Nash the main marksman as Limerick coast to showdown with Cork
The Shannonsiders recorded a nine-point victory at the Gaelic Grounds, with Barry Nash hitting a brace of second-half goals.
Nash is the player who was at the centre of the ‘point that never was’ HawkEye controversy at Croke Park last year, when Limerick lost their All-Ireland semi-final against Galway.
And his radar was very much in full working mode last night as the South Liberties hitman scored 2-2 from play in front of 2,811 spectators.
Limerick’s victory sets up a Munster semi-final against Cork in June, with Tipp left to regroup for a semi-final play-off against Clare or Kerry.
And Ryan reflected: “It took us a while to settle – we were a little bit nervy, a little bit ring-rusty. They were good tough opposition, Tipperary. I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to meet them further down the line.
“I think this team is getting a little bit of confidence even though they didn’t play terribly well tonight.”
Tipp had got to within a point midway through the second-half, thanks to goals from Paul Ryan and Andrew Coffey, but Limerick’s response was emphatic. Nash netted the first of his deadly double in the 45th minute and he struck again in the final minute to seal a comfortable win.
Limerick, who played with the breeze from the start, led 0-12 to 0-6 at half-time before one of their stars on the night, Cian Lynch, netted early in the second-half.
Tipp had managed just one point from play before half-time against a Limerick side led from the half-forward line by Nash and Lynch. In the half-back line, 2013 Munster GAA minor hurler of the year Ronan Lynch produced another accomplished display, capped by four massive points from placed balls.
Last year’s goalkeeper Colin Ryan was also excellent in attack and his aerial ability created all three of Limerick’s goals, with Nash and Cian Lynch profiting.
Scorers for Limerick: B Nash 2-2, C Lynch 1-3, C Ryan 0-6 (3f), R Lynch 0-4 (3f, 1 65), L Lyons & C Fitzgerald 0-1 each.
Scorers for Tipperary: A Coffey 1-2 (0-1f), P Ryan 1-2, S Hennessy 0-5 (4f, 1 65), T Nolan 0-2.
LIMERICK: E MacConmara; S Finn, D Fanning, J Porter; A La Touche Cosgrave, R Lynch, L Lyons; R Hanley, C O’Brien; S Flanagan, B Nash, C Lynch; T Morrissey, E Doyle, C Ryan.
Subs: C Fitzgerald for Doyle (21), T Grimes for O’Brien (42), P O’Loughlin for Lyons (48), S O’Connell for Hanley (54).
TIPPERARY: B Hogan; C McCullagh, J Skehan, D Peters; B McCarthy, P Maher, C Ryan; A Coffey, W Connors; A Tynan, W Coffey, S Hennessy; T Nolan, S Quirke, P Ryan.
Subs: L Fahey for Quirke (half-time), C Floyd for McCarthy (half-time), Pa Ryan for Connors (40), R Peters for Paul Ryan (60).
Referee: J Larkin (Cork).
