Second half dominance sees Limerick to emphatic win over Tipperary

Limerick made it two wins from two in the Munster SHC following a 2-27 to 0-18 victory over Tipperary at the TUS Gaelic Grounds this afternoon.

John Kiely’s men led by five at the break but goals from Aaron Gillane and Peter Casey turned the game fully in their favour. However, the win was dampened after Casey picked up a serious looking injury in the act of scoring his goal.

Limerick now have a two week wait to their next game – a Saturday night trip to Pairc Ui Chaoimh to take on a Cork side that have lost both games so far.

The game was a tight one in the opening 25 minutes with the teams level five times and squared up at six points apiece.

It was at that moment that Limerick finally hit a bit of form with four points in a row from Gillane seeing them to a bit of breathing space.

A long range Diarmaid Byrnes free stretched the lead to five and Casey made it six. A Jason Forde free then saw the game at 0-12 to 0-7 in Limerick’s favour at the short whistle.

Tipperary had reduced that lead to four by the eight minute mark in the second half but it was one way traffic from then on, starting with Gillane’s goal.

Byrnes mishit a free that was seized upon by Gillane who then delivered a devastating shot to the net to put Limerick seven up.

Tom Morrissey then followed up immediately with a point as Tipperary struggled to deal with a now rampant Limerick side.

Casey and Gillane sent over further scores with Forde the only real response coming from the Premier. Cathal O’Neill and substitute Donnacha Ó Dálaigh landing points before Casey hit the second goal.

He picked up a Will O’Donoghue pass and ghosted beyond his marker and sent a powerful low shot past Barry Hogan in the Tipperary goal.

However, he picked up a very serious injury in the process and was immediately rushed to hospital as a result.

Limerick continued to pop over the scores with ease in the remaining part of the game with Adam English landing four off the bench that sealed a 15-point winning margin.

Scorers – Limerick: Aaron Gillane 1-8 (7f), Peter Casey 1-2, Adam English 0-4, Cathal O’Neill and Tom Morrissey 0-3 each, Diarmaid Byrnes (2f), David Reidy 0-2, Kyle Hayes, Will O’Donoghue and Donnacha Ó Dálaigh 0-1 each.

Scorers – Tipperary: Jason Forde 0-9 (8f), Gearoid O’Connor (1f) and Mark Kehoe 0-2 each, Eoghan Connolly, Alan Tynan, Patrick Maher, Noel McGrath and Johnny Ryan 0-1 each.  

LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes; Will O’Donoghue, Cian Lynch; Gearoid Hegarty, Tom Morrissey, Cathal O’Neill; Peter Casey, Aaron Gillane, David Reidy.

Subs: Donnacha Ó Dálaigh for Hegarty (52), Graeme Mulcahy for Casey (59, inj), Adam English, for Lynch (61), Colin Coughlan for Hayes (65), Conor Boylan for Reidy (69).

TIPPERARY: Barry Hogan; Johnny Ryan, Ronan Maher, Craig Morgan; Conor Bowe, Bryan O’Mara, Mikey Breen; Willie Connors, Eoghan Connolly; Alan Tynan, Gearoid O’Connor, Sean Hayes; Jake Morris, Mark Kehoe, Jason Forde.

Subs: Noel McGrath for Hayes (h-t), Patrick Maher for Kehoe (42), Andrew Ormonde for Connors (50), Darragh Stakelum for Morris (59), Seanie Kenneally for Forde (69).

REFEREE: Liam Gordon (Galway)