Tipperary ladies minor footballers make it two wins in as many games

Tipperary 2-16 Limerick 1-5

Tipperary had a big win over Limerick in the second round of the Munster Minor Ladies Football Championship at Staker Wallace GAA, Martinstown, Limerick.

Tipperary faced into this encounter with great grit and determination, buoyed by their first round win over Waterford.

Having taken ownership of the throw-in, Tipperary instantly brought their sublime passing game into action and were on the scoreboard in under a minute with a goal from Ciara O’Hora’s boot before the Limerick backs could react. 

A shocked Limerick were unable to steer the attack away before a further passage of play by the dominant Tipperary full and half forward lines saw a brace of points sail over the crossbar courtesy of Aedin McCormack in the second and fifth minutes.

Limerick found it difficult to deal with Tipperary’s pace and organisation when the ball was worked into Lucy O’Brien’s path, on a run from midfield, and she popped over Tipperary’s third point from play with still less than six minutes on the clock.

The speed of attack and the hard and consistent teamwork from the team paid great dividends, with Tipp pointing again on eight minutes via Issy Carr, Ciara O’Hora a minute later and Lucy O’Brien on the 15-minute mark to put 1-6 between the sides.

Tipp goalie Aoife Kennedy pulled off a super save from a Lily Maher shot that ended up being cleverly utilised by the Treaty side and they registered their first score of the game in the 21st minute from a placed ball off Molly Creedon’s boot.

Limerick battled hard against the well organised Tipperary back lines and from play found Creedon again to slot their second score a minute later. 

From the resultant Anna Phelan kickout Tipperary held possession and seamlessly worked the ball through the lines to finish the attack with a further Aedin McCormack point in the 23rd minute. 

Limerick added to their tally a minute later with a point from Emma O’Rourke’s boot.

Tipperary threatened the Limerick goal on a number of occasions, with Aoife Kennedy called on to pull off some great saves, including from a magnificent long range effort from Emily Spillane. Although their defence had to work tirelessly throughout, Tipperary tagged on Issy Carr, Molly Crowe and Emily Spillane points before the referee blew the half time whistle, with Tipp ahead by 1-10 to 0-3.

The second half saw the introduction of four sets of fresh legs for Tipperary and a somewhat reinvigorated Limerick side. Undoubtedly, Limerick were not going to go down without a battle on their home turf and the game had a more balanced feel to the second half, with long spells of it entertaining the crowd with great displays of skill and passing.

Tipperary were first to get off the mark, having lost the throw-in but nonetheless regaining possession and pointing within the minute mark thanks to a great delivery to Ciara O’Hora. The resultant kick out was contested well by Tipperary and Molly Gilmartin’s recycled ball fell sweetly into Ciara O’Hora’s hands for a further point before the second minute was out.

With Limerick failing to retain possession from that resultant kickout, Ciara O’Hora had her third score of the second half in as many minutes. Without doubt, all of Tipperary’s subs had a positive impact and brought a fresh and renewed energy to the dominant team.

Limerick very efficiently managed the kickout from the previous passage of play and in a blistering attack down the centre of the pitch they found the net from a sweet strike from Meabh Kelly in the 11th minute.

With the contest for possession ramping up, both sides lost a player each to injury in the 12th minute, following a very unfortunate clash between Eva Cremins and Rachel Sommers. Thankfully, both players appeared well after the game.

Both teams settled back into the game following the brief injury pause and in the 19th minute Tipperary, thanks to some exceptional movement outfield, scored a goal from Lucy O’Brien’s boot to put 12 points between the sides. To add to Limerick’s dismay, at the 21 minute mark they were reduced to 14 players.

Tipp kept the pressure piled on and delivered quality ball to the forward lines, who were unlucky at times with their shot selection.

To give Limerick credit, they never gave up the elusive hunt for scores and finished their day with a well-taken point from play from Aoife Moriarty in the 28th minute, while Tipperary tagged on a further two scores from Aedin McCormack and Amy Reddan in the dying minutes.

An energy-sapping contest leaves a short window of recovery to Round 3 next Saturday with an away trip to Kerry on the cards for Tipp.

TIPPERARY: Anna Phelan, Kate Cremins, Sarah Luttrell, Niamh O’Farrell, Emaleigh Cuddihy, Eva Cremins, Ciara Walsh, Sinead O’Carroll, Lucy O’Brien (1-4), Issy Carr (0-2), Molly Crowe (0-1), Emily Spillane (0-1), Lily Maher, Aedin McCormack (0-4), Ciara O’Hora (1-5).

SUBS: Molly Gilmartin for Molly Crowe (H/T), Caitlin Shelly for Niamh O’Farrell (H/T), Sophie Coughlan for Ciara Walsh (H/T), Roisin Carew for Lily Maher (H/T), Amy Reddan for Eva Cremins (42 mins), Meave O’Callaghan for Emily Spillane (48 mins), Aoife Shelly for Issy Carr (49 mins).

Referee : Justin Murphy.