Cathal O’Neill and Donnacha Ó Dálaigh shake hands following Limerick's Allianz Hurling League win at Croke Park. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Allianz Hurling League Division One Group B
Limerick 3-30 Dublin 1-18
By Paul Keane at Croke Park Park
Donnacha O Dalaigh netted twice as Limerick cruised to a familiar Croke Park win, maintaining their perfect record after three games in the Allianz Hurling League.
The Division 1 title holders and All-Ireland champions required just 13 seconds to hit the net through O Dalaigh and they led from there until full-time, finishing with 18 points to spare on hosts Dublin.
O Dalaigh finished with 2-1 while the more experienced Tom Morrissey contributed 1-4 and there were big displays too from Gearoid Hegarty, who fired 0-5, and free-taker Adam English who helped himself to 0-8.
The result leaves Limerick sitting pretty at the head of Group B ahead of ties against Tipperary and Galway though Dublin are in real danger now of a bottom three finish, meaning second tier hurling next season.
They have games against Galway and Westmeath to come and with just one win so far, they need to put points on the board quickly.
Cian O'Sullivan and Donal Burke shared 10 points evenly between them and the return of Burke after a long-term hamstring injury was a giant boost while former captain Chris Crummey, who didn't feature in 2023, also lined out.
Dublin were neck and neck with Limerick for the first 30 minutes or so but played second fiddle thereafter as Limerick's quality and experience told.
Limerick went with a much changed lineup from the side that defeated Westmeath in Round 2, retaining just six players from their lineup in Mullingar.
Of the nine that came into the team, four of them - Nickie Quaid, Mike Casey, Hayes and Will O'Donoghue - were making their first starts of the league campaign.
Hayes slotted into the familiar left half-back position and was an influential figure throughout the first-half, scoring a point, blasting another wide and playing a role in a score for English.
Quaid impressed on his return to the team too and pulled off two great saves in the first-half to deny Sean Currie and then Cian O'Sullivan goals for Dublin.
O'Dalaigh was the name on everyone's lips initially with a brilliant goal for Limerick after just 13 seconds.
Limerick worked a move from the throw-in that led to Gearoid Hegarty feeding O Dalaigh on the left and his sniper's shot flew into the far corner.
The fear among Dublin supporters may have been of a rout with a three-point handicap essentially placed on them.
But they rallied brilliantly and trailed by just a point at the half hour mark. Boss Micheal Donoghue made sweeping changes to his team too with James Madden, Chris Crummey, Sean Gallagher, Ronan Hayes, Donal Burke and Danny Sutcliffe all returning to the starting team.
Burke jumped onto the frees straight away and converted three in the first-half along with another from a 65.
Interestingly, centre-forward Burke had Cathal O'Neill for company as Limerick opted to deploy their own number 11 as a centre-back. David Reidy was named at number six initially but was replaced by Tom Morrissey who switched into the half-forward line.
Morrissey was excellent in the first-half and finished it with 1-2. His 30th minute goal was a beauty and was struck from a similar angle to O Dalaigh's earlier major. Hegarty did well in the buildup with a clever diagonal pass to pick out Morrissey.
O'Neill surged forward for a couple of points late in the half too and Limerick hit the interval with a 2-13 to 0-11 lead. In all, Limerick closed out the half with an unanswered 1-4 and had nine wides in total in the first-half.
Limerick's third goal, and O Dalaigh's second, in the 39th minute left a whopping 13 points between the teams and Dublin, perhaps, with a sinking feeling.
They weren't playing particularly badly but were powerless to prevent Limerick from creating chance after chance and when the Munster champions' tuned in their radar they pulled decisively clear.
To their credit, Dublin kept up the fight and Sean Currie pulled back a goal while Donal Burke, O'Sullivan and O Dulaing reeled off four points in a row in total for the 2011 league winners.
That was as good as it got for Dublin though as Limerick powered home, outscoring their opponents by 0-12 to 0-3 in the closing 10 minutes or so to win at their ease.
Scorers for Limerick: Adam English 0-8 (3fs), Donnacha O Dalaigh 2-1, Tom Morrissey 1-4, Gearoid Hegarty 0-5, Cathal O'Neill 0-4, Diarmaid Byrnes 0-2, Micheal Houlihan 0-2, Kyle Hayes 0-1, Barry Murphy 0-1, Fergal O'Connor 0-1, Shane O'Brien 0-1.
Scorers for Dublin: Cian O'Sullivan 0-5 (3fs), Donal Burke 0-5 (4fs, 1 65), Sean Currie 1-0, Danny Sutcliffe 0-3, Conor Burke 0-2, Conor Donohoe 0-1, Ronan Hayes 0-1, Diarmuid O Dulaing 0-1.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Fergal O'Connor, Mike Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Cathal O'Neill, Kyle Hayes; Will O'Donoghue, Darragh O'Donovan; Gearoid Hegarty, Conor Boylan, Tom Morrissey; Donnacha O Dalaigh, Shane O'Brien, Adam English.
Subs: Graeme Mulcahy for Morrissey 35-h/t blood, Seamus Flanagan for O'Brien 43, Micheal Houlihan for Boylan 57, Dan Morrissey for Casey 57, Barry Murphy for O'Donoghue 57, Aaron Costello for Nash 66.
Dublin: Sean Brennan; James Madden, Paddy Smyth, John Bellew; Daire Gray, Chris Crummey, Conor Donohoe; Conor Burke, Sean Gallagher; Ronan Hayes, Donal Burke, Brian Hayes; Danny Sutcliffe, Cian O'Sullivan, Sean Currie.
Subs: Diarmuid O'Dulaing for Brian Hayes 49, Darragh Power for Gallagher 52, Paul Crummey for Donal Burke 54, Donal Leavy for Ronan Hayes 65, Jake Malone for Sean Currie 65.
Referee: Kevin Jordan (Tipperary).
