Munster SHC: Limerick finish strongly

Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Limerick 2-29 Waterford 2-20

By Tom Clancy at TUS Gaelic Grounds

Limerick qualified from Munster, thanks to a 12 minute spurt of 2-9 answered, to pull well clear of Waterford at the TUS Gaelic Grounds. The result knocks out the Deise, while also eliminating defending All-Ireland champions Tipperary, ahead of their final game, in Limerick next week.

It is a 10th straight victory over Waterford for the Green Machine, but this was far from straightforward against the men in white and blue, who were fighting for their lives, having lost to Cork last weekend.

Limerick have secured back-to-back victories, with the returning Cian Lynch key, as well as two goals in just under a minute, from Peter Casey’s boot and Gearoid Hegarty.
A fine start from the Shannonsiders saw them hit seven points from as many shots, to lead 0-7 to 0-3. Cathal O’Neill, Adam English and Aidan O’Connor were prominent. The Deise, to their credit, had scores from Dessie Hutchinson and a brace from the elusive Calum Lyons.

With the Championship hopes firmly on the line, Peter Queally’s side, who played wind assisted in the opening stanza, enjoyed a real purple patch. After sharing four points, they then fired over six unanswered. Shane Bennett, Jack Fagan and Lyons once more all accurate to put them ahead.

Earlier in the piece, good heads-up hurling allowed in-form Billy Nolan come from his goals to score a long-range point from play, as the visitors looked to break a run of 15 years without a Championship victory over Limerick.John Kiely rolled the dice and called upon team captain, Cian Lynch, who replaced the cautioned Adam English. His impact was instant, as the hosts rattled four in a row, through Cathal O’Neill (2), Shane O’Brien and Lynch himself. The Patrickswell man had a role in all four.
However, despite that, Waterford led at the interval, thanks to a sixth point from Bennett, who was in top form from range, this time a free.

In a stop-start third quarter, Aidan O’Connor brought his tally to six with a free, a 65 and one from play, while Dessie Hutchinson had notched his second point.

A goal from Kevin Mahony, on 52 minutes, after he raced clear to bat home, gave Waterford fresh impetus. However, from here they would score just four more times.

An Austin Gleeson sideline cut had restored a two point buffer for Waterford, but quickly Limerick hit the front.

Peter Casey raced onto a spilled ball and was on hand to kick to the net. From the next play, O’Connor found Hegarty, whose slightly miscued effort spun over Nolan to totally change the mood on the Ennis Road.

Try as they might, Waterford failed to score until Bennett’s last gasp penalty, by which time Tom Morrissey, Casey, Lynch and Darragh O’Donovan had confirmed the victory with accurate efforts on a breezy and shower-laden afternoon.
Scorers for Limerick: Aidan O’Connor 0-8 (4fs, 1 65); Cathal O’Neill 0-5; Peter Casey 1-1; Gearoid Hegarty 1-1; Tom Morrissey 0-3; Cian Lynch 0-3; Darragh O’Donovan 0-2; Shane O’Brien 0-2; Adam English 0-2; Kyle Hayes 0-1; Diarmaid Byrnes 0-1 (free);Scorers for Waterford: Shane Bennett 1-6 (1-0 pen; 3fs); Kevin Mahony 1-3; Calum Lyons 0-4; Dessie Hutchinson 0-2 (1f); Billy Nolan 0-1; Jack Fagan 0-1; Seán Walsh 0-1; Jack Prendergast 0-1; Austin Gleeson 0-1 (s/l).

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Kyle Hayes; Adam English, Darragh O’Donovan; Gearóid Hegarty, Aidan O’Connor, Cathal O’Neill; Aaron Gillane, Shane O’Brien, Peter Casey.Subs: Cian Lynch for English (31); Mike Casey for Finn (48); Tom Morrissey for Shane O’Brien (52); David Reidy for Gillane (60); Colin Coughlan for Nash (67).Waterford: Billy Nolan; Conor Keane, Mark Fitzgerald, Jack Fagan; Tadgh Byrne, Paddy Leavey, Shane Bennett; Seán Mackey, Reuben Halloran; Calum Lyons, Jamie Barron, Jack Prendergast; Dessie Hutchinson, Seán Walsh, Kevin Mahony.Subs: Michael Kiely for Jack Prendergast (temp 27 – 28); Kiely for Halloran (half-time); Darragh Lyons for Mackey (43); Austin Gleeson for Walsh (49); Patrick Curran for Lyons (65); James Power for Hutchinson (67).Referee: James Owens (Wexford).