Tipperary 1-12
Limerick 0-14
John Keogh reports from Rathkeale
TIPPERARY EARNED A late win over Limerick on a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-14 in a tight McGrath Cup contest at Mick Neville Park in Rathkeale.
David Power’s men needed two injury time points from Jack Kennedy to see themselves to a hard fought victory.
Limerick held a 0-14 to 1-8 advantage on 60 minutes but missed several opportunities in the final quarter to see off their opponents.
Sean O’Connor was outstanding for Tipperary with a scoring haul of 1-7 and it was he that led the comeback in the dying stages.
The Clonmel Commercials clubman sent over two points that were followed up by Kennedy’s brace that stole victory from the jaws of defeat.
It was O’Connor that began the scoring with two frees in the opening 10 minutes before Limerick got on the board through Darragh Ranahan before Tony McCarthy levelled.
O’Connor was the sole scorer with 0-4 heading into the water break with McCarthy seeing Tipperary’s lead to a point at the end of the first quarter.
Limerick improved after the water break and took the lead thanks to three points in a row from Josh Ryan, Peter Nash and Hugh Bourke.
Tipperary immediately hit back with O’Connor’s goal after an excellent attack that involved five players before the Clonmel man’s fisted finish past Aaron O’Sullivan.
Shane Foley then put Tipperary into a 1-5 to 0-6 lead but Nash and Ryan insured it was all square again at the break.
Conor Ryan started the second half scoring with a fine point from close range but Limerick hit form to lead with James Naughton and two Ryan frees seeing them two points to the good.
Cillian Fahy stretched that lead to four but Tipperary finished with a storm and Kennedy’s excellent finishes seeing them home.
Scorers for Tipperary: Sean O’Connor 1-7 (6f), Jack Kennedy 0-2, Shane Foley, Conor Ryan and Conal Kennedy 0-1 each.
Scorers for Limerick: Josh Ryan 0-5 (3f), Tony McCarthy, Peter Nash and Hugh Bourke 0-2 (2f) each, Darragh Ranahan, James Naughton and Cillian Fahy 0-1 each.
Tipperary
1: Evan Comerford
2: Shane O’Connell, 3: Liam Ryan, 4: Jimmy Feehan.
24: Leon Kennedy, 6: Ciaran Cannon, 7: Colm O’Shaughnessy.
8: Conal Kennedy, 9: Mark Russell.
26: Eanna McBride, 11: Luke Boland, 23: Johnny Ryan.
19: Conor Ryan, 14: Shane Foley, 15: Sean O’Connor.
Subs:
10: Jordan Moloney for Cannon (35)
5: Jack Harney for J Ryan (48)
16: Michael O’Reilly for Comerford (48)
21: Jack Kennedy for McBride (53)
18: Ben Comerford for C Kennedy (53)
25: Tom Tobin for Boland (59)
20: Darragh O’Leary for L Kennedy (63)
17: Paul Devlin for L Ryan (66)
22: Donagh Hickey for O’Shaughnessy (71)
13: Jack Buckley for C Ryan (71)
12: Jamie Holloway for O’Connell (72).
Limerick
1: Aaron O’Sullivan
17: Jim Liston, 2: Sean O’Dea 4: Mike O’Donovan.
19: Tony McCarthy, 6: Darragh Woulfe, 10: Liam O’Sullivan.
8: Tommy Griffin, 9: Josh Ryan
26: Peter Nash, 11: James Naughton, 12: Barry Coleman
13: Shane Barry, Hugh Bourke, 15: Darragh Ranahan.
Subs:
22: Darragh Treacy for Nash (ht)
7: Liam O’Sullivan for McCarthy (hht)
21: Cillian Fahy for Liston (ht)
18: Dara Noonan for Barry (53)
24: Padraig de Bruin for Coleman (53)
23: Robbie Bourke for H Bourke (53)
25: Ruairi O’Brien for Woulfe (59)
14: Hugh Bourke for Ranahan (63)
Referee: Chris Maguire (Clare)
2 serious lumps of BS journalism in this.
1 Opportunitys were not limited at leinster he was in the 23 for all big games and was asked to play 15 as Rob Kearney was injured most of that season.
2 injuries didnt start when he moved to munster, he’d missed a good bit of rugby injured at leinster including a broken arm.
He was down to play a run at 10 when he broke his arm.
He moved under pressure/influence from joe S who needed a 10 to cover Sexton as madigan had moved overseas, Blayendael was injured and keatley wasnt good enough.
The IRFU also sacked jackson and tried to move joey to ulster to appease Ulster and get another 10 playing rugby.
Joey didnt want to move but with the PROMISE of a world cup he decided Munster would be the better option.
@Chris Mc: bit of an overreaction to a 2 sentence summation, in an article mostly about about a player returning to the fold after an extended absence.
Also given that 10 was his preferred position and he was going to be the 3rd choice going forward at Leinster, it’s fair to say that his opportunities were limited. Ross Byrne is an established senior player now, but his opportunities are still be being limited by being second choice to Sexton.
And yes he had some injuries before his move, but considering he has had a number of very serious injuries that have ruled him out for the majority of the last 2/3 years, it’s fair to say injuries been an issue.
A bit harsh on author for what is a brief and fair summary in an intro paragraph
@Johnny 5: who sayd he was behind ross? Joey was in european squads that ross was left out of. 12 weeks out i believe with a broken arm is long enough for a player in his first or second season.
The point is this fits into the rubish that joey got injured because of IRFU /joe s mismanagement. He always had a high injury profile.
The author is a journalist and as such should not write stuff that simply is not accurate.
Go for it Joey. Impeccable place kicking last Saturday
Hope he has a great game on Sunday and gets a good run of provincial over the next couple of months before the 6 nations .
We need someone that is right up there with sexton . Hope he’s the man to do that .