Limerick reeled in by Tipperary in second half of Munster U20 championship clash

LIMERICK suffered a 3-13 to 2-9 defeat to Tipperary in their second outing in the Dalata Hotel Group Munster Under 20 Football Championship at Páirc na nGael, New Inn on Saturday afternoon.

Backed by a stiff breeze in the opening half, Limerick led by six points, 2-6 to 1-3, at the short whistle. However, a big second half performance from the home side has them back in contention for one of the top two places needed for to qualify for Phase 2 of the Munster U20 championship.

Limerick, who had lost their opening Phase 1 fixture to Waterford, will face Clare in their final outing in the group stage on Good Friday, April 3, in Mountcollins at 7pm 

Tipperary got off to the perfect start with a Charlie Walsh goal inside the opening minute and when Liam Freaney kicked a two-point free from near the sideline in the eighth minute, they led by four.

However, for the remainder of the half Tipp played second fiddle to the Treaty men, who outscored them 2-5 to 0-1, as they took a six-point advantage to the dressing room.

The home side made the better start, despite playing against the wind. Gaining possession out around the midfield area, Liam Freaney cut open the Limerick defence with a piercing run before offloading to Charlie Walsh and the Fethard clubman made no mistake, tucking his shot into the far corner of the net for the opening major inside the first minute.

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Cian Costelloe pulled a point back for the visitors, but it was the home side that was looking the more dangerous. Wayward shooting in attack and some handling errors meant that Tipperary were unable to convert possession onto the scoreboard.

However, Liam Freaney kicked a two-point free from out near the sideline to put four between the sides after eight minutes.

Andrew Lyons, with the goal at his mercy, kicked over to pull a point back before Aidan O’Shea, who had been moved to the edge of the square from midfield, fielded a long range effort from Liam Glynn, turned his marker and slotted home a goal from close range, bringing the sides level for the first and only time.

Limerick quickly added two minors from open play, courtesy of Conor Ó Longaigh and Andrew Lyons to go two points clear coming up to the 20th minute.

Limerick were in cruise control and Andrew Lyons converted a two-point free to stretch the lead out to four with seven minutes remaining before the break. Liam Freaney kicked his third point from a placed ball before Aidan O’Shea again got on the end of a long ball from the midfield area to crash home his second major.

This gave the visitors a 2-6 to 1-3 advantage at the break.

After the restart Tipperary rejigged their defence, with Seán Griffin moving back to the edge of the square and Dylan Cotter coming into midfield.
They upped the tempo and intensity throughout the field and this was reflected on the scoreboard. Charlie Walsh kicked an early two-pointer and Liam Freany cancelled out an Andrew Lyons minor to cut the deficit to four by the 37th minute.

A good team move from midfield ended with Liam Freaney being hauled down in the area, but the resulting penalty kick from Mark Neville just skimmed the crossbar. Andrew Lyons again pushed Limerick’s lead out to four from a placed ball, but a Liam Freaney goal at the start of the final quarter, following a run through the centre by Dylan Cotter, cut the lead to the minimum.

Tipperary’s third goal came at the end of a four-man move upfield, started by Dylan Cotter and taken up by Shane Ryan, who offloaded to the in-running Charlie Walsh, who in turn set up the in-form Freaney, who beat Cian Purcell from close range.

Tipp were in total control over the final ten minutes, plus added time. Charlie Walsh kicked a two-point free, Dylan Cotter added one from open play and James Power followed up with a two-pointer, before Cotter closed out the scoring with his second point in added time.

Tipperary travel to Lemybrien to play Waterford on Good Friday for the remaining Phase 1 game.

SCORERS: Tipperary: Liam Freaney (2-4, 1x2ptf, 1f), Charlie Walsh (1-4, 1x2pt, 1x2ptf), James Power (0-2, 1x2pt), Dylan Cotter (0-2), Mark Neville (0-1 pen). Limerick: Andrew Lyons (0-7, 1x2ptf, 3f), Aidan O’Shea (2-0), Conor Ó Longaigh (0-1), Cian Costelloe (0-1).

TIPPERARY: Peter Boland, Jack McGonigle, Danny Morris, Jack Kearney, Gavin Neville, Emmet Bonner, Jamie O’Keeffe, Oran Gahan, Sean Griffin, Liam Kiely, Liam Freaney (captain), John Cronin, Mark Neville, Shane Ryan, Charlie Walsh. Subs: Dylan Cotter for Danny Morris (HT), Philip O’Dwyer for Mark Neville (42), James Power for John Cronin (42), Killian Smith for Liam Kiely (42), Ciarán Kelly for Shane Ryan (55).

LIMERICK: Cian Purcell, Cian O’Sullivan, Owen Dee, Danny McCarthy, Samuel Colgan, Conor Mangan, Cillian Meade, Aidan O’Shea, Evan Curry, Conor Ó Longaigh, Liam Glynn, Cian Costelloe, Andrew Lyons, Padraic Phelan (captain), Shane O’Grady (Oola). Subs: Fintan McNamara for Shane O’Grady (TS 4-7), Fintan McNamara for Shane O’Grady (HT), Michael Mulcahy for Cillian Meade (42), Barry Griffin for Cian Costelloe (51), Paudie Hennessy for Samuel Colgan (51), Seán Holland for Liam Glynn (60).

REFEREE: James Regan (Cork).