Five-goal Limerick crush Tipperary as O'Connor and Gillane star

Limerick will play Cork in the Munster SHC final on June 7

Aidan O'Connor scored 2-7 for Limerick against Tipperary. Pic: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Munster SHC: Limerick 5-27 Tipperary 0-25 

In the end, not even the scoreboard could keep up. Limerick cruised to another provincial final in a ruthless display against an already eliminated Tipperary.

Aidan O’Connor hit 2-7, including a fortunate goal, while Aaron Gillane was taken off to a huge ovation having hit two goals of his own. It was an utterly one-sided tie from early on. As Tom Morrissey hit the final point, his fourth off the bench, the scoreboard flicked the wrong way. At that stage, few cared.

The only thing on the line here was a spot in the Munster decider with the All-Ireland champions already eliminated after three games without a win. For Limerick, their best path was to put this tie to bed early. That is precisely what they set out to do.

Gillane had the ball in the net after 15 seconds as Limerick went for the throat from the throw-in. He could have had a second soon after, only to see his shot deflected out for a 65. From the resulting placed ball, Rhys Shelly lost sight of O’Connor’s dropping effort to concede a disastrous goal.

Tipperary tried to fight back. The half-time score was 0-14 to 2-12 with Darragh McCarthy delivering from several frees, to the annoyance of the home support. Eoghan Connolly drove over another from range while Ronan Maher hit back after Limerick’s direct approach hurt them early, winning a long puckout and rifling it back over the bar during a run of four successive points.

Every Limerick forward had scored by the turnaround. They set out with similar speed in the second half as Adam English’s trademark run from deep sent Darragh O’Donovan away. He was brought down for a free. Kyle Hayes was brought down for a penalty minutes later and Eoghan Connolly was shown a black card.

John Kiely will have been pleased with how his outfit mixed it throughout. After those darting runs, they went long. Gillane and O’Connor broke to the same side, with O’Connor collecting possession and picking out the bottom corner. Why stop doing a good thing? Gillane turned Bryan O’Mara inside out before striking a fifth goal as the game drifted towards its inevitable conclusion.

The likes of Morrissey and Shane O’Brien came in determined to make an impact. They play Cork in the Munster final on June 7 in a blockbuster matchup. What the 29,019 crowd in the Gaelic Grounds witnessed on Sunday felt like a different sport.

Scorers for Limerick: A. O’Connor 2-7 (1-0 65, 0-3 frees); A. Gillane 2-0; D. Byrnes 1-3 (3 frees); T. Morrissey 0-4; G. Hegarty, C. Lynch, C. O’Neill, S. O’Brien 0-2 each; M. Casey, B. Nash, A. English, D. O’Donovan, P. Casey 0-1 each.

Scorers for Tipperary: D. McCarthy 0-7 frees; E. Connolly 0-4 (2 frees); S. Tobin, J. Morris, C. Stakelum 0-3 each; N. McGrath 0-2; R. Maher, S. O’Farrell, P. McCormack 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: N. Quaid; S. Finn, D. Morrissey, M. Casey; D. Byrnes, W. O’Donoghue, K. Hayes; A. English, D. O’Donovan; G. Hegarty, C. Lynch, C. O’Neill; A. Gillane, A. O’Connor, P. Casey.

Subs: B. Nash for Casey (half-time); T. Morrissey for English, D. Reidy for Casey (both 48); S. O’Brien for Gillane (58); C. Coughlan for Hayes (61).

TIPPERARY: R. Shelly; R. Doyle, R. Maher, K. Ryan; E. Connolly, B. O’Mara, S. Kennedy; C. Stakelum, A. Tynan; O. O’Donoghue, J. Morris, N. McGrath; D. McCarthy, J. McGrath, S. Tobin.

Subs: S. O’Farrell for Tynan (42); J. Caesar for Kennedy (45); M. Breen for N. McGrath (50), P. McCormack for J. McGrath (54); J. Ormond for McCarthy (61); B. McGrath for Ryan (68, Temp).

Black card: E. Connolly (38).

Referee: C. Lyons (Cork).