Workrate and hunger the key combination
With 15 minutes gone in the second half, Tipperary had turned a four-point deficit in the 38th minute into a four-point lead by the 50th.
The Premier half-back line had taken over and it looked as if Tipp would drive on to win the game. Tipp boss Eamon O’Shea had brought on John O’Dwyer and he had some impact, scoring 1-3 in the first 15 minutes of the half.
Limerick had been guilty of some poor play in this period, dropping harmless shots into goalkeeper Brendan Cummins and it looked as if they were struggling.
But at that stage Tipperary may have felt that it was going to happen whereas John Allen’s Limerick made things happen. Then the Treaty defence took over, growing in stature, led by the excellence of Richie McCarthy, and the scores dried up for Tipperary. They went 14 minutes without a score, and Limerick, refusing to panic, took the game to their opponents.
They got back on level terms when Shane Dowling, just introduced as a sub, hit the equaliser, having worked very hard to dispossess Kieran Bergin.
Tipperary had chances to put them away in their purple patch, but Pa Bourke missed a gilt-edged point chance on 45 minutes and Noel McGrath parted to Eoin Kelly when he might have driven on for goal himself.
The flawless performance of Limerick’s defence in that final 20 minutes gave them the impetus to outscore their opponents and drive on for a deserved win.
One of the main differences between the teams in the crucial last 20 minutes was the workrate of the opposing forward lines. The Limerick full-back line, winning 50-50 ball and driving out, weren’t pressurised to the extent that the Tipperary defenders were. Tipp defenders were under the cosh to such a degree that they were forced to hit long ball eagerly gobbled by the hungry home defence.
Top scorer Declan Hannon tackled Shane McGrath hard on the wing to win a vital turnover and stopped Tipp building momentum — this leadership was absent on the other side.
Limerick’s defence were fouled or not pressurised and were able to place their passes to better-placed colleagues up field. They didn’t panic when they fell behind, whereas Tipp continuously took the wrong option when they needed to keep their composure.
Seamus Callanan went for a score when Noel McGrath was free in a better position and in the final minutes Conor O’Brien and Padraic Maher were guilty of trying for points when better options were available.
By then Tipp had run out of ideas. Both teams missed chances in the first half and James Ryan might have pulled on the ball in the 62nd minute for a goal; Hannon showed great maturity down the stretch but it was John Allen’s timely introduction of Shane Dowling that swung the game Limerick’s way. His two points, one to equalise, and the other a monster free to put them ahead, proved invaluable in this well-deserved win, where their hunger outshone that of the Premier in the final stages.
In Tullamore, Kilkenny won the toss electing to play against the breeze, but Offaly must have been happy with that as they had one main tactic: they played Colin Egan and Joe Bergin in the full-forward line, both strong under the high ball.
Every ball they won, they struck in and it yielded dividends. Great strikes by Egan and a good solo effort from Bergin got their supporters on their feet and daring to dream.
Brian Carroll, named at centre-forward, operated in midfield and outshone player of the league Lester Ryan in the first half as the Faithful midfielders and forwards pressurised their opponents.
They moved around constantly, forcing Kilkenny’s defence, who were adopting a man-marking role and out of their normal positions.
Although it was very positive for Offaly up front, their defence gave away seven scoreable frees in that first half, punished on each occasion by Eoin Larkin. This kept Kilkenny in the game and despite their best efforts, and Trojan work rate, Offaly only led by a point at half-time.
Kilkenny turned to play with the strong breeze, set their defence in their normal zonal positions with Michael Rice dropping deep, and with this tactic they intercepted many deliveries and picked out Richie Power and Richie Hogan in the forwards.
They took it from there.
Power hit three points and Hogan hit two, as Offaly could only add 2-3 in response to Kilkenny’s 15 points. There were only five points in it at the end and though it might look tight on the scoreboard, in truth Kilkenny had the game wrapped up with 20 minutes left. Offaly weren’t able to sustain their first-half efforts and Kilkenny ran out easy winners.
