Limerick 0-28
Waterford 0-22
By Tom Clancy at Walsh Park
Limerick returned to winning ways and added sufficiently to their draw with Tipperary with a deserved six point success over Waterford in the Munster Championship, at Walsh Park.
Decent scoring contributions from Aaron Gillane, Cian Lynch and Tom Morrissey helped them to maintain their impressive 100% record over Waterford since John Kiely took charge of this side in 2017.
Limerick how look forward to two home ties with Cork and Clare, later this month. In a rare turn of events, both sides lined out as selected. This meant a return for Kyle Hayes to centre half-back while William O’Donoghue partnered Adam English in midfield.
There was a lot to like about Limerick early on with seven of the opening nine points going to the men in green. These included long range efforts from Diarmuid Byrnes, Shane O’Brien and Cian Lynch.
Byrnes’ involvement in the contest was a brief one. He received a yellow card on 12 monutes after a sixth minute foul had him ticked by the referee. He then committed another foul, with a high challenge. John Kiely consulted with Paul Kinnerk who quickly readied Colin Coughlan.
On 21 minutes, Limerick fans thought they had a goal, when Shane O’Brien collected a Tom Morrissey delivery before hitting the butt of the post. The same man won a free thirty seconds later and Gillan obliged to make it 0-11 to 0-6.
Waterford were staying in tough and points from Billy Nolan (free) and Jamie Barron put them back to within four. However, Tom Morrissey and then a first from Aaron Gillane gave Limerick a deserved five point interval.
The Treaty support were loud and visible on Suirside, with plenty of complaints to match official Colm Lyons, as they become frustrated at times during a high-tempo contest.
The wide countof five for Limerick and one more for the home side showed of an even contest, but in reality, the Munster holders looked far more impressive. Waterford played with a purpose early in the second half with Mark Fitzgerald, sub Michael Kiely and Stephen Bennett all pointing to cut the gap. This made it a two point game but a spurt of four in a row put Limerick back into the driving seat.
They were never level, and of course never behind. The full-back line and Nickie Quaid were nearing their best and Hayes’ switch to centre-back.
Cian Lynch was awarded the Man of the Match by GAA Plus.
They eased over the finishing line with points from subs Cathal O’Neill and Aidan O’Connor helping them to the win.
Scorers for Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-9 (0-6 frees); Shane O’Brien 0-4,
Adam English, Tom Morrissey, Cian Lynch 0-3;Diarmaid Byrnes, Barry Nash, Colin Coughlan, Gearoid Hegarty, Aidan O’Connor, Cathal O’Neill 0-1 each.
Scores for Waterford: Stephen Bennett 0-8 (0-5 frees; 0-2 ‘65); Billy Nolan (0-2 frees), Jamie Barron, Mark Fitzgerald 0-2 each; Jake Prendergast, Dessie Hutchinson, Patrick Fitzgerald, Kevin Mahony, Michael Kiely, Shane Bennett 0-1 each.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Barry Nash; Adam English, William O’Donoghue; Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; David Reidy, Shane O’Brien, Aaron Gillane.
Subs: Colin Coughlan for Byrnes (19); Cathal O’Neill for O’Donoghue (49); Aidan O’Connor for T Morrissey (60); Darragh O’Donovan for English (66) Donnacha Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien (70)
Waterford: Billy Nolan; Ian Kenny, Conor Prunty, Iarlaith Daly; Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg de Búrca, Paddy Leavy; Darragh Lyons, Jamie Barron; Jack Prendergast, Stephen Bennett, Patrick Curran; Kevin Mahony, Dessie Hutchinson, Patrick Fitzgerald.
Subs: Michael Kiely for Curran (26); Shane Bennett for Patrick Fitzgerald (half-time); Gavin Fives for Lyons (46); Padraig Fitzgerald for Mahony (51); Austin Gleeson for Barron (65)
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)
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