Munster SHC: Tipperary and Limerick play out thrilling draw:
Munster SHC Round 1
TIPPERARY 2-23 LIMERICK 2-23
By John Harrington at FBD Semple Stadium
This was a serious game of hurling.
Ferociously physical, some terrific moments of skill, and a tactical battle that swung this way with no team managing to dictate terms for any significant period of time before control was wrested away again.
Having been roundly written off after their heavy League Final defeat to Cork, you have to give Tipperary a lot of credit for summoning a performance like this.
They were full of belief even at junctures of the game when it looked like the tide was turning against them.
They fought tooth and nail for every ball which was why they took something from the match despite losing the midfield battle.
This result will set them up nicely for a revenge mission in Páirc Uí Chaoimh next weekend and though they’ll go into that match as underdogs too you certainly wouldn’t write off their chances now.
There was intrigue before a ball was even pucked as Limerick made some significant alterations to their named team.
Tom Morrissey came into the starting XV for Cathal O’Neill, but it was the positional alterations that really caught the eye.
Kyle Hayes was named at centre-back but lined out at centre-forward, William O’Donoghue was moved from midfield to centre-back, and Adam English took his place in the engine room.
Of those three switches, the positioning of English in the middle of the field was the one that made the most immediate impact.
He scored Limerick’s first point of the match in reply to Darragh McCarthy’s opener for Tipp, and would go on to score 1-2 in the first-half alone.
It was a hectic contest from the get-go, with the greasy underfoot conditions and slippery sliotar resulting in players losing their footing and mishandling the ball which led to frequent turnovers on both sides.
Underdogs Tipperary made it clear from very early on that they were in this fight, with McCarthy landing two fine early points. When Jake Morris filched a classy score and Eoghan Connolly banged over a long-range free, the Premier County led by 0-5 to 0-3.
Then Limerick started humming. Their half-backs got on top, English and Lynch started winning the midfield battle, and any time ball made it in to Shane O’Brien he had the beating of his marker, Connolly.
But Tipperary hung in their grimly and were still a point ahead when English struck for the game’s first goal.
Put through by Gillane he won a foot-race to the ball with Barry Hogan and slipped it under the advancing goal-keeper with a one-handed flick.
A Gearoid Hegarty point had Limerick ahead by 1-10 to 0-11 by the 30th minute, but then Tipperary came with a big surge before half-time that really lifted the home support.
Eoghan Connolly banged over three incredible long-range frees, the previously quiet Jason Forde announced himself with a nice point, and then Craig Morgan raised the biggest cheer of the day so far after a great Tipp move to put the Premier County 0-16 to 1-10 ahead at the break.
Jake Morris deserves special credit for that Morgan point. He showed real bravery to win the ball amidst a threshing of hurleys and then popped a perfectly timed pass to Morgan.
The Nenagh Éire Óg man scored three points from play in that first half for Tipp, and was their most consistently dangerous offensive weapon as William O’Donoghue struggled to contain him.
Recent matches between these two teams have tended to follow a well-worn theme. Tipperary give as good as they get or even better in the first half but Limerick usually then blitz them in the second.
When the reigning provincial champions scored two points in the first minute of the second half and then Shane O’Brien banged in a goal shortly afterwards the Tipperary supporters must have been thinking, ‘Here we go again’.
A Barry Nash point put Limerick 2-13 to 0-17 ahead but then Tipperary came roaring back with a goal of their own when John McGrath stitched the ball to the back of the net having been put through by Craig Morgan.
Limerick looked to be gaining control of the contest again when they hit the next three points, two from Aaron Gillane and one from Tom Morrissey, but the introduction of Noel McGrath gave Tipp a great fillip.
He scored a classy point with his first involvement but it was his ability for the remainder of the game to win possession and then use it brilliantly with a great variety of passing that gave Tipp a new dimension.
It was badly needed because until his introduction Tipperary struggled to compete with the midfield craft of Lynch and English who look like they’re developing a great chemistry.
Another Tipp substitute, Seamus Kennedy, also made a strong impression, and when McGrath picked him out with a typically visionary cross-field pass his point left two between the teams, 2-18 to 2-20.
This game was now winding up like the last 400 of a 1,500M race and it looked like Tipperary might be the team with the finishing kick when John McGrath scored a goal on 63 minutes that will surely feature on any highlight reel of this championship.
Tipp moved the ball at great pace down the field with a series of perfectly timed passes to support runners as Conor Bowe, Jake Morris, and Kennedy combined to put McGrath thorough and his finish to the far corner was thoroughly emphatic.
A Gillane free reduced the deficit to a point but six tense minutes would pass before Limerick eventually levelled the game on the stroke of full time through Diarmuid Byrnes.
It looked like Limerick had won it when Gillane landed another free two minutes into injury time, but Tipp got the draw their performance deserved when Limerick were pinged for an illegal hand-pass and McCarthy lanced the levelling free over.
Scorers for Tipperary: Darragh McCarthy 0-8 (5f), John McGrath 2-1, Jake Morris 0-4, Eoghan Connolly 0-4 (all frees), Craig Morgan, Alan Tynan, Jason Forde, Bryan O’Mara, Séamus Kennedy, Noel McGrath all 0-1.
Scorers for Limerick: Shane O’Brien 1-4, Aaron Gillane 0-7 (4f), Adam English 1-2, Diarmaid Byrnes 0-3 (2f), Kyle Hayes 0-2, Barry Nash, Colin Coughlan, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty all 0-1.
TIPPERARY: Barry Hogan; Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen; Joe Caesar, Ronan Maher, Bryan O’Mara; Craig Morgan, Darragh Stakelum; Alan Tynan, Jake Morris, Sam O’Farrell; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde. Subs: Noel McGrath for Joe Caesar (45), Conor Bowe for Jason Forde (50), Seamus Kennedy for Darragh Stakelum (53), Conor Stakelum for Alan Tynan, Sean Kenneally for John McGrath (both 69)
LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Barry Murphy, Michael Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Colin Coughlan; Adam English, Cian Lynch; Gearóid Hegarty, Kyle Hayes, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Shane O’Brien, David Reidy. Subs: Aidan O’Connor for Tom Morrissey (50), Peter Casey for Gearóid Hegarty (58).
Ref: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)