Ahane record victory over Doon in Group 1 of Limerick senior hurling championship

AHANE recovered from the heartbreak of being edged out of the knock-out stages by Patrickswell's astonishing second-half recovery in their previous outing by coasting to a commanding 2-24 to 1-16 victory over Group One table-toppers Doon in Cappamore in their final round Bon Secours Limerick senior hurling Group 1 fixture on Sunday afternoon.

Once they got their noses in front after ten minutes, Ahane relentlessly built up a match-winning lead by the break, mostly on the back of the unerring accuracy of Limerick county star Tom Morrissey, and the winners never looked in any danger from their opponents who just couldn't find enough intensity in enough positions to threaten a comeback.

Having already got the better of the other three sides who have dominated Limerick hurling for over a decade, Doon were already guaranteed their place at the top of qualifying table and they had little left to prove in this clash.

Only Adam English of their lineup showed his earlier form as he grabbed eight of their 17 scores and contributed to a solid midfield that was the one line to resist their opponents' unrelenting dominance.

Quite apart from needing to show that they can put together a 60-minute performance, Ahane also had local rivalry to drive them in this East Limerick derby and they got not just the individual displays but also the contributions to the combined team effort that kept the scoreboard ticking over relentlessly right to the final whistle.

Although Mark Donnellan's first-minute point was immediately cancelled out by one from Doon's Barry Murphy, points from Tom Morrissey's free and Gary Brennan gave an indication of what was to come.

After Pat Ryan halved Doon's deficit, the Castleconnell club got into their stride when Morrissey's point was followed by Brennan, Morrissey, Willie Brennan and Morrissey from a free and from play to assemble a seven-point advantage by the quartet-mark.

Doon got the chance to reply once the initial fury abated, but they still failed to make inroads as Darragh O'Donovan's pointed sideline cut was met by another Morrissey point, while Darragh Stapleton's score on the turn by Ronan Fox and Adam English's free by a pair of similar scores from Morrissey.

Points from Cian O'Donovan and Stapleton hinted of Doon getting back on track, but their long deliveries were being eaten up by Dan Morrissey and the wide count leapt into action again.

Then, to cap off Ahane's fruitful first half, Brennan's effort at a point came back off the upright straight into the path of Cathal O'Mara who whipped it to the net for a lead of 1-13 to 0-7 at the break.

English restarted with a pointed free that was met by a Fox point and a '65' and a free from Morrissey. While English made the scorecard again for Doon, Morrissey bettered him with a pointed free and one from play to stretch Ahane's advantage to 12 coming up to the three-quarter mark.

After English swapped scores with Brennan, his next point was followed by one from Darragh O'Donovan to which Brennan replied by lifting and striking a scrambled ball to the net.

The tempo dropped even further as the subs piled on. As the sides adjusted their formations, English's point from distance was cancelled out by Donnellan and his free by Willie Brennan.

Coming into the final regulation minute, Pat Ryan took some of the bareness off the Doon scorecard by flashing the sliotar to the net following Eddie Stokes's delivery into the square.

The score was followed by an English pointed free but Ahane insisted on having the last word as Morrissey with points from a free and from play was followed by substitute Will McCormack closing off the scoring for the winners.

SCORERS: AHANE: Tom Morrissey 0-14 (7 frees, 1 '65'), Gary Brennan 1-3, Cathal O'Mara 1-0, Mark Donnellan, Willie Brennan, Ronan Fox 0-2 each, Will McCormack 0-1; DOON: Adam English 0-8 (4 frees), Pat Ryan 1-1, Darragh Stapleton, Darragh O'Donovan (1 sideline cut) 0-2 each, Barry Murphy, Cian O'Donovan 0-1 each.

AHANE: Cathal Ryan; Evan O'Leary, Dan Morrissey, Gavin Rowsome; Mark Hickey, Ciarán Barry, Daniel Minihan; Stephen Power, Conor Heffernan; Gary Brennan, Mark Donnellan, Tom Morrissey; Ronan Fox, Willie Brennan, Cathal O'Mara. SUBS: Jack Butler for Cathal O'Mara (43 minutes), Will McCormack for Mark Donnellan (56 minutes), Kevin Morrissey for Willie Brennan (57 minutes), Peter O'Grady for Stephen Power (58 minutes), Jack Barry for Mark Hickey (58 minutes).

DOON: Tomás Lynch; Tommy Hayes, Eoin Fitzgibbon, Cian O'Donovan; Mikey O'Brien, Barry Murphy, Chris Thomas; Darragh O'Donovan, Adam English;, Pat Cummins, Jack Ryan, Eddie Stokes; Cormac Ryan, Darragh Stapleton, Pat Ryan. SUBS: Gareth Thomas for Pat Cummins (44 minutes), Aidan O'Connell for Eoin Fitzgibbon (50 minutes), Tadhg Whelan for Mikey O'Brien (50 minutes), Kevin Maher for Cormac Ryan (50 minutes).

REFEREE: Kieran Guina (Feohanagh).