Finn finished well but heās been a little off form this year, was poor enough for 55 minutes today.
He stood up when it mattered.
Indeed.
Fair play to Tipp, I thought they really had a go, cleaned us on the breaks 1st half and worked very hard. They were right up for it.
Limerick were awful, never got going at all and never got into their stride.
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Iād also add, I thought Liam Gordon was very poor and most certainly gave Tipp the rub of the green on the vast majority of occasions. Iāll wait to watch back the Aaron Gillane incident tonight and perhaps he got that one wrong, but I thought he gave us a bit of a riding today
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I guess itās good to be in a position where we can beat Tipp by 7 points and still consider that we played poorly. It actually reminded me a lot of games around 2011-2012 where Limerick, as underdogs, would play quite well but the favourites, Tipp or Kilkenny or whoever, would kick on towards the end, maybe score a couple of goals and end up with a decent lead. And itās nice to be in the reverse position.
But thatās not to say that we should be happy with the performance, you wonāt win All-Irelands playing like that. And I think Kiely wasnāt happy after. The first half was an awful spectacle tbh, wides from both sides sucked the momentum out of the game. We didnāt score between the 13th & 27th minute, I think? I think we missed 7 or 8 chances in that time. And look, I know youāll always hit wides but some of these were just woefulā¦ Byrnes & CON both missed handy chances from the right wing, Byrnes missed a free on the '65, Hego missed a handy shot on the left wing and Tom & Mul both missed slightly harder chances but still contributed to the game failing to catch fire. The worst of the lot was WOD from straight in front of the posts on the '45. And it would have been a brilliant score if it had gone over, had been worked well.
So, accuracy, again way off where it needs to be. Now, to be fair to Tipp, they did work very hard in the first half. We struggled to track Ger Browne on puckouts. Byrnes was trying to hold his shape but obviously wasnāt communicating to the midfield or half-forward in front because, whatever about once, that should not happen on multiple occasions. Stakelum is a good worker, a good player. Noel linked the play nicely, Barry Heffernan & Dillon Quirke did well too.
For us, Cathal probably got on the ball more than most in the first half and picked off two lovely scores, but just worked hard aswell. Gillane was a real threat inside when the ball went in but it just didnāt go in enough, things were breaking down out the field. A lot of sloppy play, dropping the ball, not winning rucks, Tipp were doing better in those areas where Limerick usually dominate. Hannon was probably the best of the backs in the first half.
Second half, I think we slowly took control of the game, it just took a bit longer to go in front than some might have expected. But it was always coming, I think. Slowly, but surely, Tipp were tiring and Limerick were starting to dominate in defence. Seanie Finn didnāt have a great game but grew into it in the last 15. Darragh OāDonovan was absolutely superb again, he just gets on so much ball. Hego was unreal in the second half. Won the ball, drove through fellas and laid it off. Nash also started to affect the game more.
Subs made a big impact. WOD was quiet, Reidy made a huge difference when he came on, just got on the ball and linked the play. Kyle wasnāt effective and Boylan also made a big impact. Worked hard & actually did really well to finish his goal chance in the end. Momentum swing was huge though, Nashās point, Reidyās point & Hannonās point were all huge scores which lifted the crowd. And there was a big Limerick contingent in the crowd that were just waiting to have a reason to get noisy, I think. Can definitely play a part when momentum is swinging.
Gillane got the same goal twice, unreal both times, heās just class at that. The ball from DOD into him for the second was sensational 
From where I was, you just knew the minute Darragh struck it that Gillane was going to score a goal. The catch from Hoganās puckout & pass into Sham from Hego for Boylanās goal was really good too.
Actually, just on Hogan, his puckouts were generally excellent I must say. Caught us out a few times. And we didnāt turn Tipp over in their backline very much.
Graeme did very well. Gets onto the back of those breaks, reads the game so well, won some hard ball. Was surprised when he was called ashore but I suppose he had worked himself into the ground. Nickieā¦ just a top, top class player. So assured. The save from Kehoe was unreal, followed it up with a save from the free and then the rebound aswell. Not to mention a few unbelievable puckouts once more but just so calm on the ball and organises things so well. The best in the business by a country mile.
So much to work on, a lot of individual performances need improvement. Good that a few of the subs made an impact though. Good to get some hurling into Flanagan, and the runout will probably do Kyle some favours too. Ennis will be difficult and weāll need a better performance if we want to make a Munster Final.
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Gillane must be black and blue this evening from the amount of belts he took.
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Denied an obvious penalty too. Ankles pulled from under him
That was gas. He couldnāt buy a free and was being belted all over the fieldā¦ He took matters into his own hands for a finish
Rewatched the Gillane incident there now. Ball was there to be played, his pull was a fraction late and it was a deserved yellow card. Not a red. About the only call the cunt Gordon got correct.
Aaron Gillane was fouled off the ball from minute 1 to the final whistle today. As was Hegarty. Systematic repeated and targeted fouling. I wonder if the media will highlight it and demand the refs crack down on it??
But look, we wonāt go on about it. Itās a manās game.
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Did you not get the meno pal? You can belt Limerick lads all you want this year apparently.
It certainly appears so.
Hego barely rubbed his hurley against one of the Tipp lads today and got a yellow. And he getting belted all day himself. He should just approach the ref before throw in from now on and ask for his customary media-influenced yellow card to keep soft wankers like Donal Ćg happy
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Affirmative
Gillane should have thrown on a saddle altogether for the riding he was getting. Now imo that is good corner backing and he is a hot head and he is going to get targeted for treatment, but there were 3 or 4 very obvious fouls on him that he never got. For the yellow he was after getting mauled just before it and came out frustrated and swang. In real time I thought a yellow was fair but I havenāt seen it back and could see a case for a red possibly. It was an orange probably.
But sure we know at this stage thereās no changing him. And two goals to win the game, why would you want to
Hego as usual more sinned against than sinning. The yellow card was as soft as you will see
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watching TSG here Julio, says 27k present, looks more than that??
27k for the Waterford game also.
There was a section in each of the terrace blocked off.
Only Clare end terrace tickets were available this morning.
Im not sure how they calculate it but our tickets werenāt scanned at all going in. Your one just looked at them. The scanner is pure fidgety when the tickets are on the phone so they just kind of pretend. Same last game v waterford. Stands were pretty full apart from the two ends. Terraces had space alright. Iād say closer to 30k, but its hard to know. They have about a quarter of one terrace gone for the Sunday game podium. Afraid someone would fuck in a flare i suppose. Which they probably would 
I donāt know how people could think it is only a yellow. Gillane was very fortunate not to see red. Reckless, high and late.
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Boylan and Reidy with pivotal contributions near the end. Limerick will be delighted with that extra depth. Cathal Oā Neill looking more settled too.
Great to see a big crowd. Proper championship feel which has been rare enough so far this season.
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