OUTFOUGHT

THREE weeks ago, John Kiely conceded that Limerick had been "outfought" by Waterford. On Saturday night, it was Liam Cahill declaring that his Tipperary team were "outfought" by Kiely's resurgent Treaty side.

- STEPHEN BARRY

Willie Connors was sent off 12 seconds into the second half for swinging his hurley back at Darragh O'Donovan, but the damage had been done by then.

The All-Ireland champions trailed 0-20 to 0-7 at half-time in calm yet damp conditions. Limerick won the second half by 0-16 to 0-14 to complete a 15-point thumping in front of 15,221 fans at FBD Semple Stadium.

That makes it 13 games without defeat against their blue and gold rivals.

Counting only scores from play, the scale of Limerick's dominance was particularly evident. They scored 0-31 against Tipp's 0-10. The Premier were reliant on veteran stickman Noel McGrath for six of those.

His 34th-minute opener was their first from play.

"Our preparation has gone really well. We trained well during the week," said Cahill. "Disappointed with our fight and spirit, which is always disappointing to say. We just got outfought all through the first half really. We never seemed to be able to get a foothold or a flow on the game.