14-man Limerick held to a draw as Tipperary level with last puck in Munster classic

The intensity in Semple Stadium was through the roof from the throw in and Limerick were quick off the mark with Aaron Gillane firing over immediately.

Limerick were held to a draw by Tipperary in the fourth round of the Munster SHC with John McGrath levelling for the hosts with the last puck of the game.

Tom Morrissey looked to have won the game with his fourth of the afternoon but a soft free allowed Tipp the chance to level after Limerick had been rescued to 14 in injury time.

It ended 0-25 apiece with the championship going to the wire next week.

Limerick now need to beat Cork to keep their season alive but will miss out on the Munster final if Tipp beat Waterford on the same day.

Tipperary held a three-point lead at the break as they took advantage of sloppy Limerick play that saw them hit seven wides in the first period compared to the hosts tally of three.

The intensity in Semple Stadium was through the roof from the throw in and Limerick were quick off the mark with Aaron Gillane firing over immediately.

But Tipp’s response was impressive with three on the bounce from Noel McGrath, Mark Kehoe and Rhys Shelly. Diarmaid Byrnes and Gearoid O’Connor traded scores from placed balls before Seamus Flanagan and Jake Morris did the same from play to leave it at 0-5 to 0-3 in favour of the hosts after 11 minutes.

Gearoid O’Connor briefly made it a double score game but Limerick hit back with three of their own to level, Cathal O’Neill bagging either side of a Byrnes free.

Jake Morris quickly pushed the lead back out to two with Tom Morrissey hitting back for the visitors. Kehoe and Morris shot a double as they took their tally to six between them inside 22 minutes.

Gillane had his second shortly after but O’Connor cancelled that out. The sides then split the remaining eight scores of the half with Tipp leading 0-15 to 0-12 at the interval.

If the opening half was sloppy, the start to the second was anything but for Kiely’s man who rattled off four unanswered to take the advantage for the first time since the opener, O’Neill moving to five with Flanagan getting the lead score. O’Connor and McGrath helped Tipp back into the lead but Hannon was on hand with his first to level for the fifth time.

O’Connor restored the gap with his first from play in the 50th minute. Morris’ fifth made it a two point game. Byrnes replied with a monster score but sub Conor Bowe hit back. Casey then bagged from the bench but Bowe hit back.

Scores for Gillane and Morrissey had it level for the sixth time at 0-21 apiece with ten to play. Again Tipp had the desired response, O’Connor’s eighth free her;ping them in front before Bowe found the target once more.

Graeme Mulcahy’s first score of this year’s championship had it back to one with three to go. A Byrnes free levelled the game again but then Barry Nash was sent off for a second yellow. And Tipp then hit the lead through Seamus Callahan. Mulcahy had Limerick level and then Tom Morrissey look to have won the game deep into injury time. However there was time for McGrath to level up with the last puck of the game.

Scorers for Limerick: Aaron Gillane (0-6, 3frees), Cathal O’Neill (0-5), Diarmaid Byrnes (0-4, 2frees), Tom Morrissey (0-4), Graeme Mulcahy and Seamus Flanagan (0-2), Declan Hannon and Peter Casey (0-1)

Scorers for Tipperary: Gearoid O’Connor (0-9, 8frees), Jake Morris (0-6), Conor Bowe and Mark Kehoe (0-3), Noel McGrath (0-2, sl), John McGrath and Rhys Shelly(0-1f), Seamus Callanan,

LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Mike Casey, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes; William O’Donoghue, Darragh O’Donovan; Gearoid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill, Tom Morrissey; Cian Lynch, Seamus Flanagan, Aaron Gillane.

SUBS: Peter Casey for Lynch (50), Conor Boylan for Hegarty (57), Graeme Mulcahy for Flanagan (61), David Reidy for O’Neill (64), Richie English for M Casey (65).

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