Limerick have a dismal record against them; since the 1996 Munster final replay, Limerick have failed to win any of their six subsequent championship matches, while they've won only one of their six league clashes since the turn of the decade. In fact this past five years Limerick have had a dismal championship record against everyone, not winning any of their last 13 summer games against fellow top-nine opposition.

Tipp are at home. They have Eoin Kelly. Though John Carroll and Redser are now hardly the consistent force Carroll was around '01 and '02 and O'Grady threatened to be in the league of '03, they still offer a serious aerial threat, as was evident in the second half of last year's Munster final and in the making of O'Grady's goals against Limerick both in Thurles last year and in this year's league.

Diarmuid Fitzgerald and Michael Webster will also fancy their chances with the high incoming ball. John O'Brien could take Ollie Moran for a nice little tour of Thurles. Lar Corbett, Seamus Butler and Paul Kelly are more likely to pick off scores than the Limerick bench can when things open out in the last quarter.

But then there is the other side. Last year it took Tommy Dunne and his four points to pull Tipp through. Tommy isn't there today. Mark Keane is. Limerick didn't know how to win the close games then;

they do now. It strikes us as 1998 all over again. Back then Babs made some careless remarks about his players and ultimately paid the price and back then Tipp also met in the first round a ravenous team coming off a league final appearance and ultimately were overrun. Limerick by three.

TIPPERARY B Cummins; D Fanning, P Maher, P Curran; E Corcoran, C O'Mahoney, H Moloney; S McGrath, C Morrissey; J Carroll, G O'Grady, J O'Brien; D Fitzgerald, M Webster, E Kelly LIMERICK B Murray; D Reale, TJ Ryan, M Foley; O Moran, B Geary, D Moloney; P O'Grady, D O'Grady; D Ryan, S Lucey, C Fitzgerald; A O'Shaughnessy, B Begley, M Keane MUNSTER SHC QUARTER-FINAL TIPPERARY v LIMERICK Semple Stadium, 2.00 Referee M Haverty (Galway) Live, RTE Two, 1.30