Limerick 2-20; Kilkenny 0-15
It may have been Kilkenny who suffered an 11-points loss to all-conquering Limerick, but ultimately it was the other counties looking in who will have felt the reverberations of this performance from John Kiely’s men at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork on Sunday afternoon.
The fact that this victory was so easily achieved despite giving the Cats a much better start and despite the fact that five nailed-on starters were not called on by Kiely for this league decider, means that other counties must scratch their heads and wonder how do you wound this giant of the modern day hurling scene?
It actually took Limerick quarter of an hour to register their first score from play but once that sleuth gate opened, there was no way a thumb could be jammed back into the black and amber dam,
It is as if Limerick toy with their opponents rather like a heavyweight boxer with an outclassed journeyman because once play started in the second half, they blitzed Kilkenny going forward and allowed only five points at the other end.
Further bad news for those facing the green and white is that not only is Aaron Gillane back but he is conducting the orchestra again. He scored 1-7, his goal a sublime volley from Seamus Flanagan’s great pass, and once that green flag was raised, the game was over as a contest.
It had started so differently with Kilkenny’s Adrian Mullen, Richie Reid, and Billy Drennan all putting over points and playing on the front foot. You wondered if Kilkenny alone, like they did in last year’s All Ireland final, could go toe-to-toe with Limerick and not be blown away.
Limerick shot three frees in this period and without hitting top gear, they began to move better all across the field. Flanagan’s point from play accelerated their heart rates and by the time cornerback Barry Nash was on the end of a move to rifle home their first goal, they were beginning to shine everywhere.
Gillane slotted over from play, big Diarmaid Byrnes scored a brace of frees and suddenly there was only one result expected. By half-time the lead had extended to six and once Gillane’s volley nestled in the back of the net, they were on cruise control for the rest of the game with Dave Fitzgerald’s Waterford on their minds in the first round of the Munster championship the weekend after next.
Manager John Kiely said his team had focused on the league and worked hard to clinch the title.
"We went after it and we put ourselves in this position today to have a chance of winning it. I'm delighted with that. It augurs well in terms of the players’ attitude, their appetite for work, their appetite to play.
"It's helped us to make the squad even more competitive, it has helped us to get players who were out injured back on the field. There’s loads of positives there for us but the big game is now on the 23rd April, against Waterford."
Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, B Nash (1-1); D Byrnes (0-5,0- 3f), M Casey, C Coughlan (0-1); D O'Donovan (0-2), B Murphy; G Hegarty, C Lynch, C O'Neill (0-1); A Gillane (1-7, 0-5f), S Flanagan (0-3), P Casey Subs: T Morrissey for Murphy (HT), M Casey for English (47), C Boylan for Lynch (58), D Ó Dálaigh for Flanagan (62), S O'Brien for Casey (66), M Quinlan for Byrnes (70).
Kilkenny: E Murphy; M Butler, T Walsh, P Walsh, R Reid (0-2), H Lawlor (0-1), D Blanchfield, C Fogarty, P Deegan (0-2), J Donnolly, A Mullen (0-3), B Ryan, B Drennan (0-05f), M Keoghan, E Cody (0-2) Subs: C Kenny for Donnolly (41), P Mullen for Fogarty (47), T Clifford for Mullen (52), A Murphy for Ryan (55), G Dunne for Drennan (57).
