Tipperary defeated LIT by 3-20 to 0-5 in the Waterford Crystal Cup Hurling Preliminary Round on Sunday January 12th at MacDonagh Park Nenagh. Tipperary led by 2-8 to 0-1 while Tipperary’s goals came courtesy of Shane Bourke, Seamus Callanan (penalty) and Lar Corbett.
Early days but Tipp ticking along nicely
Tipperary 3-20 Limerick IT 0-5
By Jackie Cahill for the Irish Examiner newspaper
Eamon O’Shea’s Tipperary cruised to a 24-point victory against under-strength Limerick IT in yesterday’s Waterford Crystal Cup preliminary round at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh. The Premier County had far too much firepower for an LIT side with one eye on the forthcoming Fitzgibbon Cup campaign — and strewn of six inter-county stars, including 2013 hurler of the year, Tony Kelly. LIT’s Clare contingent returned from a holiday to Cancun yesterday morning and were ruled out of the visit to Nenagh as a result.
Despite playing against a strong wind in the first half, Tipp led by 2-8 to 0-1 at half-time against a depleted LIT side who battled gamely on a poor afternoon for hurling. Shane Bourke scored the opening goal in the sixth minute, finishing a flowing move that went through the hands of captain Brendan Maher, Conor Kenny and Seamus Callanan. And Callanan buried Tipp’s second goal from a 16th-minute penalty, after Denis Maher was fouled by a combination of Barry O’Connell and Brendan Egan. Tipp scored 1-3 of their first-half tally from play and while that percentage lifted after half-time, top scorer John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer finished with 10 of his 12 points from placed balls. 2010 hurler of the year Lar Corbett, linked with a buyout of GAA birthplace Hayes Hotel in Thurles, came off the bench to crash home Tipp’s third goal in the final minute.
O’Shea will now bring his team to Austin Stack Park in Tralee next Sunday, for a quarter-final showdown with a Kerry side managed by Tipperary native Eamon Kelly. “Not a great day for hurling. We had a good win but it’s very early in the year and we’re doing a lot of work at the moment,” O’Shea said. “The league is four or five weeks away. We’ll keep going like this for a while and see what happens over the next two or three weeks. We have a couple of games coming up so we’ll see how we go.”
On a difficult afternoon for LIT, Padraig Hickey finished as leading scorer for the students with 0-3, including two points from frees, with Sean O’Brien and sub Padraig Robinson also notching points from play. Once again, last year’s captain Shane McGrath excelled at right-half-back. Corner backs Cathal Barrett and Jack Peters were solid; the pair have broken through from the underage ranks to stake a claim for a place in O’Shea’s league panel. The Kilruane MacDonaghs man has some big decisions to make over the next few weeks before he finalises a squad of players for the league campaign. And O’Shea acknowledged: “The effort was good today. We had only 21 players today so I’m not sure how many players were injured and we have fellas playing for other colleges as well.”
Scorers for Tipperary: J O’Dwyer (0-12, 9fs, 1 65), S Bourke (1-1), S Callanan (1-0 pen), (L Corbett 1-0), D Collins, C Kenny, N McGrath (0-2 each), J Woodlock (0-1).
Scorers for Limerick IT: P Hickey (0-3, 2fs), S O’Brien, P Robinson (0-1 each).
TIPPERARY: D Gleeson; C Barrett, P Stapleton, J Peters; S McGrath, P Maher, B Maher; J Woodlock, R Maher; D Collins, S Callanan, C Kenny; S Bourke, D Maher, J O’Dwyer.
Subs: L Corbett for Bourke (ht), N McGrath for Callanan (ht), M Cahill for R Maher (67).
LIMERICK IT: A Murphy (Limerick); B Egan (Galway), C Nolan (Clare), C Ryan (Limerick); E Boyce (Clare), B O’Connell (Limerick), M Moroney (Clare); S O’Brien (Limerick), E O’Neill (Kildare); M Gennery (Tipperary), P Begley (Limerick), P Hickey (Clare); O Hickey (Clare), P Ivors (Tipperary), S McGrath (Clare).
Subs: B O’Reilly (Cork) for Moroney (29), D Gough (Clare) for Ryan (ht), P Robinson (Galway) for P Hickey (52), G Guilfoyle (Clare) for Gennery (52), J Lynch (Limerick) for O’Neill (60).
Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)
When – Sunday January 12th at 2:00pm
Where – MacDonagh Park Nenagh
Referee – Diarmuid Kirwan (Cork)
Extra time – (2 periods x 10 minutes only) to be played if sides finish level at the end of 70 minutes
Note to Supporters – please note that due to the current weather conditions, parking on Sunday in the MacDonagh Park Nenagh grounds will be restricted to teams and officials only. As a result, supporters are asked to arrive early to avoid delays.
Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information
For the Record
| Tipperary | LIT | |
| 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup Performance | Defeated Limerick and LIT before losing to Clare by 1-21 to 1-13 in the Final. | Defeated Kerry before losing to Tipperary by 1-20 to 2-12 in the Semi-Final. |
| Number of Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling titles | 3 | 0 |
| Last Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Title | 2012 | N/A |
| Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Record since 2006 | Played – 20 Won – 15 Lost – 5 Drawn – 0 |
Played – 11 Won – 3 Lost – 8 Drawn – 0 |
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling 2014
Preliminary Round (Extra Time)
Sunday January 12th
@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore Waterford v University of Limerick @ 2:00pm
@ Newcastlewest Limerick v IT Tralee @ 2:00pm
@ MacDonagh Park Nenagh Tipperary v LIT @ 2:00pm
Quarter-Finals (Extra Time)
Sunday January 19th
@ Austin Stack Park Tralee Kerry v Tipperary or LIT
@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore WIT v Waterford or UL
@ Clare venue Clare v Limerick or IT Tralee
@ Mardyke UCC v Mary I
Semi-Finals (Extra Time)
Sunday January 26th
Final (Extra Time)
Sunday February 2nd
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling – Odds and Ends
35 goals were scored in the 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup competition over 11 matches (an average of 3.2 goals per match). This is the exact same number of goals scored in the 2012 competition while only 23 goals were scored in the 2011 competition over 10 matches (an average of 2.3 goals per match).
Since the Waterford Crystal Cup began in 2006, Clare (18 wins), Tipperary (15 wins) and Waterford (13 wins) have accounted for 46 of the 81 victories in the competition (57%).
Tipperary hold the record for the longest winning streak in the Waterford Crystal Cup since the competition began under that guise in 2006 when they won 10 consecutive matches between 2007 and 2009.
None of the five teams who take part in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship have a losing record in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006.
Since the Waterford Crystal Cup began in 2006, 66 games have been played with just 1 draw – the 2012 Limerick v Clare Quarter-Final after two periods of extra time.
The record of the Third Level Colleges in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006 is Won 21, Lost 45, a 32% success rate.
Waterford have lost their last 2 matches in the Waterford Crystal Cup having won 8 in a row from 2010 to 2012.
Limerick’s victory over Mary Immaculate College in the 2013 Preliminary round is their only win in the Waterford Crystal Cup dating back to 2006.
Clare are the only team who have won at least one game each year since the Waterford Crystal Cup competition began in 2006. Clare also have the best won / lost record in the competition, winning 18 and drawing 1 of their 25 matches played while winning 2 titles.
IT Tralee is the only team not to win a game in the Waterford Crystal Cup since 2006, losing their first match in the last 6 seasons.
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Roll Of Honour
Tipperary (3) – 2007, 2008, 2012
Waterford (2) – 2010, 2011
Clare (2) – 2009, 2013
Limerick (1) – 2006
Limerick Institute of Technology Panel
The Limerick Institute of Technology Hurling Panel for the Waterford Crystal Cup includes the following players –
Tony Kelly Ballyhea Clare
Jamie Shanahan Sixmilebridge Clare
Peter Duggan Clooney Quin Clare
Paul Killeen Tynagh/Abbey Duniry Galway
Aaron Murphy Hospital Limerick
Eibhear Quilligan Feakle Clare
Cathal Mc’Inerney Cratloe Clare
Sean O Brien Patrickswell Limerick
Alan Dempsey Na Piarsaigh Limerick
Cian Nolan Smith O’Briens Clare
Padraig Hickey Broadford Clare
Barry O’Connell Kildimo Limerick
Brendan Egan Padraig Pearses Galway
Brian O’Reilly Shanballymore Cork
David Gough Smith O’Briens Clare
Pa Begley Mungret Limerick
Shane McGrath Feakle Clare
Oisin Hickey Meelick Clare
Nollag Brophy Piltown Kilkenny
Pauric Robinson Tynagh/Abbey Duniry Galway
Gary Guilfoyle Feakle Clare
Paul O Flaherty Abbeyknockmoy Galway
Paddy Dalton Arravale Rovers Tipperary
Paul Rocket Slieverue Kilkenny
Eanna O’Neill Coill Dubh Kildare
By Jonathan Cullen Sun 12th Jan
