“The Tipp are back" motion was dealt a significant blow this evening as a second half no-show allowed five- in-a-row chasing Limerick to book their place into the National League semi-finals with a 0-26 to 3-16 win in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
There was a point between the teams on the final scoreboard but the gulf in quality was stark.
In what seems to be a common occurrence against the green machine, the Premier men failed to back up an impressive first-half performance by wilting in the second half.
Speaking on RTÉ after the game, former Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy believes that Liam Cahill’s side will be disappointed with their showing.
“It looked like the match was well gone from Tipp. Overall, Limerick gave a very polished performance,” Sheedy said.
“In the second half, they got 19 points. A lot of their play was exceptional. We saw the real Limerick.
“They made some unforced errors and let Tipp back into it. It’s hard to believe it was a one-point game at the end. Limerick, overall, will be very happy. Tipp will be disappointed because I thought they had a real chance of winning this game.
Dowling believes Limerick were miles better
Current Limerick minor hurling manager Shane Dowling believed that the scoreline was an unfair reflection and that John Kiely’s men were comfortable winners on the night.
“We were saying at halftime that their hurling was letting them down, but I thought they looked like a Limerick team in the second half,” Dowling said.
“If nobody had watched the game that night and someone had gone to the shop in the morning, taken out the newspaper, looked at the scoreline, and saw it was a one-point game, they would have thought it was good.
“It wasn’t that Limerick were miles better than them. The scoreline was not a fair reflection of how the game panned out.
“Don’t get me wrong. Tipp stuck at it, and they were very good in the first half, but to me, they looked miles off it in the second half. They didn’t squeeze up at all, and I thought Limerick were better.”
Tipp are in danger of missing league semi-final
This defeat will come as a real hammer blow for Cahill’s side. Due to their low-margin victory against Westmeath, they need Limerick to do them a favour next weekend by beating Galway. If not, Tipp could be eliminated thanks to score difference as all three sides will be tied on eight points. (that’s presuming Galway beat Dublin this weekend and Tipp beat Antrim next weekend.)
With Tipperary having three weeks off after the league final, they looked like the best team to challenge for the League.
What also won't help is the knee injury to Seamus Kennedy as Cahill waits to see if his wing back is in or out of the championship.
'We don’t know yet but it’s definitely a knee injury. I hope it’s not too bad but we’ll get in behind that tomorrow and Monday and see how he is'
