Tipperary 2-18
Limerick 2-11

Jason Forde showed his star quality by hitting 1-8 as Tipperary knocked Limerick out of the Bord Gais Munster U21HC for the second year in succession at Semple Stadium last evening.

The Silvermines clubman, who was man of the match for the Tipp seniors in their facile Allianz Hurling League semi-final victory over Dublin in April, also set up Aidan McCormack for a 26th minute goal, having put behind him the disappointment of firing a penalty over the bar nine minutes earlier.

Tipp, who haven't lost to Limerick at this level in 11 years, were virtually out of sight by half-time when six points from Forde (three frees) helped them to a 1-11 to 0-4 lead. Forde had to settle for a point after Dan McCormack was fouled by Alan Dempsey for a 17th minute penalty.

But he made amends when supplying the pass for Aidan McCormack, scorer of 1-3, for the only goal of the half. Senior stars Declan Hannon and Shane Dowling scored a point each for the disappointing visitors in the first period, with wing back Kevin O'Donnell accounting for the other two.

McCormack extended the Premier County's advantage on the restart before Limerick substitute Michael Ryan pounced on a defensive error to goal in the 33rd minute. TJ Ryan's charges scored four points without reply to leave just five between the sides going into the last 10 minutes, but Forde's goal in the 52nd minute ended their comeback hopes.

Shane Kenny grabbed a second goal for the Treaty with two minutes remaining, but it mattered little as Ken Hogan's side progressed to a Munster semi-final against Cork on July 17.

Scorers - Tipperary: J Forde 1-8 (0-4f, 0-1 pen), A McCormack 1-3, D McCormack & B Stapleton 0-2 each, N O'Meara, B Walsh and L McGrath 0-1 each. Limerick: S Dowling 0-5 (3f), S Kenny 1-1, M Ryan 1-0, D Hannon 0-2, K O'Donnell 0-2 (1f), D Reidy 0-1.

Tipperary: D Mooney; C Barrett, M Breen, A Ryan; J O'Dwyer, T Hamill, S Kennedy; N O'Meara, J Cahill; J Forde, D McCormack, B Stapleton; A McCormack, B Walsh, L McGrath. Subs: C Kenny for Walsh (46), B Maher for O'Dwyer (51), T Heffernan for McCormack (55), J Meagher for Barrett (61).

Limerick: O Webb-O'Rourke; A Dempsey, M O'Loughlin, M Carmody; D Morrissey, B O'Connell, K O'Donnell; T Ryan, S Kenny; D Hannon, W Hickey, D Reidy; J Fitzgibbon, S Dowling, A Breen. Subs: K O'Brien for Hickey (25), B Lynch for O'Connell (h.t.), M Ryan for Fitzgibbon (ht), R Egan for Reidy (45).

Referee: C Lyons (Cork). Tweet

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