Limerick suffer heavy defeat to Down in Tailteann Cup opener

"THE build-up went well but the final product just wasn't there,” was manager Jimmy Lee's assessment of Limerick's Group 4 Tailteann Cup opener which ended with a 1-20 to 1-6 defeat to competition favourites Down in Newry's sun-splashed Páirc Esler on Saturday afternoon.

In a stop-start contest dominated by long periods of painstaking build-up, Down's ability to inject bursts of pace proved to the decisive factor as they piled on the points midway through the first half and again coming up to the finish to produce a result that mirrored their dominance over the 70 minutes.

While they retained the ball well as they probed for openings, Limerick struggled throughout to vary the pace to an extent that stretched the Down defence and, whenever they did take the shot, they were out of comfortable range as six chances went wide and another six dropped into the goalkeeper's hands.

That left Limerick relying solely on drawing the foul and, apart from their six successful frees, their only other score was Peter Nash's goal early in the second half.

That inability to finish may come back to haunt them as London's surprising and comprehensive defeat of Offaly in the other fixture of the afternoon has thrown the group wide open as Limerick now prepare to meet 'the Faithful' in their home game in Mick Neville Park next Saturday, 3pm.

Maybe with the campaign's toughest test out of the way, the side can adopt the more attacking approach that they showed at time this season as victory more than likely assures them, at worst, a third-placed finish which would qualify them for the knockout rounds.

The game started on a very cautious note with long passing movements by both sides. Odhrán Murdock's pointed free got Down off the mark, after which the hosts threw more players forward at speed as Liam Kerr and Ryan Johnston added to the lead before Peter Nash opened Limerick's account off a free.

However, the Mournemen replied with quick deliveries up to their front men, drew fouls for Murdock and Pat Havern to convert before Éamonn Brown, Ryan Magill Havern and Danny Magill moved the gap out to seven points.

Limerick tried to respond, but their movement was laboured and they started taking shots from distance that either drifted wide or dropped into the goalkeeper's hands. But coming up to the break, they drew a few fouls as Naughton's first point was met by Ryan McEvoy off a quick break from deep before Naughton's next free and Nash's second pointed free cut Down's lead back to 0-10 to 0-4.

Brown pointed for Down within seconds of the restart and, after Nash replied off a free, a flowing Down attack off the kick-out ended with Daniel Guinness driving to the net off Shealan Hohnston's lay-off.

Danny Magill then sent the kickout back over the crossbar, but the hosts' attempts to move out of sight were interrupted by Nash collecting Brian Ahern's pass from the left corner and burying in the far top corner.

After Havern replied off a mark, the structure of the game disintegrated completely as the subs piled on. Jamie Baynham picked up a straight red two minutes after coming on a subs and whatever continuity remained was broken up by injury stoppages.

Once all the changes were made, some semblance of order returned during the closing minutes as John McGovern got Down scoring again and, after Brown's follow-up was matched by Nash's pointed free, those competing for places in the Mournemen's starting lineup laid bare their credentials as McGovern, Gareth McKibben, McGovern again, Peter Fegan and Conor McCrikard all blasted just over the crossbar.

SCORERS: DOWN: Daniel Guinness 1-0, Pat Havern (1 free), Éamonn Brown, John McGovern 0-3 each, Odhrán Murdock, Danny Magill 0-2 each, Liam Kerr, Ryan Johnston, Ryan Magill, Ryan McEvoy, Gareth McKibben, Peter Fegan, Conor McCrickard 0-1 each; LIMERICK: Peter Nash 1-4 (0-4 frees), James Naughton o-2 (2 frees).

DOWN: John O'Hare; Finn McElroy, Ryan McEvoy, Peter Fegan; Ryan Magill, Pierce Laverty, Shealan Johnston; Daniel Guinness, Odhrán Murdock; Ben McConville, Liam Kerr, Éamonn Brown; Danny Magill, Pat Havern, Ryan Johnston. SUBS: Shane Arnett for Ben McConville (39 minutes), John McGovern for Lioam Kerr (45 minutes), Gareth McKibben for Danny Magill (49 minutes), Conor McCrickard for Éamonn Brown (56 minutes), Paddy McCarthy for Ryan Johnston (59 minutes).

LIMERICK: Josh Ryan, Tony McCarthy, Séan O'Dea, Cormac Woulfe; Barry Coleman, Cillian Fahy, Paul Maher; Tommy Childs, Tommy Griffin; Shane Costelloe, James Naughton, Cathal Downes; Brian Ahern, Bob Childs, Peter Nash. SUBS: Joe Sweeney for Tommy Griffin (33 minutes), Daire Ó Siochrú for Brian Ahern (49 minutes), Jamie Baynham for Tony McCarthy (50 minutes), Darren O'Doherty for James Naughton (55 minutes), Eoin Hurley for Paul Maher (64 minutes).

REFEREE: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)