Shane O'Brien leads Kilmallock to victory over Patrickswell in Limerick senior hurling championship

KILMALLOCK defeated Patrickswell 0-23 to 0-18 in the opening round of the Whitebox Property Developments Limerick senior hurling championship on Thursday evening in Newcastle West. 

The victors were full value for their win and they had different ten different scorers compared to Patrickswell's three scorers throughout the 60 minutes. 

Despite being shown a second yellow card on the third quarter mark, Shane O'Brien was in sensational form at the west Limerick venue, finishing with an impressive tally of 0-10. Conor Staunton, Oisin O'Reilly and Phelim O'Reilly were others to impress in their side's five point victory. 

Patrickswell struggled to breakdown a stubborn Kilmallock defence and they were only able to manage 0-4 from play. Diarmaid Byrnes and Aaron Gillane hit 0-14 from placed balls for Patrickswell. 

Both sides came up last year in the senior hurling champioship semi-finals. Kilmallock and Patrickswell will both be aiming to go one step further than last year. 

Clare native James Hickey replaced Peter Queally as manager of Kilmallock. Hickey served as selector of the club last year. Declan O'Grady who was previously selector with Patrickswell in 2019 took over his club this year.

Kilmallock have shown impressive form in 2025 winning the league title. Limerick players Shane O'Brien and Micheal Houlihan along with former inter-county stars Aaron Costello and Oisin O'Reilly are key players for the south Limerick club.

Patrickswell were strongly backboned by Limerick captain Cian Lynch, Diarmaid Byrnes and Gillane brothers Jason and Aaron. The city club were boosted by the return of Jordan Higgins.

Kilmallock dominated the opening period and the south Limerick outfit led 0-14 to 0-9 at the break. Hickey's side had eight different scorers in the first half, while Patrickswell relied heavily on Diarmaid Byrnes and Aaron Gillane for scorers in the first half. 

Hickey's side started brightly through Shane O'Brien, Steven Quirke and Conor Staunton racing into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead. Patrickswell began to regroup and Limerick sharpshooter Aaron Gillane registered four points to make it 0-5 apiece after the first quarter mark. 

O'Brien responded to push back Kilmallock back into the lead. Gillane and Byrnes landed two placed balls to make the contest level for the second time. 

Kilmallock seized control of the game with a 0-7 to 0-1 scoring burst, as Shane O'Brien, Conor Hanley Clarke, Phelim O'Reilly, Gearoid Enright, and David Woulfe all found the target to push them into a 0-14 to 0-7 lead

Aaron Gillane and Diarmaid Byrnes added two more placed balls before the interval as Patrickswell trailed 0-14 to 0-9 at half-time. 

The south Limerick club kept up their strong momentum early in the second half, with Shane O'Brien once again leading the charge by scoring 0-3. Oisín O'Reilly chipped in with two points, and Phelim O'Reilly added another. While Byrnes and Gillane continued to battle bravely for their side as they trailed 0-20 to 0-12 by the 40-minute mark

On 45 minutes, Shane O'Brien was dismissed on a second yellow card from referee Eamonn Stapleton. This sparked a surge of belief for 'the Well', as Byrnes, Gillane, and Jordan Higgins combined to reduce the deficit to just five points

Limerick U20 hurler Pierce Connery took over the free taking duties in O'Brien's absence and he nailed the resulting placed ball to give Kilmallock some breathing space. 

Aaron Gillane, now with an impressive tally of eleven points, narrowed the gap to just four. However, late scores from Oisín O'Reilly and Kevin O'Donnell ensured a comfortable five-point win for Kilmallock.

Patrickswell will look to get things back on track next Thursday August 7 against Doon, while Kilmallock will look to make it two wins from two against Ahane on Friday August 8.

SCORERS: 

KILMALLOCK: Shane O'Brien (0-10, 0-4 frees), Oisin O'Reilly 0-3, Conor Staunton and Phelim O'Reilly 0-2 each, Kevin O'Donnell, Gearoid Enright, David Woulfe, and Steven Quirke 0-1 each, Conor Hanley Clarke (0-1, 0-1 free), Pierce Connery (0-1, 0-1 free)

PATRICKSWELL: Diarmaid Byrnes (0-5, 0-4 frees), Aaron Gillane (0-12, 0-10 frees), Jordan Higgins 0-1

KILMALLOCK: Conor Hanley Clarke; Dylan O'Brien, Mark O'Loughlin, Liam English; Robbie Egan, Micheal Houlihan, Aaron Costello, Gearoid Enright, Killian Hayes; Conor Staunton, Shane O'Brien, Phelim O'Reilly; Thomas Savage, David Woulfe; Oisin O'Reilly.

SUBS: Steven Quirke for Dylan O'Brien (3-5 minutes temporary substitute), Steven Quirke for Savage (50 minutes), Pierce Connery for Enright (50 minutes), Kevin O'Donnell for Staunton (59 minutes). 

PATRICKSWELL: Jason Gillane; Kelvin Lynch, Nigel Foley, Calvin Carroll; Eoin Harmon, Diarmaid Byrnes, Evan Fitzgerald; John Murray, Cian Fitzgerald; Jordan Higgins, Cian Lynch, Kevin O'Brien; Patrick Kirby, Aaron Gillane, Mark Carmody. 

SUBS: Thomas O'Brien for Kevin O'Brien (Half-Time), Hughie Maher for Cian Fitzgerald (41 minutes), Liam Fitzgerald for Carmody (50 minutes), James Carrig for Foley (54 minutes). 

REFEREE: Eamonn Stapleton (Doon).