Munster Minor Football Championship recap: Limerick and Tipperary claim impressive wins

A goal by Luke Walsh after 13 seconds propelled Limerick into the Stage 1 Final of the Munster Minor Football Championship.

he Shannonsiders led from pillar to pillar in the Lemybrian sunshine as seven different players finished on the scoresheet. Walsh led 2-1 to set up a showdown with Tipperary next Thursday.

Waterford suffered his third loss of the campaign. Midfielder Adam Murray was their standout player.

The visitors got off to a flying start as Aidan O’Shea rushed from the throw-in through the middle and Walsh slammed the ball into the net. Young then hit the first of his four first-half attempts. Five of Limerick’s six forwards registered from the game by half-time as they led 1-10, 0-5.

Billy Byrne scored Waterford’s best score of the half with the outside of his right shoe from 40 yards. Jack Power, Cormac McGrath, Kyle Moloney and Adam Murray also raised white flags.

Limerick scored four unanswered points in the third quarter, including two from O’Shea. Corner defender Shane O’Sullivan saw a ball cleared off the line before overturning. Moloney, Murray, Byrne and Cathal Sweeney scored consolation points for the hosts.

Scorers for Limerick: L Walsh 1-2 (1 mark), S Young 0-4 (2fs), D Hynes 0-3, A O’Shea, T Ryan, B Smith each 0-2, S O’Sullivan 0- 1.

Scorers for Waterford: A Murray, K Moloney, B Byrne 0-2 each, C McGrath (mark), J Power, C Sweeney (f) 0-1 each.

Limerick: J Foley; E Browne, C Mangan, S O’Sullivan; Boyle C, Harnett C, Downey P; A O’Shea, T Meaney; Hynes D, Ryan T, Kilbridge M; L Walsh, S Young, B Smith.

Substitutes: B Ryan for Meaney (43), S Walsh for Downey (43), J Young for Smith (48), T Lloyd for S Young (51), A Considine for Ryan (56).

Waterford: S Burns; D O’Neill, S Wall, D Murphy; T Leane, S Power, O Buck; B Lombard, A Murray; K Moloney, B Byrne, C McGrath; K Flynn, C Sweeney, J Power.

Substitutes: T Gardner for O’Neill (40), B Curran for McGrath (48), D Jacob for Flynn (50), B Boland for Leane (52), S Flavin for Moloney (56).

Referee: J O’Regan (Cork)

Tipperary 3-12 Clare 1-8

A stormy backlash in the second quarter provided Tipperary with the perfect platform to take a clean group win and performance into the Phase 1 Final of the Munster Minor Football Championship on Thursday night at Shannon.

With Tipperary and hostess Clare vying alongside Limerick for the top two spots in the group standings, Clare confidently started this must-win showdown with the top three points. However, an opportunistic goal from Ben Carey in the 14th minute completely changed the narrative of the tie as Tipperary flashed the banner 2-6 to 0-1 for a seven-point cushion at half-time.

The lively Fionn Fitzgerald rushed in with a superb volley on 20 minutes for the visitors’ second goal after his first try was blocked by goalkeeper Cian Howard.

Trailing 2-6 to 5-0 at the break, Clare’s fortunes didn’t improve much in the restart either, when goalman Conor Fennell’s shot was deflected off the back of Eoin O’Connell before midfielder Tadhg Lysaght came along in the 35th a black card lost minute.

Even an injury-time penalty for home goalscorer Cathal Talty was accompanied by a last goal from Daithi Hogan as Tipperary invaded a Phase 1 decider second leg against Limerick next Thursday.

Scorers – Tipperary: F Fitzgerald 1-3 (1f), Conall Grogan 0-4 (2f, 1m), B Carey 1-1, D Hogan 1-0, P O’Keeffe, C English, O Shelly, E Ormond 0 – 1 each

Scorers – Clare: C Talty 1-5 (1-0 pen, 3f), S McMahon 0-2 (1f), D Keane 0-1

Tipperary: R. McGrath; C Byrne, A McSharry, J Bergin; E O’Connell, C King, T Charles; J Higgins, P O’Keeffe; C English, T O’Connor, B Carey; Grogan C, Hogan D, Fitzgerald F.

Subs: D Landers for English (46), E Ormond for O’Connor (46), O Shelly for Carey (49), D Fogarty for Higgins (57), A Creed for Grogan (57)

Clare: C Howard; E Cahill, D Hill, M Kelly; S McMahon, P Nagle, R Kilroy; J Garry, T Lysaght; M Kelleher, D Keane, G O’Shea; Talty C, Fennell C, Killeen D

Substitutes: N Fitzgerald for Kilroy (22), C Riordan for O’Shea (38), K O’Donoghue for Fennell (49), J Moylan for Nagle (53), P Considine for Garry (57)

Referee: E Ó Muircheartaigh (Kerry)