Tipperary's win over Waterford in the oneills.com Munster U20 Hurling Chamionship was their third in succession. Photo courtesy of Tipperary GAA.
oneills.com Munster U20 Hurling Championship round 4
Tipperary 1-24 Waterford 2-14
Limerick 1-20 Cork 1-22
By Stephen Barry
Defending champions Tipperary have made it back to the oneills.com Munster U20 hurling final as table-toppers, beating Waterford by seven points despite the absence of senior stars Darragh McCarthy and Sam O’Farrell.
Cork’s victory over Limerick rubber-stamped Tipp’s final berth while there will be a titanic tussle for the two semi-final spots. Limerick, Clare, and Cork are all tied on three points, while Waterford, on one, are not yet eliminated.
Tipp had no lack of scorers without McCarthy. Paddy McCormack notched 1-4 and stand-in free-taker Oisín O’Donoghue arrowed over 0-7. The most impressive performer was midfielder Adam Daly, who landed 0-5 and assisted all but one point of McCormack’s total. Ben O’Sullivan ended with 2-2 in defeat.
The visitors enjoyed a strong opening at FBD Semple Stadium with Mark Hartley’s brace and O’Sullivan continuing the trend of one-handed scores from the weekend.
Tipp made the decisive move in the subsequent nine minutes, scoring 1-7 without reply. Daly enjoyed an eye-catching first half as he yielded two points and created 1-3 for McCormack.
Senan Butler, called in for McCarthy, scored a highlight-reel brace, with his second after a deft flick-up.
In his first year out of minor, Adam Ryan put in a towering aerial display to catch three opposition puck-outs, which led to points for O’Donoghue and Cathal English.
The 14th-minute goal polished off a textbook puck-out routine in which the sliotar was never allowed to drop to the ground. Eoin Horgan’s precise ball picked out Daly on the run and the Kickhams man sent in a high delivery for McCormack to claim. From there, the targetman made a beeline for the posts to tuck away his third goal in three games into the top corner.
Conor Tobin’s super close control ended that scoring burst and O’Sullivan stitched another with a tremendous swing over the shoulder from the sideline.
A couple of missed frees halted their progress but they closed out the half with Gearóid Power and Michael Morrissey points to complete the set of all six forwards scoring. They trailed 1-13 to 0-9 at half-time.
Daly tagged on a pair to open the second half before standout points from O’Donoghue and McCormack on the flanks for a 0-4 streak. That was ended by a Jack Twomey sideline cut.
The Déise opted to replace the spine of their team and new targetman Pat Walsh caused all sorts of trouble in the final quarter.
From the first long ball in, O’Sullivan got in around the back to pull home from an acute angle for 1-19 to 1-11 on 46 minutes.
Seven minutes later, Walsh caught Cillian Ryan’s free and laid off for O’Sullivan to double to the net.
A Tom Carey free cut the gap to four, 1-20 to 2-13, and while Walsh snatched two more deliveries, they couldn’t take advantage.
Tipp responded with four consecutive points. Robbie Ryan teed up fellow substitute Jamie Ormond for a pair, Joe Egan for another, and Daly completed his haul.
Meanwhile, Limerick fell just short of another comeback special as Cork held out for a 1-22 to 1-20 victory at TUS Gaelic Grounds.
Barry Walsh provided the bulk of the Rebels’ scores with 0-12 (10 from frees), while defender Timmy Wilk registered 1-2, including a marvellous sideline cut.
Right from the throw-in, they fell behind to a first-minute goal as Fintan Fitzgerald rolled the sliotar into Donal Coughlan’s path to whip home.
Walsh had clocked up five points before the 17th-minute goal which moved them ahead. Ryan Deasy and Ben Walsh moved the sliotar forward for Wilk to skittle a bouncing finish to the net for a 1-7 to 1-5 lead.
They pushed their cushion out to five by half-time, 1-13 to 1-8, and still led by that margin approaching the final quarter.
But with Mark O’Brien, Robert O’Farrell, and Fitzgerald doing damage, Limerick reeled off seven of the next eight points to edge 1-18 to 1-17 ahead.
Wilk’s sideline levelled at 1-19 all before Walsh and Adam O’Sullivan pushed Cork in front. While Darren Frewen pulled one back, Walsh tacked on the insurance score.
