All too easy as Limerick clinch Munster final spot

May 28, 2026 Featured Stories, Home Slider, Weekly Observer

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Captains Cian Lynch and Ronan Maher with Colm Lyons.Mary Meehan Limerick v Tipperary

LIMERICK…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..5-27
TIPPERARY…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………0-25
It was all too easy for Limerick as they breezed past Tipperary in the final round of the group stage of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship at TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday.
Tipperary arrived after already having relinquished the county’s All-Ireland crown, having picked up just a single point from the three previous games and while they brought a certain level of intensity to the contest, it was good few notches below what the Premier County would have brought were they still in the championship race.
All John Kiely’s men could do was play what was in front of them and they did so with panache and style and rarely looked like not making it three wins in a row once Aaron Gillane planted the ball in the Tipperary net after less than ten seconds.
Limerick regaled a healthy attendance of 29,069, with some neat patches of play but did not sustain it for the 70 minutes as Tipperary had a couple of spells of mastery during the game without ever threatening the Shannon-siders’ relentless march to an eighth Munster final in a row.
Limerick hit five goals but overall, the team’s efficiency with the target in sight was not as sharp as recent occasions, misfiring on fifteen occasions.
John Kiely made two late changes to the selected side with Mike Casey and Cian Lynch coming in for Barry Nash and Shane O’Brien from the start but both joined the action over the course of the game allaying fears that their early absence was due to injury.
Tipperary were hit with a thunderbolt after less than ten seconds after William O’Donoghue delivered into the path of Aaron Gillane who walloped a pile driver past Rhys Shelly to the Premier County net. Conor Stakelum replied with a point for Tipperary within thirty seconds. Aidan O’Connor added a Limerick point which was trumped by a brace for Tipperary from a Darragh McCarthy free and Conor Stakelum’s second.
Aidan O’Connor free and Cathal O’Neill added points for John Kiely’s men before Tipperary’s task became all the greater on seven minutes when Aidan O’Connor’s 65 nestled in the Tipperary net. Gearóid Hegarty, Aidan O’Connor free and corner back Mike Casey all continued to heap pressure on Liam Cahill and his men with points to open up a nine points gap after just eleven minutes. Tipperary staged a mini revival with four points in a row from the sticks of Stefan Tobin, Darragh McCarthy free, Noel McGrath and Jake Morris to close the gap, 2-6 to 0-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Patrickswell duo Diarmaid Byrnes free and Cian Lynch added Limerick points and after Adam English and Darragh McCarthy free exchanged points, Tipperary hit a second four in a row of the half from Darragh McCarthy free Stefan Tobin, an inspirational effort from distance by Ronan Maher and Eoghan Connolly to close the gap to three.
Limerick outscored Tipperary 0-3 to 0-2 in the closing minutes after Peter Casey and frees from Aidan O’Connor and Diarmaid Byrnes added to Limerick’s tally with Darragh McCarthy replying with two placed balls for the Liam Cahill’s men, Limerick 2-12, Tipperary 0-14 at half time.
Aidan O’Connor free and Noel McGrtah swapped early points after the resumption before Tipperary’s task of exiting the 2026 Munster Championships with a win became all the greater. Kyle Hayes was on a trademark run towards the Tipperary goal when he was up ended by Eoghan Connolly. The Cashel King Cormac’s club man saw a black card for the infraction and it became all the more costly for the men in blue and gold when Diarmaid Byrnes made no mistake with the resultant penalty. Almost from the puck out, Byrnes added a point from distance and Limerick were now eight points clear with half an hour remaining.
Darragh McCarthy from a free kept the scoreboard ticking over for Tipperary before they suffered another blown in the shape of a fine goal from Aidan O’Connor. Sam O’Farrell had a Tipperary point quickly cancelled out by an Aidan O’Connor free but three in a row for the visitors from Conor Stakelum, Stefan Tobin and Jake Morris ensured Tipperary were staying in touch but at a distance, 4-15 to 0-20, after 50 minutes.
Tom Morrissey added a point and within sixty seconds David Reidy picked out Aaron Gillane with a diagonal ball and the Patrickswell maestro did not need a second invitation to whack a bullet to the Tipperary net.
Eoghan Connolly had a point for Tipperary but it was trumped by five in a row for Limerick from Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey, Aidan O’Connor free, Barry Nash and Darragh O’Donovan as all the element of competitiveness had vanished from the contest.
Two in a row from Connolly from placed ball and play was again met by five in a row for Limerick, this time Tom Morrissey, Shane O’Brien, Gearóid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill and Shane O’Brien a second locating the target.
Credit Tipperary they kept battling and points from Paddy McCaormack and Jake Morris put a slightly better complexion on the scoreboard before Tom Morrissey with his fourth point had the last say with the game’s final score.
Scorers: Limerick: Aidan O’Connor 2-7, 5fs, 1-0 65; Aaron Gillane 2-0; Diarmaid Byrnes 1-3, 2fs, 1-0pen; Tom Morrissey 0-4; Cathal O’Neill, Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Shane O’Brien 0-2 each; Mike Casey, Adam English, Peter Casey, Barry Nash, Darragh O’Donovan 0-1 each.
Tipperary: Darragh McCarthy 0-7, 7fs; Eoghan Connolly 0-4, 2fs; Conor Stakelum, Stefan Tobin, Jake Morris 0-3 each; Noel McGrath 0-2; Sam O’Farrell, Ronan Maher, Paddy McCormack 0-1 each.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid: Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Kyle Hayes; Adam English, Darragh O’Donovan; Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch (Captain), Cathal O’Neill; Peter Casey, Aaron Gillane, Aidan O’Connor.
Subs: Barry Nash for Mike Casey (HT), Tom Morrissey for Adam English (49), David Reidy for Peter Casey (49), Shane O’Brien for Gillane (57), Colin Coughlan for Kyle Hayes (60).
Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Ronan Maher (Captain), Keith Ryan; Eoghan Connolly, Bryan O’Mara, Séamus Kennedy; Conor Stakelum, Alan Tynan; Oisin O’Donoghue, Jake Morris, Noel McGrath; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Stefan Tobin.
Subs used: Sam O’Farrell for Alan Tynan (42), Joe Caesar for Séamus Kennedy (45), Michael Breen for Noel McGrath (51) Paddy McCormack for John McGrath (54), Jamie Ormond for McCarthy (60), Brian McGrath for Keith Ryan (68).
Referee: Colm Lyons, Cork