Limerick suffer shock All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to 14-man Dublin at Croke Park

LIMERICK suffered a shock 2-24 to 0-28 All-Ireland senior hurling championship quarter-final defeat to a superb 14-man Dublin side at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

Dublin belied their underdogs tag to produce a top class display and stun the beaten Munster finalists who looked flat for long periods of the game.

READ NEXT: WATCH: Mark Walsh nets dramatic equaliser as gritty Treaty United secure point at leaders Dundalk

Dublin's win was all the more impressive given that the Leinster side played for 55 minutes with 14 players following the 14th minute dismissal of Chris Crummey for a high tackle on Gearóid Hegarty.

Limerick had set the benchmark at 30 points as the likely total necessary to win the vast majority of championship games over their period of dominance since 2018. On this occasion the Shannonsiders came up two points short of the target, while Dublin achieved it. Yet Dublin would have been good value for a winning margin of a couple of points greater than what they recorded on this day. 

The winners led 0-15 to 0-12 at half-time, outscoring their opponents 0-10 to 0-5 in that first half period when down to 14 players. While Limerick led 0-19 to 0-18 after 51 minutes, two goals in the final quarter from substitute John Hethereton and Cian O'Sullivan propelled the Leinster side to a deserved success and a place in the All-Ireland semi-final.

While there was so much to admire from this Dublin display, Limerick were strangely flat for the vast majority of the game.

Dublin's first touch was better and their players were quicker onto the breaking ball. The winners puck-out strategy was brilliantly executed. 

The winners coped superbly with the setback of being down a player for such a large chunk of the game and in contrast Limerick will feel frustration of being unable to have capitalised on having an extra player.

Perhaps there was something of a hangover from the bitter disappointment of their penalty shoot-out Munster final defeat to Cork just two weeks earlier, but the Shannonsiders failed to reach the heights the side has displayed for the best part of a decade. 

In recording victory, Dublin, who were 12/1 rank outsiders to win the game with the bookies, were ending a 12-year wait for an All-Ireland semi-final spot.

Limerick made one change to their matchday squad for the game before throw-in as Shane O'Brien replaced Seamus Flanagan on the substitutes' bench.

Dublin played with the breeze in the opening half and made good use of it.

The Leinster side brought a huge intensity and appetite for work in that opening half. The Dubs' use of the ball was highly impressive, their first touch immaculate decision making on the money.

On a lively playing surface and in excellent conditions, the game was played at a hot space from the throw-in.

The teams were level 0-3 each after eight minutes, the Limerick scores coming courtesy of Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty and an Aaron Gillane free.

Limerick then hit something of a purple patch, the beaten Munster finalists rifling over three unanswered points in as many minutes from Aidan O'Connor, Adam English and Gillane to move 0-6 to 0-3 to the good. Limerick looked to have gained the upperhand.

A second point from the lively English on 12 minutes had the Shannonsiders 0-7 to 0-4 in front. 

However, a resilient Dublin side hit back with a Sean Currie point for 0-7 to 0-5.

The main talking point of the opening half arrived in the 14th minute when Dublin's centre half-back Chris Crummey was dismissed for a high challenge of Gearoid Hegarty.

Limerick led by two points at that stage and you would have expected them to kick on given their numerical advantage.

However, Dublin responded impressively to the body blow, upping their workrate and intensity all over the pitch. The Leinster side hurled with great confidence and composure.

Dublin scored four of the next five points after Crummey's red card to be level, 0-10 each, after 25 minutes.

The Dublin side then reeled off five points without reply in a terrific spell of hurling as Ronan Hayes, with two, Man of the Match Conor Burke, Sean Currie, free, and Riain McBride registered scores.

To their credit, Limerick gave themselves genuine hope coming up to half-time tacking on two points before the break from Tom Morrissey and Lynch to leave three points between the sides, 0-15 to 0-12, at the change of ends. 

Limerick, who looked leggy and lethargic for much of the first half, looked more energetic in the third quarter although Dublin registered the opening two scores of the half through Conor Burke and Brian Hayes for a healthy five point advantage at 0-17 to 0-12.

Calling upon their vast experience, Limerick clawed their way back into the game to trail by two points, 0-15 to 0-17, 

Limerick then managed four of the next five points, with young guns Aidan O'Connor and Adam English scoring a brace each, to move ahead, 0-19 to 0-18, with 19 minutes to play.

If Limerick appeared to be gaining a psychological edge, that wasn't the case. Two goals in rapid succession from Hetherton, struck from an acute angle, after excellent approach play from Ronan Hayes and Cian O'Sullivan, and a second three-pointer from Cian O'Sullivan rocked Limerick.

The management team emptied the bench in a bid to spark Limerick into life. 

Adam English set up Aaron Gillane with a goal chance on the hour mark, but his effort was superbly parried over the crossbar by Dublin goalkeeper, Sean Brennan at the expense of a point.

Dublin players were defiant, putting their bodies on the line in a desperate bid to cling on to their advantage.

Limerick closed within a point in the 66th minute, 0-26 to 2-21, when Lynch won a break and fed Hegarty who arrowed over the crossbar.

However, it was as close as John Kiely's charges would get to their opponents. Points from Hayes and a monster free courtesy of the reliable Currie eased Dublin nerves somewhat.

The Dubs were four points to the good, 2-24 to 0-26, in the first of four minutes of injury time. 

Peter Casey got one back, but following a foul on the Na Piarsaigh clubman, Diarmaid Byrnes' blast for a goal was saved and cleared. Limerick's hopes of All-Ireland glory for 2025 were done, although English notched the final score of the game.

There was no doubting Dublin's superiority on this occasion. 

A summer, autumn and winter of what might have been lies ahead for Limerick.

SCORERS: Dublin: Sean Currie 0-9 (0-5f), Conor Burke 0-5, Cian O'Sullivan 1-1, John Hetherton 1-0, Ronan Hayes 0-3, Rian McBride 0-2, Brian Hayes 0-2, Chris Crummey 0-1, Fergal Whitely 0-1. Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-9 (0-6f, 0-1 65), Adam English 0-5, Gearoid Hegarty 0-4, Aidan O'Connor 0-3, Tom Morrissey 0-2, Cian Lynch 0-2, Barry Nash 0-1, Cathal O'Neill 0-1, Peter Casey 0-1.

DUBLIN: Sean Brennan; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Andrew Dunphy; Conor Burke, Brian Hayes; Rian McBride, Fergal Whitely, Cian O'Sullivan; Sean Currie, Ronan Hayes, Diarmaid O Dulaing. Substitutes: John Hetherton for O'Dulaing (half-time), Darragh power for Whitely (52 mins), Donal Burke for McBride (64 mins), Colin Currie for Ronan Hayes (69 mins, David Lucey for McHugh (75 mins).

LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Barry Nash; Adam English, William O'Donoghue; Gearoid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Aidan O'Connor, David Reidy.
Substitutes: Cathal O'Neill for Tom Morrissey (23-24, blood), Barry Murphy for Casey (half-time), Cathal O'Neill for Morrissey (half-time), Declan Hannon for Nash (51 mins), Peter Casey for O'Donoghue (58 mins), Shane O'Brien for O'Connor (64 mins).

REFEREE: Liam Gordon (Galway)