Tipperary defeated Limerick by 1-12 to 0-14 in Round 2 of the 2022 McGrath Cup Football Group B on Sunday January 9th at Mick Neville Park Rathkeale.

Jack Kennedy caps late Tipperary comeback against Limerick

Report by Tom Clancy for the Irish Examiner newspaper

McGrath Cup: Limerick 0-14 Tipperary 1-12

Two stoppage-time points from Jack Kennedy turned this McGrath Cup tie in the favour of a youthful Tipperary side, giving them the victory over Munster rivals Limerick. Tipperary boss David Power described it as a “building block” as his side look to bounce back from a disappointing 2021.

It was a first outing of the year for Power’s men and despite being second best for long periods, they held onto the heels of Limerick, with Seán O’Connor landing 1-7. His goal, on the 30th minute, capped a sweeping move for Tipperary and put them into the lead for the first time. This was a first score from play for the Premier County.

Limerick, looking to bounce back from their heavy defeat to Kerry on Wednesday evening, had early scores from Tony McCarthy, Peter Nash, and Darragh Ranahan and, like Tipperary, were blooding a number of new faces. It was level 0-8 to 1-5 at the short whistle, thanks to a Josh Ryan 45.

The next quarter saw the deadlock remain, as fine points from Conor Ryan and Conal Kennedy had Tipperary’s nose in front. But back came Limerick – the impressive James Naughton finishing the move of the match for a point. Josh Ryan may have found the net from close range, but somehow, his fisted effort was saved superbly by sub-keeper Michael O’Reilly.

Limerick appeared to have the bragging rights down the stretch when leading by three, with Josh Ryan (two frees) and Cillian Fahy putting Limerick in the driving seat. But back came Tipperary, and after emptying the bench, a brace from O’Connor was followed by two identical scores from Jack Kennedy – who held his nerve after the hosts had wasted a plethora of chances.

Power said: “These McGrath Cup games are about building character, and seeing can we find a couple of players. We’d a very young squad today, 12 of the 26 are U21. We’re trying to build something in Tipperary. We’re working very hard with the U20s and we’re trying to build a senior development squad alongside that.

“With 10 minutes to go, it looked like the game was over, even though after half-time I felt we missed a couple of chances. We finished very strongly, and we’re very pleased with that result. Kerry will be a different animal, but we were dealing with U20s who hadn’t won for a number of years.

“This is a building block, but we have to start from somewhere, it was great to get that result.”

Scorers for Limerick: J Ryan 0-5 (0-3 frees, 0-1 45); P Nash (0-1 free), H Bourke (0-2 frees), T McCarthy 0-2 each; D Ranahan, J Naughton, K Fahy 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: S O’Connor 1-7 (0-6 frees), J Kennedy 0-2, S Foley, C Ryan, Conal Kennedy 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: A O’Sullivan; S O’Dea, M O’Donovan, J Liston; T McCarthy, D Woulfe, L O’Sullivan; T Griffin, J Ryan; P Nash, J Naughton, B Coleman; S Barry, H Bourke, D Ranahan.
SUBS: D Treacy for McCarthy (half-time), L O’Sullivan for Liston (half-time), C Fahy for Nash (half-time), D Noonan for Barry (53), P De Bruin for Coleman (53), R Bourke for H Bourke (53), R O’Brien for Woulfe (59), H Bourke for Ranahan (63).

TIPPERARY: E Comerford; S O’Connell, L Ryan, J Feehan; L Kennedy, C Cannon, C O’Shaughnessy; Conal Kennedy, M Russell; E McBride, L Boland, J Ryan; C Ryan, S Foley, S O’Connor.
SUBS: J Moloney for Cannon (35, inj), J Harney for J Ryan (48), M O’Reilly for E Comerford (48), J Kennedy for E McBride (53), B Comerford for C Kennedy (58), T Tobin for L Boland (59), D O’Leary for L Kennedy (63), P Devlin for L Ryan (66), D Hickey for C O’Shaughnessy (71), J Buckley for C Ryan (71), J Holloway for S O’Connell (72).

Team News

Best wishes to the Tipperary Senior Footballers who play Limerick this Sunday in Rathkeale in Round 1 of the McGrath Cup. pic.twitter.com/4MJdfcE2Ey

— Tipperary GAA (@TipperaryGAA) January 7, 2022