Limerick finish off determined Rebels
AN experienced Limerick side were made to work for victory over Cork in the opening round of the CoOpSuperStores.ie Munster SHL at Mallow last night.
Young attacker Aaron Gillane impressed as he scored 1-9 for the Shannonsiders, who never trailed but did see a sixpoint lead after half-time wiped out as an experimental Cork side fought back.
Jack O’Connor’s goal for the hosts on 59 minutes tied the game at 1-18 each but two Gillane points and one from Séamus Flanagan eased them clear once more and the latter all-but made the game safe when Barry Murphy set him up for a goal.
Gillane’s 10th-minute goal had put Limerick 1-4 to 0-3 in front and they extended the lead to 1-10 to 0-6 by the 23rd minute.
In front of 1,364, John Meyler’s Cork refused to give in and Eoghan Finn and Robert O’Shea were on target as they came back to within four, 1-13 to 0-12, by half-time.
When Limerick began the second half with scores from Pat Ryan and Gillane, they seemed set to push on but Cork again came back. Robert O’Shea, Eoghan Finn, sub Brian Murray and goalkeeper Patrick Collins all scored to bring them back to within a goal and that came when O’Connor fired home from Stephen Murphy’s pass.
They couldn’t find a lead score though and Limerick pushed on again to ensure that they claimed the points.
LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Finn, S Hickey (T Condon half-time), R English; D Byrnes, D Hannon, D Morrissey; P Browne, P Ryan (C Ryan 47); C Lynch, D O’Donovan (D Reidy 51), T Morrissey (O O’Reilly 66); A Gillane, S Flanagan, B Nash (B Murphy 59). SCoRERS: A Gillane 1-9 (5f), S Flanagan 1-3, T Morrissey 0-4, D Byrnes, B Nash 0-2, P Browne, P Ryan, C Lynch 0-1 each. CoRK: P Collins; E Murphy (W Kearney halftime), S O’Donoghue (C Joyce 38-51, blood), D Griffin; D Browne, T O’Mahony, C O’Leary; B Lawton, S Murphy (C Joyce 62); D Kearney (R Cahalane 32, injured), R O’Flynn (B Murray 28, injured), D Brosnan; R O’Shea, E Finn, J O’Connor. SCoRERS: R O’Shea 0-5 (1f), J O’Connor 1-2, E Finn 0-4, D Brosnan 0-3, C Joyce 0-2, P Collins (f), D Kearney, B Lawton, R O’Flynn, B Murray 0-1 each. REfEREE: P Kelly (Tipperary).