TIPPERARY boss Colm Bonnar said his charges played into Limerick’s hands by going long in the second half after establishing a commanding position against the All-Ireland champions.
Having led by three points on three separate occasions in the third quarter, Tipp eventually succumbed to a seven-point loss as Limerick outscored them by 2-6 to 0-3 from the 60th minute on.
Bonnar said: “We’ve a younger group there and that’s where maybe experience comes into it but we did play into their hands.
“We started going a bit longer than we should have instead of playing it through the lines.
“They came out with some big ball, they started catching ball in their full-back and half-back lines there. Having said that, we were still in the game.
“It was really just in terms of the puck-out they turned over very quickly, they got a goal and that was an absolute killer for us. Michael Breen had a glorious opportunity in the first half to push home our dominance. He also had a chance in the second half.”
The defeat effectively ends Tipperary’s chances of progressing in the Championship and Bonnar added: “We came down here to win and we wanted to keep some hopes alive in terms of the Championship. We know now that’s gone beyond us.
“We’re devastated over that because we didn’t want to be out of the Championship. This wasn’t on the plan and we just have to go back to the drawing board.
“We do have one Championship game and that’s against Cork and Cork still have something to play for. They have to play Waterford. It’s our last game and we want to finish on a high.”
Limerick manager John Kiely conceded that his side had struggled for long periods but said that they “kept their heads and didn’t panic”.
He explained: “Three-quarters of the way through the game Tipp had been the better team, up to that point, but the boys coming off the bench made a substantial contribution, and that was the difference in the end in terms of who won the game.
“All told we’d be disappointed with an awful lot of our performance today - it lacked the intensity we’d associate with our play. It was just a smidgen off but having said that credit has to be given to Tipperary, who brought huge aggression and intensity to the game in the first 45 minutes, even.
“They were sharper, they were crisper today, and the bottom line is we struggled with them at times.
“We’re going to have to improve for next weekend. That performance won’t do next week, it’s as simple as that. It only barely did today, to be honest.”
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