Bord Gais Energy Munster U21H – Tipp 4-12 Waterford 1-16

Tipperary defeated Waterford by 4-12 to 1-16 in the Bord Gais Energy Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Quarter-Final on Wednesday at Semple Stadium Thurles.

Match Report

Deise fume at red card as O’Neill seals Tipp’s place in semi-finals

Tipperary 4-12 Waterford 1-16

By Jackie Cahill for the Irish Examiner newspaper

REFEREE Diarmuid Kirwan was given a hostile reception by angry Waterford supporters following last night’s quarter-final defeat against All-Ireland champions Tipperary. Kirwan enraged Tipp fans with his performance in the 2009 senior final against Kilkenny, but he drew the ire of Waterford at Semple Stadium by sending off substitute Owen Whelan, who had been on the pitch less than 10 minutes before he was dismissed for two bookable offences. Within a minute of coming on at half-time, Whelan received his first yellow card but the second award was harsh and left the Deise with an almost impossible task. But Waterford, who trailed by 10 points in the first half and by eight with 13 minutes of normal time remaining, had the gap down to just two deep in stoppage-time as Brian O’Sullivan, who scored 1-4, found the net.

In a frantic finish, visiting fans were soon appealing in vain for a foul on Maurice Shanahan 25 metres out, but Kirwan waved away their claims. And Tipp finally killed the game off in the fifth minute of stoppage-time when John O’Neill scored his second goal of the game in front of 4,392 spectators on a glorious evening for hurling. The end result saw Tipperary avenge their 10-point defeat at Fraher Field in this competition two years ago.

The game started in fiery fashion as off-the-ball scuffles broke out around the pitch before throw-in and Tipp, lining out with seven of the team that started against Galway in last September’s final, got off to a great start when senior star and team captain Noel McGrath buried a fourth-minute penalty. Tipp led from there until the finish — at half-time, the winners were ahead by 2-9 to 0-7 — to set up a semi-final meeting with Cork on July 20. Their second goal, from Sean Curran in the 13th minute, was tapped home from close range following good work by O’Neill.

Scorers — Tipperary: J O’Neill 2-2, N McGrath 1-1 (1-0 pen), S Curran 1-0, A Ryan 0-3, J O’Dwyer 0-2 (1f), B Stapleton, P Murphy, B O’Meara, M Sheedy 0-1 each. Waterford: B O’Sullivan 1-4, Pauric Mahony 0-6f, M Shanahan 0-4, J Dillon, O Connors 0-1 each.

TIPPERARY — P Ryan; C Haugh, K O’Gorman, S Maher; B Stapleton, J Barry, P Heffernan; N McGrath, J Gallagher; S Curran, P Murphy, A Ryan; J O’Neill, B O’Meara, J O’Dwyer. Subs: S O’Brien for Barry (inj, h-t), A McCormack for Ryan (39), M Sheedy for Curran (56).

WATERFORD — S O’Keeffe; J Barron, D Fives, N Connors; P Prendergast, Philip Mahony, S Daniels; S Roche, A Brophy; E Murphy, Pauric Mahony, M O’Neill; B O’Sullivan, M Shanahan, J Dillon. Subs: O Whelan for O’Neill (h-t), O Connors for Brophy (47), E Madigan for Murphy (inj 56).

REF — D Kirwan (Cork)

Next Round – the winners play Cork on July 20^th at 7:30pm in Semple Stadium Thurles in the Munster Semi-Final.

Team News

The Tipperary Under 21 hurling team to play Waterford in the Munster under 21 hurling championship on Wednesday night at Semple Stadium will be captained from midfield by senior star, Noel McGrath, and also features senior panellists Paddy Murphy, Brian O’Meara and John O’Neill in the forwards. The team includes 7 of the team which started last year’s All Ireland final against Galway. The team is:

1.         Paul Ryan (Upperchurch Drombane)

2.         Ciarán Hough (Lorrha and Dorrha)

3.         Kevin O’Gorman (Thurles Sarsfields)

4.         Stephen Maher (Thurles Sarsfields)

5.         Brian Stapleton (Templederry Kenyons)

6.         James Barry (Upperchurch Drombane)

7.         Padraig Heffernan (Clonoulty Rossmore)

8.         Noel McGrath (Loughmore Castleiney) Captain

9.         Joe Gallagher (Kildangan)

10.       Sean Curran (Mullinahone)

11.       Paddy Murphy (Nenagh Éire Óg)

12.       Brian O’Meara (Kilruane MacDonaghs)

13.       John O’Dwyer (Killenaule)

14.       Adrian Ryan (Templederry Kenyons)

15.       John O’Neill (Clonoulty Rossmore)

The Waterford Under 21 Hurling team to play Tipperary is as follows –

1 Stephen O’Keeffe

Ballygunner

2 Jamie Barron

Fourmilewater

3 Noel Connors

Passage

4 Paidi Prendergast

Lismore

5 Philip Mahony (Capt)

Ballygunner

6 Darragh Fives

Tourin

7 Stephen Daniels

De La Salle

8 Stephen Roche

Mount Sion

9 Martin O Neill

Mount Sion

10 Eamonn Murphy

Dunhill

11 Adam Brophy

St. Saviours

12 Padraic Mahony

Ballygunner

13 Brian O Sullivan

Ballygunner

14 Eoin Madigan

De La Salle

15 Jake Dillon

De La Salle

For the Record

MUNSTER GAA HURLING UNDER 21 CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

Quarter-Final

Wednesday June 1st

@ Semple Stadium Thurles           Tipperary v Waterford 7:30pm

Semi-Finals

Wednesday July 20th

@ Semple Stadium Thurles           Cork v Tipperary 7:30pm

@ Walsh Park Waterford                Cork v Waterford 7:30pm

Thursday July 21st

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Clare v Limerick 7:30pm

Final
Wednesday August 3^rd

Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Roll Of Honour

Tipperary (20) – 1964, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010

Cork (18) – 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1982, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2007

Limerick (5) – 1986, 1987, 2000, 2001, 2002

Waterford (3) – 1974, 1992, 1994

Clare (1) – 2009

Munster Under 21 Hurling 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 in1964 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/u21h_teams/

Munster Under 21 Hurling Cup

Corn na Cásca presented by the Munster Council in 1966 to commemorate the jubilee of the 1916 Rising.

All Ireland Under 21 Hurling Championship

In the Under 21 Hurling All Ireland Roll of Honour, Cork top the charts along with Kilkenny with 11 titles. Tipperary are joint-third with 9 titles, tied with Galway. Limerick have won 4 All-Ireland titles in this grade while Waterford and Clare have 1 title each.

Odds and Ends

Waterford had 10 points to spare over Tipperary in the 2009 Munster Under 21 Hurling Championship Semi-Final at Fraher Field Dungarvan. 14 months later, 8 of the Tipperary team played in the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Hurling defeat over Kilkenny – Padraic Maher, Michael Cahill, Brendan Maher, Seamus Hennessy, Gearoid Ryan, Noel McGrath, Seamus Callanan and Patrick Maher. 7 other Tipperary hurlers who played that night are members of the 2011 Tipperary Senior Hurling panel – namely Pa Bourke, John O’Neill, Shane Bourke, John O’Keeffe, Sean Carey, Michael Heffernan and John Coghlan. By contrast, Noel Connors was the only Waterford player to start for Waterford in the 2010 Munster Final and Replay while Maurice Shanahan and Shane Casey made brief substitute appearances.

Shane O’Neill captained Cork to Munster Under 21 Hurling success, their last title at this grade. Shane is the Cork Senior Hurling captain for 2011. The Cork team included Eoin Cadogan, Pat Cronin, Cathal Naughton and Pat Horgan.

Waterford’s last Munster Under 21 Hurling title came in 1994 with James O’Connor as Captain. Tony Browne lined out at centre-back while Paul Flynn was corner-forward.

Tipperary have played in 28 finals, winning 20. Cork have contested 27 finals, being successful 18 times. Waterford have qualified for just 6 of the 47 finals played to date, winning 3. Limerick’s records is Played 16, Won 5, Lost 11. Finally, Clare lost 11 finals before winning their first in 2009 before going on to lose the 2010 final to Tipperary.

2011 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 All-Ireland Championship Launched

First ever Gaelic Games Player Cam to feature as part of campaign

The 2011 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship was launched at Croke Park today, ahead of the Championship opener in Munster between Waterford and Tipperary on June 1st. At the launch, sponsors Bord Gáis Energy announced that this year, with broadcast partners TG4, the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship will feature the first ever player cam to be used in Gaelic Games television coverage.

The Bord Gáis Energy team of ambassadors was also announced and this year includes Darach Honan (Clare), Noel McGrath (Tipperary), William Egan (Cork), David Burke (Galway), Dublin captain Liam Rushe, Noel Connors (Waterford) and Conor Fogarty of Kilkenny.

In addition, former Waterford hurler Ken McGrath joins Bord Gáis Energy Sports Sponsorship Manager and Cork legend, Ger Cunningham, RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey, Micheál O Domhnaill of TG4 and U-21 All-Ireland winner Joe Canning on the Breaking Through Player of the Year judging panel.

Speaking at the launch Criostóir Ó Cuana, Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael, said, “In the coming weeks and months the Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship will come into sharp focus providing us with eagerly anticipated top level hurling and a glimpse of some of the most promising young hurlers in the game.

“Long summer days, big midweek games and high scoring epics have all become hallmarks of this championship and the memorable campaigns of recent seasons underline the importance of this competition to all counties who harbour ambitions of capturing the top honours.

“That this championship is played in tandem with the senior competition adds further to the allure of it as we chart the progress of those senior players who are still eligible to play at this grade.

“We look forward to working with Bord Gáis Energy in the coming months knowing they are as excited and passionate about the competition as we are and I am sure they will bring the same energy and innovation to the promotion of the games as they have in recent seasons.”

Ger Cunningham, sports sponsorship manager at Bord Gáis Energy said, “It’s hard to believe that this is the third full year of our sponsorship of the U-21 Hurling Championship. Once again, in planning the campaign we have been intent on pushing new and innovative initiatives and we are delighted to announce that this year’s Championship will bring the first ever player cam to Gaelic Games television coverage. I’d like to thank TG4 for their help in allowing us to make this possible.

“I am also very happy that this year, following discussions with the GAA at provincial level, the fixture schedule has been adjusted to ensure that there are no major fixture clashes. It means that the Munster semi final between Waterford or Tipperary and Cork will be broadcast live on TG4, which is fantastic for the players involved and for the promotion of the game of hurling.

“The past two years have seen some hugely memorable matches at this level, with Clare’s historic victory in 2009 and Tipperary’s completion of the senior and U-21 double last year. I’m looking forward to more of the same this year and hopefully we have another fantastic season of hurling ahead.”

The Bord Gáis Energy player cam will be featured as part of TG4’s live broadcasts of the Munster and Leinster provincial finals, All-Ireland semi finals and the All-Ireland Final and fans will be able to follow the player cam for the whole match online at TG4.tv once the All-Ireland series kicks in.

The 2011 Bord Gáis Energy GAA Hurling U-21 Championship will continue to build its cutting edge presence online through website breakingthrough.ie which will be host to a number of new features, like celebrity Q&A’s and competitions. It will feature an exclusive blog from Joe Canning and other guest bloggers, such as players and experts, will also contribute. Fans can continue to keep track of everything U-21 hurling through the Facebook and Twitter accounts, including @LiveU21Hurling which will feed live commentary of matches during the course of the summer.

Bord Gáis Energy’s match day activity will also play a central part in this year’s campaign with the now famous crossbar challenge providing half time entertainment, in addition to local radio broadcasts and other promotional activity around the grounds.