Defeated Limerick fall short against Tipperary in Munster U20 football championship
Limerick Jerome O’Connell in Semple Stadium8 Jul 2021Email: joconnell@limerickleader.ie
DEFEAT for Limerick in their opening game of the 2021 Munster U20 football championship this Thursday evening.
The provincial quarter final in Semple Stadium finished Tipperary 0-16, Limerick 1-10.
Tipperary led by eight points midway through the second half but Limerick battled back – scoring a cracking goal deep into injury time from sub Brian Ahern.
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Limerick had beaten Tipperary in the last two years in this grade but the men in blue and gold were deserving winners on this occasion.
Limerick started and finished well but Tipperary were in control in the second and third quarters.
The Jerry O’Sullivan managed Limerick had 10 wides across the game.
It was 0-8 to 0-4 to Tipperary at half time.
Limerick had their fair share of possession in the half but kicked seven wides and many at crucial periods.
The visitors to Thurles were on top in the early minutes and had points from captain Brian Foley and Eliah Riordan to lead 0-2 to 0-1 after eight minutes.
Fr Caseys’ Riordan was a towering figure in the opening half – winning mark after mark from Ronan McElligott kick-outs but Limerick couldn’t profit.
At the first half water break on 16-minutes it was Limerick 0-2, Tipperary 0-1 but the men in green now up to five wides.
Managed by former Dublin footballer Paddy Christie, Tipperary kicked three unanswered points on the restart.
All of a sudden it was a 0-4 to 0-2 lead to the home side.
A Colm Ryan free ended 14-minutes without a Limerick score to reduce the lead to a single point.
Another three-in-a-row followed and The Premier County were 0-7 to 0-3 ahead.
Centre back Patrick Shanahan then ventured forward to kick the fourth and final score for Limerick in the half.
But Tipperary’s leading marksman Sean O’Connor had the final say for a 0-8 to 0-4 interval lead.
Within seven minutes of the restart in the second half the lead was out to six points with two neat finishes for Barry Kehoe. Indeed Kehoe could have had a goal with his second effort and two minutes previous Tipp were also denied a goal by a fine save from Ronan McElligott to deny Jamie Holloway.
Jamie Baynham the only Limerick scorer in the opening 10-minutes of the new half.
The second half water break came on 16-minutes and Limerick were now trailing 0-14 to 0-6 – midfielder Darragh O’Keeffe became the sixth Limerick scorer just before the end of that third quarter.
McElligott again came to the Limerick rescue at the start of the final quarter – tipping a bullet from Sean O’Connor onto the crossbar.
Sub Brian Ahern and two pointed frees from Colm Ryan cut the lead and with seven minutes to play it was Tipp six points clear again.
Limerick needed a goal but it came too late in the fifth minute of injury time from Brian Ahern.
SCORERS: Limerick: Colm Ryan 0-4 (4frees), Brian Ahern 1-1, Brian Foley, Eliah Riordan, Patrick Shanahan, James Molyneaux, Darragh O’Keeffe 0-1 each.
Tipperary: Sean O’Connor 0-7 (5frees), Barry Kehoe 0-4, Leon Kennedy, Ben Comerford, Tadhg Condon, Kevin Grogan (’45) and Mark O’Connor 0-1 each.
LIMERICK: Ronan McElligott (Mungret St Pauls); Ruadhan O’Connor (Newcastle West), Craig Carew (Claughaun), Alan McGrath (Ballysteen); Cormac Woulfe (St Senans), Patrick Shanahan (Ballylanders), Sean Kilbridge (Fr Caseys); Eliah Riordan (Fr Caseys), Darragh O’Keeffe (Fedamore); Dylan Quirke (Fr Caseys), John Hayes (St Kierans), Jamie Baynham (Monagea); Brian Foley (Newcastle West), James Molyneaux (Dromcollogher-Broadford), Colm Ryan (Feenagh-Kilmeedy). Subs: Eoghan McNamara (Galtee Gaels) for Sean Kilbridge, inj (25mins), Brian Ahern (Dromcollogher-Broadford) for Jamie Baynham (42mins), Shane O’Donoghue (Ballylanders) for Brian Foley (42mins), Jack Pierce (Dromcollogher-Broadford) for Dylan Quirke (50mins), Garrett Sparling (Adare) for John Hayes (50mins).
TIPPERARY: Callan Scully; Sean Daly, Tadhg Condon, Brian McKeown; Emmet Butler, Billy O’Connor, Leon Kennedy; Cathal Deeley, Kevin Grogan; Conor Cadell, Ryan Walsh, Jamie Holloway; Mark O’Connor, Barry Kehoe, Sean O’Connor. Subs: Ben Comerford for Ryan Walsh (16mins), Mikey Lyons for Mark O’Connor (51mins), Jake Kiely for Brian McKeown (52mins), Christy English for Jamie Holloway (57mins), Jamie Duncan for Leon Kennedy (60mins).
REFEREE: David Murnane (Cork).