Neville masterclass sees Limerick to first McGrath Cup title since 2005

Limerick are McGrath Cup champions following a 0-20 to 0-16 victory over Cork at the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

Danny Neville starred for Billy Lee’s side with a scoring total of 0-7. Jamie Lee and Seamus O’Carroll also chipped in with 0-3 apiece.

Limerick led 0-12 to 0-8 at the break, and managed to hold off a late Cork comeback to earn their 6th ever McGrath Cup.

The teams were level three times in the opening eight minutes, but points from Lee and Tommy Griffin put Limerick two clear with 14 minutes gone.

Cian Kiely soon reduced the lead to the minimum, however, an excellent Michael Donovan point saw Limerick two up again once more.

Points from Neville, O’Carroll and Neville again then put Limerick 0-9 to 0-5 to the good.

Adrian Enright, Ian Corbett and Cillian Fahy added further scores for Limerick in the first half, while Cork added three to see Limerick’s lead at four at the end of an impressive opening 35 minutes.

Paul Maher was sin binned in the latter stages of the first half, but Limerick didn’t suffer in his absence as they maintained their four point advantage.

Billy Lee’s men continued to impress in the second half with Neville’s two mark’s in a row extending their lead to six points (0-16 to 0-10).

Cork rallied late on with three points on the trot, but Neville finished off a polished Limerick performance with the final two points of the game.

Limerick Scorers: Danny Neville 0-7 (2m), Jamie Lee (3f) and Seamus O’Carroll 0-3 each, Iain Corbett 0-2, B Childs, Tommy Griffin, Michael Donovan, Adrian Enright and Cillian Fahy 0-1 each.

Limerick: Donal O’Sullivan; Paul Maher, Brian Fanning, Michael Donovan; Tony McCarthy; Iain Corbett, Bob Childs; Tommy Griffin, Adrian Enright; Padraig De Brun, Cillian Fahy, Seamus O’Carroll; Jamie Lee, Danny Neville, Pat Begley;

Subs Used: Tommie Childs, Ger Stack, Padraig Scanlon, James Naughton, Davy Lyons.