Powerful second half sees Kilkenny to victory over Limerick minors

Limerick’s minor hurling side bowed out of the All-Ireland series following a 2-24 to 0-18 loss to Kilkenny at Croke Park.

Diarmuid Mullins’ side conceded a goal in either half and were unable to claw things back after Billy Drennan’s 43rd minute goal.

It is the first defeat of the season for the minor side after they went unbeaten in winning the Munster title.

Limerick got off to the worst possible start when Kilkenny moved the ball quickly through the lines and Jack Doyle fired past Jack Franklin for a goal after just 36 seconds.

Cathal O’Neill responded with the first of seven points in the opening half hour but Billy Drennan immediately put Kilkenny back in front by three.

It was very much nip and tuck for large periods in the first half, with both sides picking off some fine scores.

An O’Neill free was again cancelled out by Drennan but points from Patrick Kirby and Eddie Stokes had Limerick just a point behind after eight minutes, 1-2 to 0-4.

Drennan was again on target from a free in the ninth minute but Limerick levelled thanks to an excellent long range Jimmy Quilty point that was immediately followed up by an O’Neill placed ball.

Limerick then took the lead for the first time when Kirby sent over a sideline cut and that put them 0-7 to 1-3 up after the first quarter.

A superb Ian Byrne score levelled the teams for a second time and they would be tied up twice more until Timmy Clifford’s second in a row put Kilkenny 1-8 to 0-10 ahead after 23 minutes.

Liam Moore extended that advantage to two moments later but Aidan O’Connor cut the lead in half with a fine point from play.

Kilkenny began to up the pace in the latter stages of the first half with efforts from James Aylward and Drennan.

Peter McDonald finished the scoring for Kilkenny in the first half either side of points from O’Connor and O’Neill. That saw the Cats 1-12 to 0-13 ahead at the break.

Kilkenny got the scoring underway in the second half through Clifford but Limerick responded through a fine long range score from Ethan Hurley.

Clifford and Moore then slotted two points apiece to O’Neill’s one saw Kilkenny 1-17 to 0-15 ahead after 40 minutes.

A couple of missed chances followed for Limerick and they were punished when another incisive move by Kilkenny saw Drennan fire in their second goal.

That effectively ended Limerick’s hopes as Kilkenny took charge for the rest of the contest and won out on a 2-24 to 0-18 winning scoreline.

Scorers: Cathal O’Neill 0-9 (6f), Aidan O’Connor 0-3, Patrick Kirby (1 s/l) and Jimmy Quilty 0-2 each, Eddie Stokes and Ethan Hurley 0-1 each.

Limerick: Jack Franklin; Ronan Lyons, Michael Cremin, Fergal O’Connor; Jimmy Quilty, Ethan Hurley, Colin Coughlan; Patrick Kirby, Adam Murrihy; Eddie Stokes, Cathal O’Neill, Adam English; Aidan O’Connor, Patrick O’Donovan, Liam Lynch.

Subs: Patrick Reale for Stokes (15, inj), Cian Casey for Murrihy (45), Darragh Casey for Lynch (51).