Tipp look to restore pride in ‘B’ final

By Stephen Barry

TIPPERARY v LIMERICK

Mallow

Thursday, 9th April

Throw-in @ 7.00pm (E.T.)

Referee: Sean Joy (Kerry)

Paddy O’Gorman’s rallying cry is to restore pride in the blue and gold jersey after the Tipperary U20s fell to defeat in Waterford last Friday.

With their Munster ambitions over, the Premier head into a ‘B’ final against Limerick this Thursday.

“We'll have to dust ourselves down now,” said O’Gorman.

“We'll try and restore pride in the jersey.

“Those boys are very proud of wearing that jersey, and it's not for the want of trying. They've been training so hard, and we're young as well.

“If you look at the two Jacks (McGonigle and Kearney), they have two more years to go. There's Seán Griffin, another two years to go. Philip O'Dwyer, two years to go. We'll come again, hopefully.”

O’Gorman felt his side played into Waterford’s hands in the nine-point Lemybrien defeat.

“It's obviously very disappointing. Just didn't perform,” he added.

“We did exactly what we didn't want to do in the first half, just gave away the ball down the centre, in the position they wanted to break on us.

“We spoke about that, that's exactly what we don't do, and we did it a few times. We were turned over eight or nine times in the first half doing that.

“We kicked dink passes and they didn't go to chest. They got momentum then. Just couldn't get it back from there.

“The last couple of games, against Limerick we were six down at half-time, seven down today. Just couldn't get it back.

“In fairness to Paul (Power) and Loughie (Michael O’Loughlin), they were extremely organised and executed their gameplan brilliantly. Congratulations to Waterford.

“Obviously, it's devastating for us, for Tipp, and very disappointed for the players. Very proud of the players at the same time, because I said to them in the dressing room, it's not for the lack of effort.

“Lads make mistakes. In a high-pressure situation, you will make mistakes, and they punished us.”

There was an element of misfortune about the goal as the Tipp defence lost the flight of the ball in the sun.

“No excuse there, the sun just caught us. They lost it in the sun and you can't change that, can you? That's not anyone's fault,” said O’Gorman.

“They read it better. That was a sucker punch.”

The Tipp players came together in a huddle on the halfway line for a pep talk before heading for the dressing room. At the same time, the management were gathered on the line plotting their next move.

“We just spoke about not going down the centre, not panicking, not trying to force shots,” said O’Gorman.

“When you're down like that, you just have to be patient, still trying to work the scores. Our very first score in the second half was a two-pointer, but Waterford cut us open through the middle a lot, just running at us.

“They were coming in waves at times, and we didn't organise ourselves enough to stop that, which is a pity.”

With more games on offer at underage grades, the All-Ireland U20 ‘B’ Championship was introduced in 2024 for those teams who don’t make the latter stages of their provincial championships.

The fifth-ranked Munster side, which will be decided between Tipp and Limerick on Thursday, will join the fourth-ranked Connacht county, and the seventh-ranked Leinster and Ulster teams in the semi-finals.

The Leinster and Ulster representatives have contested the past two finals, with Down beating Westmeath in 2024 and Westmeath coming back to defeat Monaghan on penalties in 2025.

This year, the Munster representatives will meet Connacht in the semi-finals.

Limerick have beaten Waterford to the provincial ‘B’ title in its inaugural two editions.