PREVIEW: Limerick aim for three-in-a-row as they take on Tipp in Munster Final

Limerick will look to become the first team since the 80’s to win three Munster Championship titles on the bounce this Sunday as they face Tipperary in the provincial decider.

Pairc Ui Chaoimh will host the meeting of the rivals in a repeat of the 2019 decider and 15^th overall final between the teams.

On that day in 2019 in the LIT Gaelic Grounds, Limerick put the visitors to the sword with a commanding 2-26 to 2-14 win.

A tentative opening half had Limerick two clear at the half before the Shannonsiders tour de force second half was enough to secure a first Munster title in six years.

However, Liam Sheedy’s men had the last laugh, defeating Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final a month later after the Cats knocked out holders Limerick in the semi-finals.

Limerick retained their Munster crown for the first time since 1981 last year in their novel provincial decider against Waterford in November.

The Treaty men last competed a three-in-a-row of provincial titles in 1936 as they claimed their fourth successive championship.

Tipperary are seeking a first Munster Championship win since 2016 when they overcame the Deise in the final.

The Premier county’s last provincial final success over Limerick came in 2001 with Tipp winning out 2-16 to 1-17 in Sunday’s venue.

Under John Kiely, Limerick have an impressive record against Tipp, winning five of their eight competitive meetings, drawing one and losing two with one of those being a round-robin game with both assured of their progression to the All-Ireland stages.

The stalemate came in the most recent meeting of the sides as they played out a 0-20 apiece draw in the opening round of the league.

Their latest championship clash came in the 2020 Munster semi-final where Limerick were dominant in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, advancing to the final with nine points to spare in a 3-23 to 2-17 victory.

In their Munster semi-final win over Cork earlier this month, Limerick flattered to deceive, defeating the Rebels by eight points but failing to hit top gear with John Kiely admitting, “we’ve a huge amount to go back and work on,” in his post match comments.

The following day, Tipperary could have been accused of similar in their four-point win over Clare albeit with the exception of some controversial officiating decisions going in their favour.

Nonetheless, the final pits two of the most consistent sides of the last five years against one another with four All-Irelands and three Munster championships annexed between them in the meantime.

Kiely will certainly have been pleased to come through the last four tie largely unscathed in terms of injuries with concerns surrounding All-Stars Sean Finn and Diarmaid Byrnes in the build up to the encounter.

Outside of that, Richie English made his long awaited championship return in the place of Dan Morrissey while Peter Casey got the nod ahead of Graeme Mulcahy in the only changes to the 2020 All-Ireland winning XV.

Tipperary are similarly settled with 13 of the side that started the semi-final win over the Banner, named from the start in the 2019 All-Ireland win.

The outliers were Brian Hogan, who was making his debut and Jake Morris, with the pair holding three All-Ireland U21 medals between them.

The familiarity between the players should make for an intriguing game but Sheedy will need to better this time with his match ups than in their previous championship games which have yielded twelve and nine point wins respectively for Limerick.

Even then, with Limerick’s brilliant blend of tenacious defending and firepower in attack, it is difficult to see past the Shannonsiders making it three on the trot and collecting the trophy that will be renamed after one its most famous sons, Mick Mackey in 2022.