Limerick bid to overcome Galway to reach a third successive All-Ireland hurling final

LIMERICK bid to reach a third successive All-Ireland senior hurling championship final this Sunday afternooon.

It’s a fifth straight semi final tie for John Kiely’s men when they play Galway this July 3 in Croke Park at 3.30.

The sides are battling for a place in the July 17 hurling showpiece.

Today's semi final will be televised live on RTE and Sky Sports.

Limerick are looking to reach three successive All-Ireland SHC finals for the first time since 1933-36. But a hat-trick of titles has never been won by Limerick – indeed just Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary have done so. Kilkenny did so last in 2006-09, Cork in 1976-78 and Tipperary in 1949-51.

Sunday’s semi final will bring two of the most experienced teams in the inter-county game into opposition.

John Kiely's team for today's semi final shows one change from the Munster final - details here

Limerick are currently 14-games unbeaten in championship hurling – Kilkenny went 21 games unbeaten between 2006-2010, while the record prior to that was 16 games unbeaten for Tipperary 1949-52. Limerick’s last defeat in the championship was the 2019 semi final loss to Kilkenny.

Limerick were last beaten in the championship in the 2019 semi final with Kilkenny. The 14 games unbeaten run since has seen John Kiely and selectors use 29 different players with 22 in starting roles – Cathal O’Neill and Oisin O’Reilly have been handed championship debuts during Limerick’s five game run to this semi final, while Conor Boylan and Robbie Hanley made their first SHC starts.

Across the last four semi finals, just 18 players have got starting roles with nine players set to start a fifth successive last four tie in green and white.

While Henry Shefflin has injected some fresh faces into the Galway line-up in his debut season as manager, the Connacht side will still most likely have 10 players from the 2016 semi final in their plans to see game-time.

So no shortage of experience in their line-up and Croke Park isn’t a factor either – it’s an eighth visit under John Kiely for Limerick and they have lost just once; the 2019 semi final to Kilkenny.

Barry Nash happy he has matured into Limerick hurling team after his switch to corner back

Today is of course a repeat of Limerick’s break through All-Ireland final win over 2018. The sides also met in the semi final stage in 2020, when Limerick’s Shane O’Neill was Galway manager.

While Limerick won both recent championship ties, Galway have won the Allianz League meetings across the last two years, including a 0-27 to 1-18 win this February.

But Limerick have left their early season form behind them – so much so that the bookies make the men in green the 2/7 favourites to win on Sunday with Galway available at 7/2 to dethrone the champions.