Liam Lynch & Liam Dennehy on now. And Sean OāNeill.
Using the subs this year.
Good win, the goalkeeper saved us a few times.
That one when the Waterford lad was through in the second half and they were only two points down but he made a fantastic block before going down the other end to extend the lead to three was a big turning point.
Any team under Mullins play a nice style of hurling, runners off the shoulder, little enough hit and hope stuff but it got a bit ragged towards the end with about five wides in a row.
Anyway, on to Clare on Wednesday night.
Savage sunny afternoon today, should be decent conditions for tonight with a big crowd in.
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Limerick 1-18 Waterford 1-14
A decent win if not a spectacular performance. I thought we looked really good at times in the first half and should have been further ahead at half-time but the second half performance with the wind was actually a little ragged. At times, we looked excellent when everything clicked but we were guilty of some poor stuff too.
Gave away a lot of frees and Waterford probably should have had three goals, Josh OāReilly did well to make a few saves. We missed goal chances of our own, particularly Hayes in the first half, and hit a lot of aimless wides from out the field when we had a dangerous full-forward line inside starved of ball.
Need to look at how easily our backline were breached for those goal chances as well as the stupid fouls. In some circumstances, we defended well but would then just foul for no reason. Ronan Lyons struggled on the ball which is unusual for him. Our half-back line didnāt dominate; you kind of expect Hurley to get on loads of ball and while he had a few nice touches, he was quietish. They did have some nice passes out from the back to midfield alright but Iād like to see them more involved. Davy had some really nice deliveries and defended fairly well in fairness to him.
Adam English was very prominent, he did very well even if he missed a few chances. Barry Duff was quiet in midfield, even though got one lovely score.
Half-forward line were excellent in the first half, their movement was really good. Kirby got on loads of ball, Fintan Fitzgerald linked the play nicely and POD is just class. But less prominent in the second half, Kirby started to hit some aimless ball and Fitzgerald faded slightly. POD was good throughout though.
Inside, SOB got very little ball in reality. One sublime catch & score but not enough ball went in to him. Adam Fitz did well in the withdrawn role, when he got running at defenders, he was a big threat. Con Hayes got 1-1, really nice finishes, but also had a couple of wides and was beaten to a few balls.
Liam Lynch came on and got a good score, think Dennehy also got a nice point. There are some decent options in reserve too.
The two big names for Waterford impressed, Mark Fitz was their best player at centre-back. Patrick Fitz inside was their main threat by a mile but probably should have got a goal from play that would have made it very tight down the home stretch.
I suspect Waterford might be the weakest team in this competition, so weāll need to improve a lot. Had an awful first day versus Clare last year and kicked on really well, so hopefully we see similar levels of improvement.
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Clare and Tipperary drew 0-20 apiece.
Clare deserved the win IMO. Very good game
Goal for hayes today after his brother getting one minor during the week
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Barry Murphy for DOD
Forget about the Tipp no 9 after that
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Kiely schooled Cahill there.
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Again
Principal Kiely taught the Tipp boys a valuable lesson there.
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The brains trust went home with a bit of homework alright
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Decent game. There were some similarities between todayās game and the Munster Final of 2021. Neither half was as extreme as that but the pattern was similar.
Tipp came at us in the first half and we were largely poor. I would say that two players played really well in the first half and took the fight to Tipp: Cian Lynch and Cathal OāNeill.
Other than that, we had a few average showings and some of our lads really struggled. Both our wing-backs were in bother defensively, our midfield was being beaten all ends up and Mikey Casey was in trouble at the back. Plus we were getting no ball inside to our full-forward line. Tipp were working the ball through the lines a lot; we were running around a bit but werenāt actually putting in the hits that we needed and were coughing up possession too easily.
Second half was a big turnaround. Again, we shut down Tippās puckout, the wind helped in that regard. We started winning the breaks that we werenāt winning in the first half. A lot of people seemed to think that Coughlan & Murphy would be pulled at half-time, as they had struggled and Kyle & Hegarty were there on the bench. But Kiely held firm and the two boys were much better in the second half. Murphy was anonymous first half but got through a mountain of work in the second half and Coughlan also did a lot better.
Tom was only alright in the first half but roared into the game at the start of the second half, grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.
We also started moving the ball much more slickly. Lynch was majestic. Everything went through him. He was being given all sorts of ball and it all stuck. Hospital passes, pinged passes, high, low and he just makes it work. And everyone knows that too so then they can play him any sort of ball and just move into space and they know heāll find them. The best player on the pitch by a country mile.
Even in the second half, we didnāt get enough ball inside. We hit some aimless ball too and Iād like to see more deliveries. Casey did really well for the goal and worked hard but didnāt get fed enough. Gillane similarly barely touched the ball in open play. And itās not as if he was losing contests, it just didnāt go near him for large parts. Think Kyle & DOD deliver way more ball than some of the others. Donnacha got more of the ball than the others; he did well, I thought. Works very hard and is making a strong case for a bench place for Championship.
Cathal OāNeill was really really good, was a leader aswell today. Heās so unlucky that Tom/Cian/Hego are so good. I almost think heās too good not to start though.
Thought Tipp would threaten goals more than they did. Only half-sniffs that were tapped over for points. Maybe that is still to come in Championship.
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Not mentioning anyone here, but some serious doses of Limerick fans around me in the open stand.
Every call made they booed and questioned and argued.
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A lot of this came through.
Tipp were excellent in the first half, restarts from Hogan were spot on and ye were finding shooters in space constantly, once we started squeezing space and winning turnovers in the second half that was sin e.
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Every county has those cunts; āSTEPSā or the new one āHE THREW ITā when it was a plain as day handpass.
Aside, Gordon was desperate. Both teams were happy enough to go at it and dog it out only for him to blow it when he should have left it and lave it when he should have blew it. A dose.
Anything that looks like a throw is a throw.
Itās a blight on the game. Lynch hasnāt hand passed a ball in his life.
The modern game is terrible if truth be told.
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There were some encouraging signs for Tipp today but still a bit off the highest level. I donāt think thatās any surprise really, coming from where Tipp were in last yearās Championship.
Encouraging from your point-of-view that some of the standout players were relative newcomers? I thought Gearoid OāConnor stood up in the second half when others didnāt. Alan Tynan was your best player. Eoghan Connolly showed some nice touches on the ball and I donāt think he was opened up.
If anything, the players who struggled most were older players who have struggled against Limerick for years. Ronan Maher had a bad second half, in particular, wasted some amount of ball. Dan McCormack, as you say, is not an intercounty wing-back, I donāt think. Jason Forde brilliant in the first half, anonymous in the second (exact same as 2021 Munster Final). Jake Morris is lively but doesnāt come out on top in many 50/50 contests.
Stakelum was quiet enough alright, and I think he is a good player. Cathal Barrett to come back obviously. Might need to tweak the balance of that forward line still, Bonner didnāt do much tonight but maybe still has something to offer in Championship.
Cathal o Neill is clearly very talented but he drifts in and outs of games. He looks like the perfect sub but I wouldnāt have him starting yet anyway. Tom Morrissey was immense. Didnāt think Mike Casey was great but maybe the fellas around him didnāt help as well.