McCarthy strikes late pressure free to give Tipp a draw in epic first round with Limerick

Munster Senior Hurling Championship - Round 1

Tipperary 2-23

Limerick 2-23

It finished all square in FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon in the first round clash between Tipperary and Limerick, with the crowd in attendance treated to an incredible contest that had people on the edge of their seats throughout.

Like a lot of good stories, it should start at the end from a Tipperary perspective as a late Darragh McCarthy free tied the game in the third minute of stoppage time. The 19-year-old Toomevara man showed composure beyond his years to slot a tricky effort and give both sides a share of the spoils.

A performance was the bare minimum required for Tipperary after a despondent league final loss to Cork a fortnight ago, and there is no denying that Liam Cahill and his troops delivered on the promise built up over the winter months and gave a full 70-plus minute performance.

There was never more than a score between the teams from start to finish, and it led to a ferocious contest with thrills, spills, and all the associated drama that has become a staple of Munster Championship hurling since the introduction of the round robin.

Given the result in Ennis, less than an hour before this one threw in, it amplified the need for Tipperary to get up and going early in this game, and it delivered in spades from a Tipperary perspective.

Even as the ball was being thrown in, the intrigue was there as Limerick lined up with numerous positional switches, with Kyle Hayes at centre forward, Will O’Donoghue at centre back, while David Reidy operated at midfield with Cian Lynch.

Tipp led 0-7 to 0-6 after 18 minutes and were certainly adding a pressure approach to the Limerick puckout, and it told, with Darragh McCarthy hitting two early points from play to set the tone for the home team.

Limerick hit Tipp with a sucker punch - as they often do - when Adam English profited from a class through ball from Kyle Hayes in behind and despite Hogan rushing off the line to block, English slid it to the net.

Such has been the frailty of the group over the last few years, the response had to be emphatic; and it was as the sides were level two minutes later (20th minute) thanks to Jake Morris and another McCarthy free to leave it at 1-6 to 0-9.

Limerick started to grow in dominance into the second quarter and pushed into a two-point lead by the 30 minute mark with Shane O’Brien causing big issues for Eoghan Connolly - O’Brien hitting two points along with scores from Colin Coughlan, Gearoid Hegarty and Aaron Gillane (free) putting Limerick 1-10 to 0-11 to the good.

Jake Morris was leading the line well at 11 though, and he had three points scored bby that point as he helped inspire his teammates to a strong finish to the half, hitting five unanswered point with Eoghan Connlly pointing three massive frees in that run of scores; all from between 80 or 90 metres and when Craig Morgan pointed a class team effort with the last puck it sent Tipp in ahead 0-16 to 1-10.

During half-time, the murmurings around the ground would have been the possibility of déjà vu. Tipperary have been here so many times against Limerick over the years, and it was paramount that Tipp stood up to the obligatory third-quarter onslaught from the Treaty.

And it certainly came from the Treaty as they came out for the restart like a train hit 1-4 with Shane O’Brien rinsing Joe Caesar for pace on the endline to bury a shot to the top corner as Limerick hit the front at 2-13 to 0-17.

Worst fears realised, the Tipperary players never allowed it to faze them and they had the perfect response three minutes later when a Craig Morgan run through the middle led to an overlap and when he fed John McGrath, the Loughmore man rifled an effort past Nickie Quaid. A huge moment with Tipp ahead again at 1-17 to 2-13.

Limerick, though, were not breaking stride and three points in succession with Aaron Gillane (2) and Tom Morrissey on target, and Tipp now needed to just stymy the scoreboard whatever way they could.

Noel McGrath’s introduction in the 42nd minute helped the team no end as the experienced campaigner slotted over a beauty from a tight angle two minutes later, and when Jake Morris fired over a fourth just shy of 50 minutes, Tipp were still there at 2-18 to 1-19.

Seamus Kennedy brought fresh energy too when brought in, and he was picked out by Noel McGrath to fire over, and when Darragh McCarthy slotted over a free in the 58th minute, it was level-pegging again. 1-21 to 2-18.

You felt at that point that this was destined to go the whole way, but every time Tipp got their noses in front, Limerick had a response from Nickie Quaid’s puckouts, with two Darragh McCarthy frees rebutted by Kyle Hayes and Shane O’Brien picking off points as Tipp were resetting.

Limerick led by a point at 2-20 to 1-22, but another massive moment came from John McGrath in the minutes after, as he hit his second goal after superb build-up play involving Jake Morris, Conor Bowe, Noel McGrath and finishing with Bryan O’Mara fed the younger McGrath to rifle home his second goal. A huge goal for Tipp.

Again, the two-point lead wasn’t long established as Limerick came back yet again with an Aaron Gillane free a minute later cutting the deficit and despite Tipp getting a bit of luck with an Adam English point being chalked off after an intervention from Hawkeye, Diarmaid Byrnes did level the side on the stroke of the 70th minute. 

Four minutes of added time to find a winner.

The tension was palpable in the ground as the players were fighting tooth and nail to find the winner, and with two minutes of the four elapsed, Limerick found the lead score after a foul from Tipp close to goal gave Aaron Gillane a chance to score; the Patrickswell man duly obliging the put them ahead. Tipperary is now running out of time.

There was a late twist to come as Tipp launched downfield to find the equaliser, and they managed to force Will O’Donoghue into fouling the ball as referee Thomas Walsh got pinged for throwing the ball - the third time Limerick were pulled - and it was all down to Darragh McCarthy to level the game.

Pressure abounded for the 19-year-old in his first taste of Munster Senior hurling, with the added angst of missing a free from a similar position just minutes earlier. But he showed massive composure to send the ball over the bar and level the playing field once again.

There was time for a restart, and with the ball deep in the forward line and the players fighting for possession, the referee blew the final whistle as the teams shared the spoils from an intense first-round encounter.

This was easily the best performance of Liam Cahill’s tenure. The work ethic and desire was matched with the setup of the team as they were well primed for their opponents from the very off.

Bryan O’Mara was my Player of the Match, and he gave us the first sight of the player everyone ‘knowledgeable’ Tipperary supporter knew he had and add to that the performances of Jake Morris, Craig Morgan, John McGrath and Darragh McCarthy; and the whole team at large it was a result Tipperary deserved at the very least.

Now, Tipperary will need to re-focus their efforts for next Sunday as they hop out of the Thurles frying pan and into the Cork fire in Pairc Uí Chaoimh in round two.

Scorers: Tipperary: Darragh McCarthy (0-8, 0-5f), John McGrath 2-1, Jake Morris 0-4, Eoghan Connolly 0-4f, Jason Forde, Noel McGrath, Alan Tynan, Seamus Kennedy, Bryan O’Mara, Craig Morgan all 0-1 each.

Limerick: Aaron Gillane (0-6, 0-4f), Shane O’Brien 1-4, Adam English 1-3, Diarmaid Byrnes (0-3, 0-2f), Kyle Hayes 0-2, Colin Coughlan, Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty, Barry Nash, Cian Lynch all 0-1 each.

Tipperary: Barry Hogan; Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen; Joe Caesar, Ronan Maher, Bryan O'Mara; Craig Morgan, Darragh Stakelum; Alan Tynan, Jake Morris, Sam O'Farrell; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde.

Subs used: Noel McGrath for Caesar (42); Conor Bowe for Forde (50); Conor Stakelum for Tynan (68); Sean Kenneally for J McGrath (70).

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Barry Murphy, Mike Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Colin Coughlan; Will O'Donoghue, Cian Lynch; Gearóid Hegarty, David Reidy, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Shane O'Brien, Adam English.

Subs used: Aidan O’Connor for Morrissey (50); Peter Casey for Hegarty (59).

Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)