Munster SHC: Waterford 0-22 Limerick 0-28
Maybe Limerick are not as good as they used to be and maybe that will make no difference in the end. They navigated a potentially treacherous visit to Walsh Park with calm authority and the kind of aggression that overwhelmed many of their challengers over the years. The margin at the end was a white lie.
Waterford were spunky and relentless, but they couldn’t cope with Limerick’s abrasive power and slickness in possession. The Limerick defence, with an average age of about 30, suffocated the Waterford attack, and but for a couple of speculative efforts in the second half, Waterford never looked like getting the goals they needed to keep their challenge afloat.
Waterford never led in the game, and when they reduced the deficit to just two points with a fast start to the second half Limerick responded with four unanswered points. If that counted as a fright it quickly passed.
Limerick were better than they had been against Tipperary, especially against the breeze in the first half, but there will still be a snag list before the visit of Cork to the Gaelic Grounds in a fortnight. Will O’Donoghue and David Reidy, normally two of their most productive players, were barely sighted and some of Limerick’s shooting in the second half was careless. They failed to reach their perpetual target of 30 points and didn’t force a save from Billy Nolan − but they didn’t trip over either of these omissions.
The problem for Waterford in the second half was that they needed to commit more bodies to the middle third in an effort to gain primary possession, but that left them light on numbers close to goal. When the ball was sent in Waterford’s inside forwards were routinely outnumbered. If Limerick didn’t concede a goal they couldn’t lose. Over the years, they have been masters of that equation.
Limerick asserted their control from the beginning and were five points up inside 11 minutes. Whatever dirty diesel was in the tank against Tipperary was blown out. Limerick moved the ball with devastating simplicity and coherence. In that mood, they always have receivers in space.
Kyle Hayes turned up in his advertised position at six and was a launch pad for a succession of attacks, Adam English ran riot at centre field and Cian Lynch directed traffic at various junctions around the middle. By half-time they had seven different scorers from play.
With the breeze in the first half Waterford elected to go long with nearly all their puckouts, either by design or coercion, and Limerick mopped up most of them. The space between the Limerick half-backs and full-backs was so compressed that Waterford’s forwards had very little room to play, even when they did get their hands on the ball.
Waterford picked off three points in a row in the middle of the half, but it didn’t change the momentum. Stephen Bennett and Dessie Hutchinson, Waterford’s two strike forwards, struggled to get into the game and Patrick Curran, who had been terrific against Clare a week earlier, was replaced after just 26 minutes without making any impression.
Young Patrick Fitzgerald landed a brilliant point, and Kevin Mahony got a good score too, but Bennett missed a couple of frees when Waterford couldn’t afford to let any pennies fall through a hole in their pocket.
Limerick replaced Diarmaid Byrnes midway through the first half, presumably because he had been booked after just 12 minutes, and should have been booked again 60 seconds later. Immediately after the second incident John Kiely turned around and looked at the bench. Kiely and Paul Kinnerk had a word with Byrnes a couple of minutes later and he was replaced shortly afterwards.
Even though Byrnes had started well, it made no material difference. Limerick led by 0-15 to 0-10 at half-time and after they weathered the Waterford storm early in the second half, they were still five points clear after 50 minutes.
Waterford’s best chance of goal came immediately after half-time when Stephen Bennett stood over a free the Limerick D and played a cute ground pass to his brother Shane, breaking into space to his right. The pick-up, though, was just a fraction clumsy and by the time he steadied himself to shoot a phalanx of Limerick defenders came rushing at him. One of them made a block with his body.
Stephen Bennett had another fleeting goal chance later in the half, but Waterford were six points behind by then and the clock was running down. At the other end, Limerick were picking off points at a rate that topped up their comfort levels.
Shane O’Brien scored four at his ease and one of these days he will do serious damage. Aaron Gillane added a couple of beauties and three of Limerick’s subs scored from play. For Waterford, it was just too much to bear.
Waterford: B Nolan (0-2, frees), I Kenny, C Prunty, I Daly, M Fitzgerald (0-2), Tadgh de Búrca, P Leavey, D Lyons, J Prendergast (0-1), J Barron (0-2), Stephen Bennett (0-9, 0-6 frees, 0-2 65), P Curran, K Mahony (0-1), D Hutchinson (0-1), Patrick Fitzgerald (0-1). Subs: M Kiely (0-1) for Curran, 26 mins; Shane Bennett (0-1) for Patrick Fitzgerald, h-t; G Fives (0-1) for Lyons, 46 mins; Pádraig Fitzgerald for Mahony, 50 mins; A Gleeson for Barron, 65 mins.
Limerick: N Quaid, S Finn, D Morrissey, M Casey, D Byrnes, K Hayes, B Nash (0-1), A English (0-3), W O’Donoghue (0-1), G Hegarty (0-1), C Lynch (0-3), T Morrissey (0-3), A Gillane (0-9, 0-6 frees), S O’Brien (0-4), D Reidy. Subs: C Coughlan (0-1) for Byrnes, 18 mins; C O’Neill (0-1) for O’Donoghue, 49 mins; A O’Connor (0-1) for T Morrissey, 60 mins; D O’Donovan for English, 67 mins; D Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien, 70 mins.
Referee: C Lyons (Cork).
Attendance: 12,101.
