Limerick suffer first defeat of Allianz Hurling League campaign to Clare

LIMERICK were defeated by Clare 1-21 to 0-21 on Sunday afternoon at the TUS Gaelic Grounds in round five of the Allianz Hurling League. 

Clare were full value for their Division 1A victory, but Limerick will have regrets over the shooting in front of goals. John Kiely's side created six goal chances and the Limerick senior hurling manager will have regrets that his side didn't manage to take any of those opportunities. 

Space opened up for Limerick attacker Shane O'Brien straight from the throw-in and the Kilmallock clubman's shot was excellently saved by Eibhear Quilligan. However, points from David Reidy and O'Brien had Limerick two points in front after four minutes.

UL Fitzgibbon Cup winner Sean Rynne then reduced the gap to the minimum with a point for from a difficult angle. 

Referee Thomas Walsh then awarded Limerick a scoreable free after Darragh Lohan had fouled Aaron Gillane on the 20-metre line. Gillane nailed the resulting placed ball to push Limerick 0-3 to 0-1 in front.

However, back came Clare and Aidan McCarthy added two quickfire points in-a-row to make 0-3 apiece. 

A Limerick long range free from Diarmaid Byrnes dropped short and the sliotar fell into the hands of Aaron Gillane, who saw his effort hit the crossbar. Clare were relieved to avoid another goal.

Adam English then drove forward and it looked as if the Clare defence had done enough to overturn the Doon clubman but Gillane stayed alert to the loose ball to add his second point of the day.

Brian Lohan's Clare side then hit next three points from Sean Rynne, Aidan McCarthy and Jack O'Neill to push the visitors 0-6 to 0-4 clear. 

Aaron Gillane's accuracy was proving crucial and the Limerick sharpshooter levelled the contest for the third time on 18 minutes.

Clare outscored their opponents in the next 14 minutes as scores from Tony Kelly, Aidan McCarthy, Jack O'Neill and David Fitzgerald put Clare 0-12 to 0-8 in front. Gillane's free taking kept Limerick within touching distance of their visitors during that period. 

Adam English was forced with a blood injury and his replacement Aidan O'Connor made an immediate impact getting his name on the scoresheet on the stroke of half time. 

John Kiely's side trailed 0-9 to 0-12 at the interval. Limerick came out a different side after the break, firing over points through David Reidy, Barry Nash, Cian Lynch and Shane O'Brien to put them 0-13 to 0-12 ahead after 38 minutes. It looked as if all the momentum was with the hosts. 

However, the visitors response was impressive and Clare corner forward David Reidy fired the sliotar into the back of the net as Clare led 1-12 to 0-13 four minutes into the second half. Back came Limerick and Byrnes then landed a '65 to make it 1-12 to 0-14. 

However, Clare's Aidan McCarthy and Cathal Malone stretched their lead out to four points and the All-Ireland champions were starting to take control of the contest.

For Limerick, Barry Nash looked in impressive form in his first start for the county in 2025 and he drove over an inspirational point which was quickly followed up by a long range effort from Byrnes. 

The ebb and flow of the derby continued, however, as Clare started to reassert their dominance on this encounter when points from Tony Kelly and Aidan McCarthy had their side 1-18 to 0-16 clear.

However, substitute Aidan O'Connor reduced the gap to four points, but that was quickly cancelled out by efforts from Mark Rodgers and Sean Rynne.

On 62 minutes, Aaron Gillane made it 1-21 to 0-19, but the Shannonsiders needed a strong finish if they were to turn things around. 

On 64 minutes, Diarmaid Byrnes was dismissed on a straight red card for an off-the-ball incident. Although the victors didn't score in the remaining ten minutes, Clare had did enough throughout the second half to secure a vital two points.

Two frees from Jason Gillane and a free Aaron Gillane was all Limerick could manage in the closing stages as they suffered their first defeat in the Allianz Hurling League.

Limerick will be back in action on Saturday next, March 8 against Galway at 7:30pm in the TUS Gaelic Grounds. 

SCORERS: LIMERICK: Aaron Gillane 0-8 (0-6 frees); David Reidy; Shane O’Brien; Aidan O’Connor; Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes (0-1 ‘65); Jason Gillane (0-2 frees) each; Cian Lynch 0-1. CLARE: Aidan McCarthy 0-7 (0-6 frees); Sean Rynne, Jack O’Neill, Tony Kelly 0-3 each; David Reidy 1-0; David Fitzgerald 0-2; Cathal Malone, Cian Galvin, Mark Rodgers 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: Jason Gillane (Patrickswell); Barry Murphy (Doon), Mike Casey (Na Piarsaigh), Barry Nash (South Liberties); Diarmaid Byrnes (Patrickswell), Ethan Hurley (Newcastle West), Colin Coughlan (Ballybrown); Adam English (Doon), Cian Lynch (Patrickswell); Eddie Stokes (Doon), David Reidy (Dromin-Athlacca), Cathal O'Neill (Crecora Manister); Aaron Gillane (Patrickswell), Shane O'Brien (Kilmallock), Seamus Flanagan (Feohanagh Castlemahon). SUBS: Aidan O’Connor (Ballybrown) for English (blood 34 - ht); Aidan O’Connor (Ballybrown) for Stokes (ht); Patrick O'Donovan (Effin) for Flanagan (50 minutes), Donnacha Ó Dálaigh (Monaleen) for O'Brien (66 minutes), Vince Harrington (Na Piarsaigh) for Nash (66 minutes).

CLARE: Eibhear Quilligan; Adam Hogan, Darragh Lohan, Conor Leen; Cian Galvin, John Conlon, Cathal Malone; Tony Kelly, Ryan Taylor; Jack O’Neill, David Fitzgerald, Sean Rynne; Aidan McCarthy, David Reidy, Mark Rodgers. SUBS: Shane Meehan for Reidy (56); Paddy Donnellan for McCarthy (68); Aron Shanagher for Fitzgerald (70).

REFEREE: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)