Limerick knocked out of Munster MFC after second one-point loss in seven days

LIMERICK were left to rue what might have been as they were knocked out of the Munster MFC, losing to Waterford 1-13 to 1-12 on Monday night.

“We got ourselves into a great position by half-time but Waterford just kept the scoreboard ticking over after the break,” said manager Garret Noonan after the defeat in Lemybrien.

Limerick raced into an eight point lead against their unbeaten opponents before the break only for it all to slowly fall apart on the resumption as the Déise adjusted their game plan to get the most out of their huge physical presence in the midfield diamond and grind out the result they needed.

Nor did the drama end at the final whistle as both sides, drained of every last ounce of energy from their titanic struggle before the biggest crowd in decades to witness an underage county football game in Waterford, learned that Limerick were about to join their victors in the championship phase against Cork and Kerry only to be dashed by a last gasp Clare goal against Tipperary.

While it may been scant consolation on the night, there is still an All-Ireland 'B' Championshp crown open to the losers. If they can build on the lessons learned from an unusually competitive provincial championship, Noonan's charges have the opportunity to make Limerick's first mark on national underage football since Liam Kearns's U21 All-Ireland finalists of 2000.

Limerick made use of the wind advantage to get off the mark with Eoghan Hogan's strike and, although Dara Gough equalised for the Déise after turning over the kickout from their first venture territory, advantage was still with the visitors as Conor O'Dwyer restored their lead before Charlie McCarthy made a statement of their intent with a booming two-pointer from more than 50 metres out.

Waterford began to enjoy a greater share of possession but fell further behind when a quick Limerick break from a turnover led to O'Dwyer's second point before Gough sent over a free down at the other end.

Limerick's lead had stretched to seven when Conor O'Dwyer found the space to split the posts before the home side regained enough composure to blunt the Limerick attacks.

Coming up to the break, play was drifting up to the other end of the pitch and the pressure on the Limerick rearguard opened cracks for Aidan McMaugh and Gough's free to narrow the gap but the effort was outdone right on the stroke of half-time when Hogan collected off an extended attack, passed across the face of the square to Brooklyn Delahunty to slot into the far corner and leave the visitors with a lead of 1-9 to 0-4 as they headed into the dressing-room.

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Waterford's improvement was obvious straight from the restart as they pushed a higher line, and got the most from their height advantage to exert continuous pressure from the kickout. Even though Limerick closed off the scoring space, the grind finally began to reflect on the scoreboard as enough passes were strung together to deliver points for Thomas Meagher and Gough and momentum suddenly swung their way when Peter Murray's popped up at the end of an attack and laid off across the square for Meagher to blast home his goal.

When a Limerick attack going into the final quarter ended in a contested free, it was brought forward far enough for Gough to send over a two-pointer and, although Ollie Stokes brought the visitors' lead back to two, the Suirsiders drew level with a double from play off the boot of Enda Bloomer. Limerick tried to respond but Waterford were defending with confidence and exploited the spaces left at the back to move ahead with strikes on the break from Charlie Smyth and McMaugh.

A final push from the visitors yielded a McCarthy free but moves were breaking down with end-of-match fatigue. Waterford eased the pressure with Charlie Kelly's breakaway point and, as time slipped into the four added minutes, Limerick needed a goal and more to qualify for the next phase but all they got was a Tom Gavin free before the game ended with Kelly's goal attempt off a rebound at the other end right on the whistle being stopped by Dean Ryan.

SCORERS:
WATERFORD: Dara Gough 0-6 (2 frees, 1 2xfree); Theo Meagher 1-1; Aidan McMaugh, Enda Bloomer (2x) 0-2 each; Charlie Smyth, Charlie Kelly 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: Charlie McCarthy 0-5 (1 2x, 2 frees);Conor O'Dwyer 0-4; Brooklyn Delahunty 1-0; Eoghan Hogan, Ollie Stokes, Tom Gavin (free) 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: Jack Sheehan; Arlo McManus, James Skehan, Cian Power; Shay Healy, Anthony O'Donnell, Liam O'Grady; Theo Meagher, Tomás Walsh; Enda Bloomer, Aidan McMaugh, Peter Murray; Dara Gough, Rian Hollahan, Ronan Kirwan.

Subs: Charlie Smyth for Rian Hollahan (half-time); Caolán Johnston for Enda Bloomer (37 mins); Charlie Kelly for Peter Murray (48 mins); Eoin Keane for Shay Healy (54 mins); Colm Kiely (Ballinacourty) for Cian Power (61 mins).

LIMERICK: Dean Ryan (Na Piarsaigh); Luke McDermott (Monaleen), Aaron Murphy (Fr Caseys), Ronan Conneely (Ballybricken-Bohermore); Conor O'Dwyer (Rathkeale), Eoghan Murnane (Camogue Rovers), Rory O'Dwyer (Monaleen); Cillian Murphy (Askeaton-Ballysteen-Kilcornan), Jamie McAuliffe (Fr Caseys); Cian Barry (Kildimo-Pallaskenry), Jack Moynihan (Monaleen), Seán O'Flynn (Dromcollogher-Broadford); Charlie McCarthy (Adare), Brooklyn Delahunty (Askeaton-Ballysteen-Kilcornan), Eoghan Hogan (Mungret-Saint Paul's).

Subs: Ollie Stokes for Cian Barry (45 mins), Tom Gavin (Monaleen) for Brooklyn Delahunty (46 mins), Kevin McNamara (Ahane) for Jack Moynihan (47 mins), Cian Lonergan (Ballylanders) for Cillian Murphy (temporary, 49-59 mins), Cathal Donnelly (Camogue Rovers) for Conor O'Dwyer (59 mins), Cian Lonergan for Ronan Conneely (62 mins).

REFEREE: Brian Crowley (Cork).