Bord Gáis Energy Munster U21 hurling championship quarter-final

Limerick 2-24 Tipperary 0-19

By Jackie Cahill at the Gaelic Grounds

Pat Donnelly’s Limerick produced a powerful performance against an inexperienced Tipperary side to book a place in the semi-finals of the Bord Gáis Energy Munster U21 hurling championship.

In front of 3,076 spectators at the Gaelic Grounds, the Shannonsiders avenged last year’s defeat against their neighbours to justify a heavy pre-match favourites tag.

Limerick, littered with senior panellists, are favourites to win the provincial title and on this evidence, they’ll prove stiff opposition for Clare on July 12, and with home advantage.

All six of Limerick’s starting forwards were on target from play as Limerick marched on to the last four, seeing off a mini-Tipperary revival in the second half to win by 11 points.

Playing with the breeze in the first half, and with senior star Kyle Hayes excelling in a sweeper role, the supply of ball into the Limerick forwards was plentiful and of high quality.

Man-of-the-match Tom Morrissey was close to an early goal but he did find the back of the net in the sixth minute, bundling the ball home from close range at the second attempt after Tipp goalkeeper Brian Hogan performed heroics to keep out first Barry Nash and then Morrissey.

That goal helped Limerick to lead by 1-4 to 0-0, as Tipp, with some of their 2016 minor All-Ireland winners making their U21 debuts, struggled to settle into the game.

Mark Kehoe, one of Tipp’s bright sparks on the night, got them off the mark with an eleventh minute point before Billy McCarthy, one of just two senior panellists on the starting U21 team, cut the gap back to five.

But Limerick were just too good and kept the scoreboard ticking over, before senior ace Nash struck the second goal in the 16th minute, bursting clear of Kevin Hassett before beating Hogan from close range.

By half-time, Limerick were 2-12 to 0-8 clear but Tipp, with Ger Browne impressive, opened the second half with clear intent.

Eleven minutes in, Tipp had cut a ten-point half-time deficit back to just six but Limerick responded with six unanswered points to stretch the lead out to 12.

Aaron Gillane, another senior panellist with Limerick and leading scorer on the night, struck four points in a row during that purple patch to hand Donnelly’s young guns breathing space again.

From there until the finish, it was a procession for Limerick, as both managers emptied the bench.

Tipp had excellent contributions from Browne, Kehoe and Brian McGrath, while Willie Connors started well, but Limerick had too much class and physicality on the night.

In many people’s eyes, this Limerick team could emulate the class of 2015 by going all the way to an All-Ireland title – and this was a good way to start.

**Scorers for Limerick: **Aaron Gillane 0-9 (7f), Tom Morrissey 1-4, Barry Nash 1-0, Peter Casey 0-3, Ronan Lynch, Colin Ryan & Barry Murphy 0-2 each, Cian Lynch & Paudie Ahern 0-1 each.

**Scorers for Tipperary: **Ger Browne & Lyndon Fairbrother (4f) 0-5 each, Mark Kehoe 0-3, Cian Darcy 0-2f, Billy McCarthy, Willie Connors, Gavin O’Halloran & Tommy Nolan 0-1 each.

Limerick: Eoghan McNamara; Sean Finn, Darragh Fanning, Dan Joy; Ronan Lynch, Kyle Hayes, Josh Adams; Robbie Hanley, Colin Ryan; Aaron Gillane, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; Peter Casey, Barry Nash, Barry Murphy. Subs: Conor Boylan for Hanley (40), Thomas Grimes for Adams (41), Oisin O’Reilly for Murphy (48), Lorcan Lyons for Ryan (53), Paudie Ahern for Gillane (59).

Tipperary: Brian Hogan; Paul Maher, Emmett Moloney, Kevin Hassett; Robert Byrne; Brian McGrath, Enda Heffernan; Billy McCarthy, Ger Browne; Andrew Coffey, Stephen Quirke, Mark Kehoe; Lyndon Fairbrother, David Gleeson, Willie Connors. Subs: Michael Whelan for Maher (blood 37-39), Ronan Teehan for Gleeson (42), Tommy Nolan for Connors (47), Cian Darcy for Fairbrother (47), Paul Ryan for McCarthy (47), Gavin O’Halloran for Heffernan (59).

Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)