Forewarned Antrim were forced to swallow the bitter pill of a comprehensive defeat in the All-Ireland under-21 hurling semi-final at Parnell Park on Saturday even though they were hell bent on avoiding the 21-point drubbing Cork endured at the hands of the green shirts in the replayed Munster final four days earlier.

Antrim indeed carved the first real chance but failed to take it when Paddy Richmond was wide of the mark. Limerick were obliged to wait 10 minutes before full forward Brian Begley opened their account with the first of his four points.

Richmond and half forward Paul Close foraged diligently but Limerick's general edge was always apparent even though they were showing no signs of producing a second scoring feast within four days.

Limerick found it difficult to rack up the scores against solid Antrim defending and it came as a huge relief to the large Limerick following when Mark Keane rifled to the net after collecting a long John Meskell delivery. That score came after 23 minutes and afforded Limerick their first moments of reasonable comfort, transforming a 0-5 to 0-2 advantage into a six-point lead.

By this time Keane was well on his way to compiling a very impressive 1-10, eight points from frees. Antrim trailed by 1-10 to 0-4 at the interval but a little bit of reshuffling during the break improved the side's potential and Limerick's half-back line came under pressure. The Ulster champions moved half forward Kevin Elliott to half back, Ciarain Herron to midfield and Gavin Bell to lead the attack.

Limerick goalkeeper Timmy Houlihan managed to bat down a Damian McMullan delivery 13 minutes into the second half and had to save again from Ciarain Magee before Alex Watt drilled home past a helpless goalkeeper.

Antrim were back in some sort of business, now trailing by only seven points with 17 minutes remaining. Not surprisingly, Keane and Begley came to Limerick's rescue. Begley somehow failed to hit the net when his shot from close range at the end of an inspiring run was deflected over the bar. David Stapleton made an impressive run for a great point and Willie Walsh was inspirational from the back once more to undermine the Antrim cover whose problems became more acute in the closing 10 minutes.

LIMERICK: T Houlihan; D Reale, E Mulcahy, P Reale; P O'Reilly (0-1), B Geary W Walsh; J Meskell (0-1), S Lucey (0- 1); P O'Grady, S O' Connor, D Stapleton (0-1); D Sheehan (0-1) B Begley (0-4) M Keane (1-10, eight frees). Subs: K Tobin (0-2) for O'Grady (half-time); M O'Riordan for O'Connor (60 mins).

ANTRIM: D Quinn; M Dallas, P Martin, K Grego; M McCambridge (0-1), D McMullan (0-4, two 65s, one free), C Herron; M McClements, G Bell; P Close, K Elliot, M Scullion; A Watt (1-2), P Richmond (0-2, one free), C McGee. Subs: P McGinley for Elliot (55 mins), M McCullough for Scullion (57 mins).

Referee: P Ahern (Carlow).