A general view of FBD Semple Stadium. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
oneills.com Munster U20 Hurling Championship
Limerick 0-20 Waterford 1-16
Clare 0-18 Tipperary 1-14
Tipperary limited their losses to take their place in the oneills.com Munster U20 hurling final, despite falling to Clare at FBD Semple Stadium.
Conor Whelan’s remarkable 16-point contribution (0-10 from frees, 0-6 from play) handed the Banner a one-point victory which couldn’t reverse the score-difference deficit between the sides to take top spot.
It was enough, however, to pinch second place off of Cork. The significance of that is it grants them a home semi-final against the Rebels next Friday.
Whitegate match-winner Whelan clinched the victory a pair of late frees to crown a brilliant hour of hurling.
He struck 10 of Clare’s 11 first-half points to give them a four-point lead at the break. Niall O’Farrell and Ronan Keane were the only other scorers across the hour.
Paddy McCormack hit three for the hosts to tie this contest at 0-7 all but he left injured and Whelan ended the half with four in a row.
Tipp were back in it when Oisín O’Donoghue scooped home the sliotar after Conor Martin’s scrambled shot in the 34th minute.
Three points in a row from free-taker Darragh McCarthy (0-6), Senan Butler, and Sam O’Farrell pushed them ahead, but Whelan would have the final say with four of the last five points.
In the other game between already-eliminated Limerick and Waterford, the Treaty ended with a morale-boosting 0-20 to 1-16 victory.
The visitors to Rathkeale had the perfect start when points from Patrick Fitzgerald and Marc Mahony were followed by Jack Twomey racing in along the endline to rifle a bullet to the roof of the net. 1-2 to no score.
Limerick worked their way into this with points from Robert O’Farrell, Vince Harrington, and Shane O’Brien.
They took their first lead with a five-point streak, including a pair apiece from Oisín O’Farrell and O’Brien.
Senior star O’Brien took his first-half tally to five and captain Cian Scully added four more to make it 0-14 to 1-7 by the interval.
After Oisín O’Farrell’s opener, Waterford would score eight of the next 10 points to move ahead. Seven of those came from the stick of Fitzgerald to edge 1-15 to 0-17 in front. The Ballygunner senior would end with 0-11 to his name.
When they needed it, Limerick came with one more scoring burst as Oisín O’Farrell’s fifth, Harrington’s second, and Scully’s sixth proved the vital points.
