CATS TAMED AT HOME
First win at Nowlan Park in 22 years for Limerick
HOW about that as a statement of intent from the All-Ireland champions? Three wins from three to sit proudly atop Division 1A and a dismissal of Brian Cody’s Kilkenny that was ruthlessly efficient.
A League quarter-final place looks almost a formality after this result.
The damage was done during a scoring blitz in the run-up to half-time that saw Limerick pounce for 2-3 without reply and the visitors’ first win at Nowlan Park since 1997 was an emphatic one, their lead even stretching out to 14 at one point in the second half.
With the Ballyhale Shamrocks contingent club-tied ahead of the All-Ireland final, and a mounting injury list that has expanded to include Conor Fogarty and Enda Morrissey, there is a vulnerable look to Kilkenny right now.
And there was something very Kilkenny about the way Limerick put them to the sword: pouncing with a devastating scoring burst in the space of 60 seconds to effectively decide the game. Aaron Gillane was the main man, his form with college and county suggesting he has found another level to his game.
He played in Shane Dowling for Limerick’s first goal before a turnover from a short puck-out saw Mulcahy play in Conor Boylan to stun the home crowd. From a point where Kilkenny trailed 2-10 to 0-7, the manner in which Limerick battened down the hatches in the second half against the wind and played the ball expertly through the lines, was so impressive.
That second half was all about support play, off the shoulder running and clever diagonal balls, particularly when it came to feeding Gillane who was isolated in acres of space in the full-forward line. What he didn’t win directly, he often broke the runners poring through from deep, making it hard to understand why Kilkenny didn’t drop one other defender back in front of him. Tom Condon rolled back the years with a dynamic display wearing the captain’s armband that earned the official Man of the Match award and Sean Finn and Richie English were so clever and tidy in their play beside him. Dan Morrissey was rock solid at centre-back in place of captain Declan Hannon and the goal threat that Limerick carried was in marked contrast to Kilkenny. Walter Walsh caught some important ball in the first half but without TJ Reid and Richie Hogan, the lack of a goalscoring edge undid Kilkenny.
Nicky Quaid didn’t have to make a single save from open play — Richie Leahy saw a late 20-metre free saved off the line — which summed up Kilkenny’s day. In fairness to Leahy, he pilfered some lovely scores from distance.
In keeping with the lacklustre start to the league competition, this was another strangely subdued affair that would make you wonder if the lack of relegation this year has really taken the edge off the competition.
With nine All-Ireland medals, Jackie Tyrrell’s reputation as a Kilkenny hurler is bulletproof. His suggestion though in the build-up that Limerick weren’t in the top three teams in the country was a hard one to fathom - it wasn’t exactly David Brady-esque in its design to inflame but it certainly didn’t fit with the evidence of yesterday at Nowlan Park at a venue where so many counties’ dreams have crashed and burned. And without Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch.
Limerick fired the first warning shot across Kilkenny’s bow in the 17th minute. Gillane – continuing his rampaging form from the Fitzgibbon Cup – sent a lovely weighted handpass dropping in to the hand of the galloping Kyle Hayes who didn’t have to check his stride. He shovelled the ball on to Barry Murphy, who was coming in on the angle to let fly. It seemed to be another to add to the catalogue of Eoin Murphy reaction saves except that it turned out the ball had deflected out off the post and wide.
The man who claimed that last ball in the All-Ireland final — Tom Condon — then produced a collector’s item of a point from inside his own 65, in keeping with a swashbuckling display. With Walter Walsh switching between full and centre-forward for puck outs, it was 0-7 apiece heading past the hour mark before the All-Ireland
champions unloaded on Kilkenny with both barrels, finding the net twice in the 34th minute.
The first goal came from a route one delivery that was touched down by Mulcahy, for Gillane to scoop the ball up, and handpass a little ball inside to Dowling on the peel. The Na Piarsaigh man did not need a second invitation to bury it.
Then the subsequent short puck broke down, not for the first time. Tommy Walsh’s pass was intercepted by Graeme Mulcahy who played in Boylan to rattle the net for the second time in the space of 60 seconds.
Diarmaid Byrnes stuck a monster free, Gillane slung another one over his shoulder and Kilkenny were shell-shocked, that nine-point deficit still the difference at the end.
Gillane almost volleyed in a goal early in the second half, Dowling nearly batted a third, and the sight of Barry Murphy chasing down Tommy Walsh who had made a great catch, hooking him, turning over the ball and splitting the posts, said everything about Limerick’s desire.