Classy Limerick ease to Munster Hurling League title

Limerick are Munster League Hurling League champions following a crushing 1-32 to 0-20 victory over Cork at the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

John Kiely’s men recovered from a sluggish start to earn a mightily impressive win a couple of weeks before the mouthwatering NHL opener against Tipperary.

David Reidy top scored with 0-11, but it was an all round team performance that blew Cork away.

Several players gave Kiely a selection headache ahead of that game in Thurles. David Dempsey gave a superb performance that yielded 0-5, while Barry Nash again impressed at wing back.

The 5,295 in attendance at Limerick GAA HQ were treated to a pre-season masterclass once Aaron Gillane put Limerick ahead with the game’s only goal on 11 minutes.

Cork had made a fine start to lead 0-5 to 0-1, but points from Gillane and Cian Lynch cut the gap to two.

Gillane then struck when he expertly caught Darragh O’Donovan’s high ball in over Cork full back Eoin Cadogan and fired to the net from close range.

From that moment Limerick picked things up several notches. David Reidy was unerring from placed balls, while both Diarmaid Byrnes and Barry Nash were a constant threat from half back.

Graeme Mulcahy also came to life in the latter stages of the first half with two classy points that saw Limerick to a 1-14 to 0-13 lead at half time.

The procession continued when the game resumed with Reidy knocking over Limerick’s first four points of the half.

Cork had no answer to Limerick’s power and Kiely’s men cruised to a 15-point winning margin.

Things will go up several levels when they visit the All-Ireland champions on Saturday January 25th when the National Hurling League gets underway.

Limerick Scorers: David Reidy 0-11 (8f), Graeme Mulcahy 0-5, Aaron Gillane 1-2, David Dempsey 0-4, Tom Morrissey, Barry Nash and Diarmaid Byrnes (1f) 0-2 each, Cian Lynch, Darragh O’Donovan, Robbie Hanley and Gearoid Hegarty 0-1 each.

Limerick: Barry Hennessy; Tom Condon, Richie English, Aaron Costello; Diarmaid Byrnes, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Robbie Hanley, Cian Lynch; Darragh O’Donovan, Tom Morrissey, David Dempsey; Graeme Mulcahy, Aaron Gillane, David Reidy.

Subs: Sean Finn for Costello (44 mins), Gearoid Hegarty for T Morrissey (44 mins), Mark Quinlan for Gillane (55 mins), Brian O’Grady for Condon (60 mins), Jerome Boylan for English (65 mins).