More of the humdrum please

KILLINAN END

 

Some seven decades have passed since Tipperary won a seminal Munster Final against Limerick at the Cork Athletic Grounds. That year of 1949 was, in hindsight, pivotal for both counties. For the Blue and Gold it began an era of great, brutally-contested matches, with invariably successful outcomes. Many of those who were in their formative years at that time became hurling addicts having been exposed to such heady intoxication in Limerick, Killarney, and Croke Park. Their Limerick counterparts saw the county go into a long-term tailspin - albeit one that was briefly relieved in 1955 – despite producing scores of brilliant hurlers down the years.

Of the 69 Munster Finals played since 1949 only 16 have not featured either Tipperary or Limerick. That’s 53 Munster Finals yet on only four occasions have their paths crossed on the big day. Only Clare-Waterford is a less common pairing in that time. If what is rare is indeed wonderful we are in for a treat on Sunday. Of those four finals not one was decided by more than a puck of a ball. Two were decided by a point (1971 & ’73), one was a draw and replay (1996), and the other one (2001) was comparatively one-sided with a gap of two points emerging after 70 minutes. But of course the finals do not tell even a quarter of the story here.

Famous days were Limerick’s ambush on Tipp in 1966 down in Cork; Joe McKenna’s exhumation of Limerick’s prospects in Thurles in 1981 when they won the replay back in Limerick; the triology of 2007 when Limerick eventually prevailed. There’s the rub really – Limerick have enjoyed the heroic days. Tipp’s wins have tended to be more humdrum.

 

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