Sport

McCarthy gets one up on his old charges

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE: Limerick 2-14 Waterford 1-13

Mon Apr 06 2009 - 01:00

NATIONAL HURLING LEAGUE DIVISION ONE:Limerick 2-14 Waterford 1-13

THERE WAS a distinct championship edge to this hugely entertaining league tie as Limerick squeezed past Waterford in a cracking dress rehearsal for their big June 14th showdown.

Limerick manager Justin McCarthy put one over on his former charges as Limerick held on for a win that they should have wrapped up by half-time such was their early dominance.

But McCarthy must have been delighted with the cohesion and understanding shown by his defenders who were rock-solid throughout despite the second-half dismissal of Brian Geary after 47 minutes. Damien Reale and Stephen Lucey were in control throughout and Séamus Hickey had a good game at midfield.

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Niall Moran emerged as the star performer for Limerick and he scored 1-9 of their total including three frees and two 65s while two of his scores from play were of the highest quality. But a worry for McCarthy is that only one other forward scored, James Ryan adding a point.

Waterford manager Davey Fitzgerald could be pleased enough with the performance of his front six, four of whom were on the scoreboard, headed by Eoin Kelly who shot 1-4, all but two of his points coming from frees.

It was a game full of twists and turns as Limerick got off to a dream start with a first-minute point from Niall Moran and two minutes later Moran struck a goal from a pass by James Ryan who then hit a point to make it 1-2 to nil after five minutes.

But the gloss began to fade for the home side when they hit three wides in a row though it took Waterford 13 minutes to get their first point, a free by Eoin Kelly who was fouled by Damien Reale.

A superb save by Clinton Hennessy denied the on-fire Ryan a second Limerick goal but Moran popped over the resulting ‘65’ and it was all of 19 minutes before John Mullane scored Waterford’s first point from play.

If Limerick thought they were cruising, they got a due awakening when Eoin Kelly blasted a 21 yards free past Brian Murray to make it 1-3 apiece.

Séamus Hickey, from long range, and Moran from a ‘65’ had Limerick two points in front but Shane Walsh cut the margin to a point and Mullane then levelled.

Two more points by Moran, one from a free, put Limerick 1-7 to 1-5 in front at the interval.

Kelly and Limerick substitute, Donnacha Sheehan, swapped points but two in a row for Waterford by Richie Foley and Gary Hurney tied it up again at 1-8 each.

Limerick’s Brian Geary was shown a red card for a foul on Séamus Prendergast who was replaced by Dan Shanahan and with his the latter’s first touch his point put Waterford in front for the first time after 48 minutes.

Moran levelled for Limerick and after Brian Murray made another superb save in the Limerick goal the ball was moved down field for Donie Ryan to grab Limerick’s second goal. Another pointed free by Moran opened a four-point lead which was maintained to the finish.

LIMERICK:B Murray, D Reale, S Lucey, M O'Riordan; G O'Mahony (0-1), B Geary, S Walsh; D O'Grady, S Hickey (0-1); J Ryan (0-1), N Moran, (1-9, 0-3 frees, 0-2 65s), P Browne; D Breen, A O'Shaughnessy, P Tobin, Subs: D Sheehan (0-1) for Tobin (25 mins), M O'Brien for Browne (44 mins), D Ryan (1-0), for Breen (49 mins, yellow), J O'Brien (0-1), for M O'Brien (69 mins, yellow).

WATERFORD:C Hennessy, E Murphy, A Kearney, N O'Connor; R Foley (0-1), M Walsh, J Murray; S O'Sullivan, J Nagle; G Hurney (0-2), S Prendergast, E Kelly, (1-4, 1-2 frees); J Mullane (0-3), S Walsh (0-1), S Molumphy. Subs: K Moran for Kearney (half-time), D Shanahan (0-1) for Prendergast (48 mins), T Ryan for Hurney (54, yellow), E McGrath (0-1) for Walsh (58 mins).

Referee:C McAllister (Cork).