Lynch’s power play before half-time
TJ Reid pointed Kilkenny 1-8 to 0-5 in front after 28 minutes. It was Kilkenny’s third point on the bounce. They had all the momentum. Limerick needed a leader – enter Cian Lynch. Limerick outscored Kilkenny 0-4 to 0-1 over the next nine minutes until the half-time whistle. Lynch was directly involved in all four of Limerick’s scores during this pivotal phase of the contest – scoring one, delivering the pass for two and winning the free for another. His switch from midfield to centre forward during that period was central to Limerick’s comeback and that spell before the break halted Kilkenny’s gallop going in at the interval.
Limerick’s third quarter push
Limerick came out for the start of the second half trailing by three points, but by the 51st minute they had hit the front. Limerick had the first two attacks on the restart and while they failed to produce scores, their intent was clear. They dominated that spell of the encounter, harnessing the momentum they had built towards the end of the first half.
Diarmaid Byrnes propelled two long-range missiles over the crossbar for the opening scores of the second half and Kilkenny’s scores in this period came against the run of play in a championship quarter owned by the Treaty County.
The green wave makes landfall
The surge had been building steadily and Paddy Deegan’s 42nd minute goal for Kilkenny seemed only to unleash the full force of Limerick’s brilliance. The goal gave Kilkenny a 2-10 to 0-11 lead, but thereafter Limerick outscored the Cats 0-10 to 0-1. It was a mesmerising period of total hurling, all over the field Limerick players were beating their opponents – whether it be in the air or grappling for loose possession. Kilkenny were all at sea as Limerick punished Kilkenny with scores from all over the pitch. It is testament to the Kilkenny defence that they prevented a Limerick goal during the second half.
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Kilkenny’s early aggression
Kilkenny, as Kilkenny do, went to war in the opening stages of the contest. The Cats entered the game as underdogs and it was generally accepted they needed to start strongly. They did. Derek Lyng’s side embodied the aggression we have come to associate with Kilkenny over the last two decades.
They put their bodies on the line for the cause, outfought Limerick in many of the early exchanges and hunted in packs. They looked hungry and mean and had clearly come out to stamp their authority on the match. It worked for about half an hour and provided us with a titanic battle, but before half-time the momentum in the game started to change.
Coin toss decisions
Limerick won the coin toss and chose to play against the wind in the first half. John Kiely admitted afterwards that was their preference, they wanted to absorb what Kilkenny threw at them in the opening period and then try use the wind to their advantage after the break to punish the Cats with long range scores.
It worked perfectly. Had Limerick lost the toss, there is no guarantee Kilkenny would have opted to go against the wind in the opening half but in a game of inches, winning the toss wasn’t insignificant as far as Limerick’s game plan was concerned.
