Limerick seven to the good in Kilkenny victory
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
Allianz Hurling League Roinn 1A
Round 3, TUS Gaelic Grounds
Limerick 1-26 Kilkenny 2-16
Kilkenny came up short against Limerick in the TUS Gaelic Grounds last Sunday, suffering a 7-point defeat at the home of The Treaty side for the first time since 1995. Derek Lyng and his management team will be acutely aware that on this showing, his Cats are still a little off ‘Munster level’ hurling. A two-week break will help all on Noreside focus minds on the remainder of an important league campaign, with Waterford up next for the men in black and amber.
The home side got off the mark inside the first two minutes thanks to a long range free from wing back Diarmaid Byrnes after Adam English had been fouled by Jordan Molloy. Limerick took possession from the restart and William O’Donoghue sent a searching delivery into the Cats defence, where Galway whistler Shane Hynes spotted a little bit of holding by Mikey Carey on Aaron Gillane. This gave Ballybrown’s Aidan O’Connor the chance to double his sides lead from the resulting free. The hosts extended their lead moments later, following a lovely hook on Cian Kenny. The ball was work to Aidan O’Connor and the young man let fly from tight to the left sideline and watched his effort sail between the posts. The bright start from those in green continued, when Aaron Gillane took a nice pass from Nickie Quaid, turned his man and fired over the black spot to cement his team’s authority in the early stages of the Round 3 clash.
The home side were finding it easy to get the ball up the pitch, and this almost created a goal in the 9th minute when some lovely play saw the sliotar worked to Aaron Gillane whose cross shot towards goal was claimed by the alert Mikey Butler who certainly prevented a green flag being raised. A fourth wide inside ten minutes, this time from a placed ball by Eoin Cody left the visitors still searching for an opening score in the TUS Gaelic Grounds. A foul on Cian Lynch gave Ballybrown’s O’Connor another opportunity and the No.12 split the posts from halfway to push the Limerick lead out to 5 points. Derek Lyng’s charges got off the mark in the 12th minute, Aidan Tallis’s restart was gathered by Luke Connellan who found his clubmate John Donnelly with the pass, before the former captain turned to fire over.
Like waiting on a bus, the next score for the Noresiders came quickly. Aidan Tallis’s free was collected by Eoin Cody, and the Shamrocks speedster broke left before splitting the posts from a tight angle, a classy score from a classy player. Then came the first major of the game. Kilkenny worked the ball from the keeper to Killian Doyle, to Mikey Butler and then onto Luke Connellan. Again, the Thomastown man sent a long pass into the Limerick defence, Mossy managed to break the ball to John Donnelly who powered towards goal before passing to Mossy Keoghan. The Tullaroan man swiveled before striking a shot that beat the Limerick keeper and two defenders to find the net. All square after 15 minutes on Shannonside.
Limerick broke this purple patch for the Cats, when wing back Matthew Fitzgerald rifled over a lovely point from distance out on the left sideline. From the restart, Eoin Cody burst clear from the pack and made good ground before sending over another quality score. The scores kept coming; the dangerous Diarmaid Byrnes collecting possession before striking over a booming effort. Jordan Molloy then found Eoin Cody and the two-time former young hurler of the year fired over to add to his growing tally of scores. Peter Casey then used a great shoulder from Mikey Butler to give him the yard he needed to fire over from underneath the covered stand, a sweet strike from the Na Piarsaigh man. The Village’s Cian Kenny then won a free and converted it himself, following a couple of uncharacteristic misses from placed balls by Eoin Cody.
The impressive Aidan O’Connor then sent over a cracking effort from out on the left to nudge his side back into the lead once more. A great block from Jordan Molloy saw the ball fall to Timmy Clifford and the Dicksboro player took a couple of strides before sending over a sweet score to level matters once more. Some great pressure from Kilkenny forced a ‘throw ball’ from Diarmaid Byrnes which Cian Kenny punished by converting the resulting free to give the visitors the lead. The lead was short lived, as Patrickswell’s Byrnes converted a free from exactly halfway to tie things up again. Some nice play out of defence saw Paddy Deegan find Eoin Cody who struck over from out on the right, another lovely point.
Another excellent delivery into the Kilkenny defence was claimed brilliantly by Peter Casey, who shook off the attention of Rory Garrett before popping over a clinical score. The home side notched the next score too, the talented Adam English wrong-footing Jordan Molloy as he dispatched a wonderful score for Kiely’s men. The ‘Boro’s Timmy Clifford then popped a pass to the supporting Darragh Corcoran, and the Shamrocks Ballyhale man showed his accuracy as he split the posts, the captain leading by example. Aidan O’Connor then converted a placed ball after Gearoid Hegarty was fouled, the St Patrick’s man not best pleased with the lack of advantage given by referee Hynes. Fenians defender Rory Garrett was then bottled up and turned over as the ball was worked to David Reidy who continued the fine display of shooting at the Gaelic Grounds to send his side into the interval with a 2-point lead.
When play resumed in the winter sunshine, Limerick continued to show great hunger and desire when chasing man and ball, the Noresiders didn’t appear as quick to the tackle. Eoin Cody won and converted a free to leave just the bare minimum between the sides. Kilkenny got a little unlucky on the next play. A Diarmaid Byrnes free from distance was taken brilliantly by Aidan Tallis, who did well to clear his lines, but unfortunately the ball was collected by Gearoid Hegarty who rifled over for his only score of the game. Peter Casey and Liam Moore swapped points, just ahead of another score for the Cats main man, Eoin Cody. The visitors then made a double change, Luke Hogan and Stephen Donnelly replacing Luke Connellan and John Donnelly.
Aidan O’Connor then hit a quickfire brace of points to push the Treaty sides lead out to three points, but O’Loughlin’s Jordan Molloy responded for the Marble City men, but again Peter Casey showed his class firing over from a tight angle on the run. Luke Hogan then got on the scoresheet, an immediate impact from the sub. One of Limericks subs, Cathal O’Neill then did likewise, highlighting the strength in depth of John Keily’s panel. Glenmore’s Shane Murphy then replaced Emerald’s Killian Doyle who had put in a decent shift at wing back. Eoin Cody then setup Paddy Deegan for an effort from distance and the O’Loughlin’s man’s shot was helped over the bar by Limerick keeper Quaid.
Jordan Molloy was then shown a yellow card for a hefty challenge on Cathal O’Neill which saw Aidan O’Connor tag on another point for the hosts, showing that Kiely’s side has another reliable option for the placed balls. Then came the games defining score. Again, Limerick out battled their opponents, Cathal O’Neill applying pressure and allowing Cian Lynch to collect possession. The Patrickswell man gave a pass to Adam English in space, and he sent the ball into Aaron Gillane. The No.13 took the sliotar, while ignoring the run of the unmarked O’Neill, unleashed a bullet from an acute angle, that left Aidan Tallis beaten in the Cats goal. Gillane’s reminder to the management that he still has plenty to offer this Treaty panel.
Another of the Glenmore contingent, Cathal Beirne was introduced in place of the hard-working Timmy Clifford as the Cats sought another spark. Goal scorer Gillane then struck over a fine point having out maneuvered Mikey Carey to increase his sides lead to 6 points. Another change for Lyng’s side saw Fionan Mackessy replace clubmate, Jordan Molloy. The lively Adam English then found sub Tom Morrissey and the Ahane man struck over a sumptuous effort, Limerick very much on top. The one man that appeared up for the fight in the TUS Gaelic Grounds, Eoin Cody then gave his team and supporters some hope. A quick restart from Aidan Tallis was fielded superbly by Stephen Donnelly ahead of the normally assured Diarmaid Byrnes. The Thomastown man then gave a pass ahead to Cody who had roamed into space. The Shamrocks star raced towards goal before dispatching a fierce effort past Nickie Quaid.
Goal scorer Cody was then rather harshly penalised for a challenge on Aidan O’Connor, the Ballybrown man converting the free awarded. With the game entering five additional minutes, Eoin Cody somehow managed to miss what would normally be a straightforward free, a sign of the radar being a little off while on placed ball duty. The Cats needed another major, and they went in search of one. The ball was played up to Eoin Cody who drew the man before popping a pass to Paddy Deegan, who in turn moved the sliotar on to Liam Moore. The Dicksboro player struck his effort well, but it rose just over the crossbar, a game of inches. Mikey Butler became the next Kilkenny player to be wrong footed by Peter Casey, the Na Piarsaigh man firing over from out on the left, some score for the soon to be named player of the match. Darragh Corcoran’s foul on Adam English gave Aidan O’Connor his 10th score and seventh from the placed ball, just ahead of Shane Hynes long whistle. Final score, Limerick 1-26 Kilkenny 2-16.
Scorers for Limerick: Aidan O’Connor 0-10 (7fs); Aaron Gillane 1-2; Peter Casey 0-5; Diarmaid Byrnes 0-3 (2fs); Matthew Fitzgerald, Adam English, David Reidy, Gearoid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill, Tom Morrissey 0-1 each.
Scorers for Kilkenny: Eoin Cody 1-6 (1f); Martin Keoghan 1-0; Cian Kenny 0-2 (2fs); Liam Moore 0-2; John Donnelly, Timmy Clifford, Darragh Corcoran, Paddy Deegan, Luke Hogan, Jordan Molloy 0-1 each.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Mike Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Matthew Fitzgerald; Adam English, Cian Lynch (Capt); Gearoid Hegarty, David Reidy, Aidan O’Connor; Aaron Gillane, Hugh Flanagan, Peter Casey.
Subs: Cathal O’Neill for Flanagan (HT); Dan Morrissey for Finn (40); Darragh O’Donovan for Reidy (52); Tom Morrissey for Hegarty (59); Paddy O’Donovan for Gillane (70).
Kilkenny: Aidan Tallis; Mikey Butler, Mikey Carey, Rory Garrett; Killian Doyle, Darragh Corcoran (Capt), Paddy Deegan; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Timmy Clifford, Eoin Cody, Luke Connellan; Liam Moore, John Donnelly, Martin Keoghan.
Subs: Luke Hogan for Connellan (47); Stephen Donnelly for John Donnelly (48); Shane Murphy for Doyle (54); Cathal Beirne for Clifford (57); Fionán Mackessy for Molloy (64).
Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway)
