Pulsating Limerick hurling victory over Galway to return to the All-Ireland final

LIMERICK won a pulsating All-Ireland senior hurling championship semi final this Sunday.

In Croke Park it finished Limerick 0-27, Galway 1-21.

Limerick and Galway were locked level for the 10th time with five minutes to play in a thrilling semi final.

John Kiely’s men then called on all the experience of the last few seasons to find the final three points to book their final spot in two weeks time and remain on track for a third successive Liam MacCarthy Cup title.

Standing between Limerick and a historic hat-trick will be Brian Cody's Kilkenny on July 17.

In this semi final, Limerick brought a 0-16 to 0-12 lead into the half time dressing room after playing against the gentle breeze into the Dineen Hill 16 in the opening half.

It was a half in which Limerick had eight different scorers as they hit 13 points from play and six wides.

At the other end of the field, Galway had 12 wides on top of eight points from play.

In front of an attendance of 52,215 Tom Monaghan had Galway in front from the off but then came sprung to life and blitzed the men in maroon across the opening 10-minutes to lead 0-6 to 0-1.

All six points came from play with Aaron Gillane (3) and Seamus Flanagan (2) profiting from pin-point deliveries from out the field.

When William O'Donoghue joined the full forward duo on the scoresheet Limerick were five points clear and not yet eight minutes played.

But the Galway found a foothold and punished a few sloppy errors from the men in green.

At the mid-point of the half, it was 0-8 to 0-4 with Gearoid Hegarty and Byrnes (free) on the mark for the men in green.

Two Hawk-Eye decisions went against Galway, but bit-by-bit they were growing in confidence.

Ronan Glennon and Padraic Mannion scores from distance left the scoreboard 0-10 to 0-8 on 24-minutes.

Kyle Hayes and Barry Nash points interrupted the Tribe momentum and when Gillane found another from play, Limerick were back four clear.

But Galway kept on coming and two from Cathal Mannion cut the lead to a single point with five minutes to half time.

Crucially, Limerick finished on top - Captain Declan Hannon and Gillane's fifth point from play ensuring a four point interval lead.

Two minutes into the second half the game was level for the second time - Brian Concannon cracking his shot past Nickie Quaid after a David Burke delivery over the Limerick full back line.

Cathal Mannion had pointed moments previous and all of a sudden this game was level, 1-13 to 0-16.

Joseph Cooney then had Galway ahead for the first time since the opening minute.

And from here till the end it was tit-for-tat.

By the 15th minute of the half, the sides were level five times with a huge score from Tom Morrissey helping Limerick to 0-19 to 1-16.

Peter Casey and Cian Lynch were introduced as subs but when O'Donoghue was judged to have thrown a handpass and Galway pointed the resulting free, they were ahead and 12-minutes to play - 1-18 to 0-20.

But it was another sub David Reidy, who would have a telling impact with three points after his arrival on 60-minutes.

Limerick finished with 15 wides - one less than Galway.

SCORERS: Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-8 (2frees), Diarmaid Byrnes 0-6 (6frees), Kyle Hayes and David Reidy 0-3 each, Seamus Flanagan 0-2, William O'Donoghue, Gearoid Hegarty, Barry Nash, Declan Hannon and Tom Morrissey 0-1 each.

Galway: Conor Cooney 0-5 (4frees), Cathal Mannion and Tom Monaghan 0-4 each, Brian Concannon 1-0, Padraic Mannion (1free), Ronan Glennon and Conor Whelan 0-2 each, Joseph Cooney and Fintan Burke 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid (Effin); Sean Finn (Bruff), Mike Casey (Na Piarsaigh), Barry Nash (South Liberties); Diarmaid Byrnes (Patrickswell), Declan Hannon (Adare), Dan Morrissey (Ahane); William O'Donoghue (Na Piarsaigh), Darragh O'Donovan (Doon); Gearoid Hegarty (St Patricks), Kyle Hayes (Kildimo-Pallaskenry), Tom Morrissey (Ahane); Aaron Gillane (Patrickswell), Seamus Flanagan (Feohanagh-Castlemahon), Graeme Mulcahy (Kilmallock). Subs: Peter Casey (Na Piarsaigh) for Graeme Mulcahy (55mins), Cian Lynch (Patrickswell) for Tom Morrissey (56mins), David Reidy (Dromin-Athlacca) for Darragh O'Donovan (60mins), Cathal O'Neill (Crecora-Manister) for Gearoid Hegarty (62mins), Conor Boylan (Na Piarsaigh) for Seamus Flanagan (66mins).

GALWAY: Eanna Murphy; Jack Grealish, Daithi Burke, Darren Morrissey; Joseph Cooney, Padraic Mannion, Fintan Burke; Ronan Glennon, David Burke; Tom Monaghan, Conor Cooney, Jason Flynn; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Cathal Mannion. Subs: Cianan Fahy for Jason Flynn (52mins), Johnny Coen for Ronan Glennon (63mins), Evan Niland for David Burke (66mins), Kevin Cooney for Conor Cooney (74mins).

REFEREE: Thomas Walsh (Waterford).