FULL TIME: Limerick 0-27 Galway 1-21. What a game! Limerick just had that extra bit of experience to finish the game out, with Diarmuid Byrnes deadly accurate from placed balls. Gillane the star in the first half. Galway gave it a great rattle though and Henry Shefflin’s men can be proud of their performance against the defending champions. Limerick march onto the final to play Kilkenny, which promises to be an intriguing contest after the Cats’ demolition of Clare yesterday.
The Galway goal by Brian Concannon, which was a superb passage of hurling.
Watch David Reidy’s key point for Limerick that gave them some breathing room.
75 mins: Diarmuid Byrnes scores his sixth point of the match. Galway go for the hail mary but it’s caught by Kyle Hayes. Limerick have won!
FULL TIME: Limerick 0-27 Galway 1-21
73 mins: David Reidy puts it over! Massive point after great team play by Limerick. Two point lead.
Limerick 0-26 Galway 1-21
71 mins: Five additional minutes. Galway fighting for their lives. Henry Shefflin passionately rallies the troops on the sideline. Fintan Burke misses the sideline cut.
Limerick 0-25 Galway 1-21
69 mins: A few rare wides by Aaron Gillane. But Limerick break and power through and Reidy is free and puts the ball over from the middle of the pitch. Back ahead.
Limerick 0-25 Galway 1-21
67 mins: Kyle Hayes scores his third point of the game. Conor Whelan responds. Blow for blow, who could call it?
Limerick 0-24 Galway 1-21
64 mins: Ronan Murphy scores off the bench to put Limerick ahead again. Galway get the benefit of hawkeye as Fintan Burke scores. Even again. What a game.
Limerick 0-23 Galway 1-20
62 mins: Another free put over by Byrnes, Limerick struggling to create much in this half from open play. Tom Monaghan scores another, this time from near the sideline. Gillane finally gets going again with his first point in the second half, nicely taken score.
Galway 1-19 Limerick 0-22
60 mins: Fantastic catch by Mannion wins a free. Galway press so high that they win a free in after a mistake by O’Donoghue throwing the ball. What a spirited performance by Galway today. They go ahead as Cooney scores the resulting free!
Galway 1-18 Limerick 0-20
58 mins: Cian Lynch is on, who has missed almost the entire Championship season through injury. Big boost for Limerick. They need him as Ronan Glennon scores another great point, straight between the posts. Level again.
Limerick 0-20 Galway 1-17
55 mins: Monaghan picks the ball up the ground, giving Limerick a free. Diarmuid Byrnes scores a superb free, sweetly hit. Limerick back ahead.
Limerick 0-20 Galway 1-16
52 mins: A rare miss for Byrnes from a free for Limerick and he misses another from play soon afterwards. Limerick make up for it with a superb point by Morrissey when contested. Blow for blow and the highest quality in response as Conor Whelan scores from an acute angle.
Limerick 0-19 Galway 1-16
49 mins: Diarmuid Byrnes scores two points for Limerick from frees. Good intensity by Limerick forces Mannion into taking too many steps and Limerick are ahead again briefly but a great puckout is caught by Mannion and put over.
Limerick 0-18 Galway 1-15
45 mins: Galway go ahead! Grealish dribbles up the pitch and lays off to Joseph Cooney who score from a long way out and a difficult angle. What a turnaround for Henry Shefflin’s men
Galway 1-14 Limerick 0-16
42 mins: Galway really putting the pressure on Limerick. After some good tussles throughout the field, Gillane misses a rare one from the left from a free.
Limerick 0-16 Galway 1-13
38 mins: GOAL BY GALWAY! Super shot by Brian Concannon. Fantastic long ball in and he shoots into the roof of the net. Earlier, good teamwork, working the ball around as Cathal Mannion puts over the bar for Galway. Level scores!
Limerick 0-16 Galway 1-13
Watch Tom Monaghan’s score, who has had a fine game so far for Galway.
37 mins: Limerick captain Declan Hannon puts the ball over from midfield. Good defending by Galway as Kyle Hayes is penalised for taking too many steps. Mannion’s free drops short and Limerick play the ball up to Gillane who is clinical as ever. An important two late points to end the half by Limerick.
Limerick 0-16 Galway 0-12
34 mins: Unlike Kilkenny yesterday, Limerick have a serious game on their hands. But a mixed up puck out for Galway results in a free for Limerick. Morrissey gets a yellow card for cynical play. Gillane scores Limerick’s first point in 6 minutes.
Limerick 0-14 Galway 0-12
31 mins: Cooney scores another free for Galway and Cathal Mannion scores another two excellent points for the Tribesmen. Feel the wave of momentum for Galway!
Limerick 0-13 Galway 0-12
29 mins: Barry Nash scores one of the best scores of the game after some nice interplay by Limerick. Responding to the Galway challenge well. Another free by Galway is immediately responded by the always accurate Aaron Gillane.
Limerick 0-13 Galway 0-9
26 mins: Two quickfire points from Galway, Padraic Mannion and Tom Monaghan, who is having a fine game. Free in for Limerick is scored by Aaron Gillane.
Limerick 0-11 Galway 0-8
23 mins: A Ronan Glennon point from earlier has been ruled out by Hawkeye review. A Cooney free brings in back to the same score and another Cooney point brings Galway closer once more. Kyle Hayes runs through and gets his second point of the game. Meanwhile Bill Murray is enjoying the action at Croke Park.
Limerick 0-10 Galway 0-6
19 mins: Another fantastic score by Glennon, powerful play from range. Strong defending by Galway as they halt a Limerick charge towards goal. Kyle Hayes scores from a breaking ball to put Limerick back four points clear.
Limerick 0-9 Galway 0-5
16 mins: Over the bar from Diarmuid Byrnes for Limerick. Excellent play by Ronan Glennon responds in the right way, over the bar. Galway competing well again after a sticky spell.
Limerick 0-8 Galway 0-4
13 mins: Cooney miscues a free from short-range, a baffling miss. But a few moments later Tom Monaghan scores an excellent long-range point. Limerick respond with a point by Hegarty.
Limerick 0-7 Galway 0-3
10 mins: Fantastic start by Limerick another point this time by William O’Donoghue. Really impressive display of skills by the defending All-Ireland champions so far. Galway get their first score in 9 minutes as Conor Cooney scores an easy free.
Limerick 0-6 Galway 0-2
6 mins: Gillane in fine fettle, scores another two great points from play. Great teamwork and they are releasing Gillane who is clinical. Galway need to get a hold on the game.
Limerick 0-5 Galway 0-1
4 mins: Point by Seamus Flanagan puts Limerick ahead as Galway hit a few wides from makeable positions. Limerick punish with another point by Flanagan.
Limerick 0-3 Galway 0-1
2 mins: Very physical start to the game, Tom Monaghan breaks and puts the first score of the game, over the bar for Galway. Lovely point in response by Gillane from wide.
Galway 0-1 Limerick 0-1
The teams for today. Jason Flynn is a late replacement for Gearoid McInerney on the Galway team.
Galway team:
1. Éanna Murphy 2. Jack Grealish 3. Daithí Burke (c) 4. Darren Morrissey 5. Padraic Mannion 20. Jason Flynn 7. Fintan Burke 8. Ronan Glennon 9. David Burke 10. Tom Monaghan 11. Conor Cooney 12. Joseph Cooney 13. Conor Whelan 14. Brian Concannon 15. Cathal Mannion
Limerick team:
1. Nickie Quaid 2. Seán Finn 3. Mike Casey 4. Barry Nash 5. Diarmuid Byrnes 6. Declan Hannon (c) 7. Dan Morrissey 8. William O’Donoghue 9. Darragh O’Donovan 10. Gearoid Hegarty 11. Kyle Hayes 12. Tom Morrissey 13. Aaron Gillane 14. Seamus Flanagan 15. Graeme Mulcahy
Seán Moran writes that Galway must demonstrate improvement to stand a chance of being competitive against Limerick, who are picking up speed in their drive for three in a row. “Galway ran the champions neck-and-neck at this stage two seasons ago without quite suggesting they’d win but Joe Canning was around and whizzing over sideline cuts that kept his team in touch. Limerick are much improved on that day; are Galway? Debatable at best.”
In the All-Ireland Minor hurling final, Tipperary beat Offaly in dramatic fashion with a late goal, 1-17 to 1-16. Delight for Tipp, heartbreak for Offaly. Will today’s semi-final have similar drama?
Keith Duggan writes about Limerick back Seán Finn and how he reflects Limerick’s tireless pursuit of excellence. “His maturation into one of the best defenders the game has seen was in perfect synchronicity with the rise of Limerick. And there are further heights to soar.”
