Tipperary defeated the University of Limerick by 2-30 to 0-22 in the Waterford Crystal Cup Hurling Semi-Final on Sunday February 2nd at Dr. Morris Park Thurles.
Bubbles O’Dwyer hits 1-9 as Tipperary hurlers reach Waterford Crystal Cup final
Tipperary 2-30 UL 0-22
Report by Jackie Cahill
EAMON O’SHEA’S TIPPERARY posted a massive score against University of Limerick this afternoon to book a place in next Friday evening’s Waterford Crystal Cup final against holders Clare in Sixmilebridge. Tipp had 14 points to spare against understrength UL in this rearranged semi-final fixture at Dr. Morris Park, Thurles. Tipp’s win sets up a repeat meeting of last year’s Waterford Crystal Cup decider against All-Ireland champions Clare and O’Shea’s free-scoring players have now registered 7-66 from their three outings to date in the 2014 competition. Tipp had eleven players on the scoresheet today, with John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer hitting 1-9 in the first half alone, before he was substituted at half-time. Tipp’s victory may have come at a cost, however, after Seamus Callanan and David Collins picked up injuries that led to both players being taken off.
UL began with just four of the players who started against UCD in their Irish Daily Mail Fitzgibbon Cup opener last Friday. And the gulf in class was all too evident as Tipp cruised into a 1-19 to 0-10 half-time lead. O’Dwyer scored the 33rd minute goal to cap a fine first-half display from the Killenaule player, with PJ Scully trying in vain to keep UL in touch from placed balls. With the breeze at their backs in the second half, UL threw over some lovely scores, including four from Kilkenny’s Padraig Walsh, who came on at half-time. But Tipp kept the scoreboard ticking over with regularity and Conor Kenny completed the rout with Tipperary’s second goal in the dying moments.
Scorers for Tipperary: John O’Dwyer 1-9 (0-5f, 0-1 65), Kieran Morris 0-6 (5f), Conor Kenny 1-1, Seamus Callanan 0-3, Mikey Heffernan, Shane McGrath, Michael Cahill & Ruairi Gleeson 0-2 each, Kieran Bergin, Brendan Maher & Colin O’Riordan 0-1 each.
Scorers for UL: PJ Scully 0-9 (7f), Padraig Walsh 0-4, Tommy Heffernan (2f) & Brian Stapleton 0-2 each, Peter Geraghty, Mikey O’Neill, Kevin Connolly, Tom O’Brien & Bill Maher 0-1 each.
TIPPERARY: Darragh Egan (Kildangan); Conor O’Brien (Éire Óg Annacarty), Thomas Stapleton (Templederry Kenyons), Jack Peters (Kilruane MacDonaghs); Shane McGrath (Ballinahinch), Padraig Heffernan (Clonoulty-Rossmore), Ronan Maher (Thurles Sarsfields); Michael Cahill (Thurles Sarsfields), David Collins (Drom & Inch); Kieran Bergin (Killenaule), Mikey Heffernan (Nenagh Éire Óg), Seamus Callanan (Drom & Inch); Ruairi Gleeson (Kildangan), John O’Dwyer (Killenaule), Kieran Morris (Moycarkey-Borris).
Subs: James Logue (Ballingarry) for Egan, Colin O’Riordan (JK Brackens) for Bergin, Brendan Maher (Borrisoleigh) for Callanan, Conor Kenny (Borrisoleigh) for O’Dwyer (all half-time), Shane Bourke (JK Brackens) for Collins (39).
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK: Shane Hassett (Tipperary); Mark Carmody (Limerick), Jack Sheehan (Cork), Pa Ryan (Tipperary); Daire Quinn (Tipperary), Michael O’Flaherty (Tipperary), David King (Offaly); Martin Boran (Kilkenny), Brian Stapleton (Tipperary); Mikey O’Neill (Clare), PJ Scully (Laois), Thomas Geraghty (Offaly); Mikey Ryan (Limerick), Tommy Heffernan (Tipperary), Peter Geraghty (Offaly).
Subs: Padraic Walsh (Kilkenny) for Peter Geraghty, Kevin Connolly (Galway) for O’Neill, Bill Maher (Tipperary) for Boran, Tom O’Brien (Limerick) for Heffernan (all half-time), Eamon Murphy (Waterford) for Thomas Geraghty (53).
Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork)
When – Sunday February 2nd at 2:00pm
Where – Dr. Morris Park Thurles.
Referee – John Sexton (Cork)
Extra time – (2 periods x 10 minutes only) to be played if sides finish level at the end of 70 minutes
Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information
For the Record
| Tipperary | UL | |
| 2013 Waterford Crystal Cup Performance | Defeated Limerick and LIT before losing to Clare by 1-21 to 1-13 in the Final. | Defeated Waterford before losing to Clare in the Quarter-Final by 3-13 to 1-13. |
| 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 – 22 Won – 17 Lost – 5 Drawn – 0 |
Played – 18 Won – 10 Lost – 8 Drawn – 0 |
| Last meeting in the Waterford Crystal Cup | 2012 Quarter-Final – Tipperary 2-11 UL 0-12 – February 4th at MacDonagh Park Nenagh – goals by Pa Bourke and Brian O’Meara helped Tipperary to a five point victory. | |
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling 2014
Preliminary Round
Friday January 10th
@ Mick Neville Park Rathkeale Limerick 10-17 IT Tralee 0-9
Sunday January 12th
@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore University of Limerick 1-11 Waterford 0-10
@ MacDonagh Park Nenagh Tipperary 3-20 LIT 0-5
Quarter-Finals
Sunday January 19th
@ Austin Stack Park Tralee Tipperary 2-16 Kerry 0-8
@ WIT GAA Grounds Carriganore UL 2-30 WIT 1-20
@ Sixmilebridge Clare 1-14 Limerick 0-11
@ Mardyke UCC 3-28 Mary I 2-14
Semi-Finals (Extra Time)
Sunday January 26th
@ Sixmilebridge Clare 2-28 UCC 1-4
Sunday February 2nd
@ Dr. Morris Park Thurles Tipperary v UL @ 2:00pm
Final (Extra Time)
Friday February 7th
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling – Odds and Ends
Since the Waterford Crystal Cup began in 2006, Clare (19 wins), Tipperary (17 wins) and Waterford (13 wins) have accounted for 49 of the 88 victories in the competition (56%).
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.
Limerick have not defeated an inter-county team in the Waterford Crystal Cup since the 2006 semi-final when they defeated Clare by 1-14 to 0-13 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.
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 19 and drawing 1 of their 26 matches played while winning 2 titles.
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).
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, 73 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 24, Lost 49, a 33% success rate.
Waterford have lost their last 3 matches in the Waterford Crystal Cup having won 8 in a row from 2010 to 2012.
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 7 seasons.
Last meeting – Tipperary 2-11 Limerick 0-12 – 2012 Waterford Crystal Cup Quarter-Final
Tipperary: D Gleeson; D Maher, P Curran, M Cahill; S Maher, C O’Mahony, J Coghlan; D Young, B Maher; G Ryan, A Ryan, P Bourke; J O’Neill, B O’Meara, J O’Brien.
Subs: C O’Brien for D Maher (ht), J Woodlock for Young (46), T Stapleton for Coghlan (46), E Kelly for A Ryan (52), S Curran for G Ryan (64).
University of Limerick: T Lowry (Tipperary); P Stapleton (Tipperary), Michael Walsh (Kilkenny), K Fox (Tipperary); L Ryan (Kilkenny), B Bugler (Clare), Martin Walsh (Kilkenny); S Golden (Clare), L Markham (Clare); B Beckett (Kilkenny), J Gallagher (Tipperary), P Walsh (Kilkenny); M Heffernan (Tipperary), P Murphy (Tipperary), C McGrath (Clare).
Subs: P Kelly (Tipperary) for Golden (ht), T O’Brien (Limerick) for Murphy (43), C Fogarty (Kilkenny) for Heffernan (52), P Flanagan (Clare) for Beckett (57), M Boran (Kilkenny) for P Walsh (63).
Referee: C Lyons (Cork)
Scorers for Tipperary: P Bourke 1-3 (1-2f), B O’Meara 1-0, E Kelly 0-3, A Ryan, J O’Neill, G Ryan, J O’Brien, J Woodlock 0-1 each
Scorers for UL: C McGrath 0-7 (6fs), P Kelly 0-2, L Ryan (f), M Heffernan, P Walsh 0-1 each.
Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling Roll Of Honour
Tipperary (3) – 2007, 2008, 2012
Waterford (2) – 2010, 2011
Clare (2) – 2009, 2013
Limerick (1) – 2006
By Jonathan Cullen Sun 2nd Feb
