Absolutely awful. I fancied Donal to save one but he didnāt even get the chance to.
The two lads with probably the strongest soccer pedigree on our side 
Lads that played in the cut throat of the Desmond league.*
- i know twas only 3 of em!!
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Is there a picture of the Clare Orcs after he buried it?
That was a savage game of ball, even more credence given to the view that the intercounty championship needs to go the way of club structure - senior, intermediate and junior. A no brainer to have teams playing other sides of their own level. Either Tipp or Limerick will be in a Munster final and will most likely get steamrolled by Kerry, if they were to meet in an intermediate final with the winner going up it would be much more preferable.
Colm Collins has done a great job with Clare, making them a solid Division 2 outfit so to get a result there is one of the footballers best championship results in years. A few years ago we were teetering at the bottom end of Div 4 so itās a fair turnaround since then to be up in Div 2 and competitive with most sides outside of Division 1.
Super first half, Fanning is some yoke. Heās a bullet when he takes off. Smashing goal after a deft finish.
To be honest I thought Clare looked the better in the second half, as the visitors turned it over in attack repeatedly but a few wides kept Limerick in it. Couldnāt really put us away and we clawed a way back into it. Some pressure kick to force extra time.
Even then it looked ominous when they went two up again. We looked fairly leggy and on the ropes. The goal on the stroke of half time in extra time really gave us a new lease of life. Suddenly there was more energy to our play. That man Fanning made another lung bursting run, set up the redoubtable Peter Nash who kicked a cracker to push the gap out to two. Again Clare responded immediately to halve the deficit before Cleary nailed a fine free to force pens.
OāSullivan makes the goals look tiny and I fancied him to save one or two but ultimately he wasnāt needed. Ice cool from Corbett and co. Real OāMoore Park 2011 vibes to it at the end.
After 2020 and the miracle sideline equaliser, Tipp are owed one on Saturday week. Itāll be tough, wonāt be much in it but hopefully can push on now and reach a provincial final which would cap off a great season.
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Bog
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Thereās a bit of a want in diehard Limerick fans.
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Brian fanning is a horse of man.
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He absolutely unreal. It was some boost to get him back.
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Very composed finish for a full back.
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Every county has their fair share.
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That spine is unreal. Some athletes. Fanning, Corbett, Treacy, Josh, Brian Donovanā¦ all serious operators
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A mighty sound fella
What a game, O Connor was brilliant, speaking with the bro there he taught D Mullins in primary! Luimneach ABU
Just back from TUS Gaelic Grounds.
That was a sensational match. Well done to both teams, probably the best quality match in either province since it went back to u-20. Gripping stuff.
The official attendance was 4K plus but it seemed far more. Cracking atmosphere in the Mackey. A lovely one to win. To be fair Cummins had them well oiled but Limerick just had the more natural hurlers and got there eventually.
Mullins is developing a lovely little CV now. Thatās two Munster minor titles, one Munster u-20 title and a two point loss in another Munster u-20 final.
Fair achievement to win a Munster title beating Clare, Cork, Waterford and Tipp on the way. All tight, narrow wins too which is testament to the nerve and steel they possess. And all while missing CON, baby Hego and a couple of more definite starters. When the chips were down in all four games they really stood up. Lovely balance to this side, different players step up at different times. They all put a shift in tonight, thought OāBrien was brilliant in particular though. The out ball was always on, a super lamh on him.
Aidan OāConnor, obviously, came up with big scores. Savage striker of the ball. At the other end the Tipp inside line were always a threat but a couple of mistakes aside OāConnor had a fine game at full back.
The subs all contributed massively too.
Nice to have another AI final to look forward to. Will be broke gallivanting around the place supporting the hurlers and footballers! Mallow tomorrow night for the minor footballers next up.
Thereās plenty more pain coming for Tipp on Sunday and well they know it. There was an arsehole sat in the row behind who was the most loud mouthed, foul mouthed oaf Iāve ever encountered at a match. You know the type - running commentary, abusing his own players, abusing the opposition, abusing the ref, when they went short it should have gone long, nothing was good enough etc. That Campion fella must have been a club mate because he was the only one spared his vitriol.
To be fair there was a sound Tipp fella beside me who was embarrassed by his antics and weād a rueful laugh over the fella behind a couple of times.
Anyway, glad the cunt went home sickened. More of the same on Sunday please.
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Enjoyable match, delighted to come away with the win. Tipp put it up to us, and do have some very nice hurlers but we probably did have a bit more strength all over the pitch. But I thought some of their stickpassing stuck better than ours, and they seemed to be winning a lot of the breaks for large periods. We did work very hard though, and used the ball well. And then, in attack, we have three unbelievable natural scorers in Aido, Adam & SOB. They picked off some lovely scores.
The Tipp inside line are serious, young Creedon is a good player but all three of them looked very threatening and, again, there seemed to be a lot of space in front of our full-back line. Tbf, I thought our lads did well despite that, Evan OāLeary battled really hard despite being well behind his man size-wise.
We made mistakes at times, we dropped balls that we shouldnāt have dropped, we coughed up possession. But I think all those players responded and came out with some great balls too. I think Hurleyās recovery pace makes him a huge asset in the half-back line, I thought Fergal battled really well throughout once again.
John Kirby probably wasnāt quite as effective as he had been from the bench but he still worked hard, and while Jimmy wasnāt at his absolute best, he still was very decent. Delighted for him to get to lift the trophy, a good kid.
Adam looked so sharp today, started like a train. His goal was phenomenal, won the turnover himself, head down & back of the net. He ended up very deep at times; Tipp were very clever in getting his man to go forward on puckouts, and continue running, which meant that he did way more hurling around his own half-back line than you would like. Still would probably prefer to see him inside.
Eddie Stokes is a great bit of stuff. Worked his socks off once again, won a few vital balls at crucial stages. He just wins the type of ball thatās really hard to win, and itās just invaluable. Aido worked hard too, and also just has that class in his wrists that make him so hard to mark.
OāBrien inside was huge again, serious performance. 5 from play from an 18-year-old. Some going. Another two years at this grade.
I was worried we were a little light on the bench but great to have Paddy back involved. He got a lovely score straight away, was involved plenty and youād hopeful heād be ready for a start in a couple of weeks time. Pa Reale also got a point with his first touch, got a few balls, and Brian OāMeara won a couple of vital puckouts too.
Considering weāre missing players of the calibre of Cathal OāNeill, Diarmuid Hegarty, Mike Keane & Liam Lynch who all played Championship last year and would all have been guaranteed starters, not to mention POD & Ronan Lyons only just being back on the bench, itās a serious achievement. A good bunch of players, letās hope they go and get the All-Ireland now.
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Good interview from Mullins aswell.
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