Limerick U17 hurlers lose to Cork

LIMERICK suffered a 0-16 to 0-6 defeat to a strong Cork side in the opening round of the inaugural Munster U-17 hurling competition at the Gaelic Grounds on Tuesday night.

Limerick struggled to get going in the early exchanges as the Rebels flew into a 0-3 to no score lead after five minutes.

Cork increased the lead to seven before Josh Considine opened Limerick’s account with a 20th minute free. 

Seanie O’Connor added a free of his own but Limerick trailed 0-7 to 0-2 at the interval.

Dave Cuddy’s side were reduced to 14 in the first minute after the break when Sean O’Leary was dismissed, leaving them too much much to do as they limped to a convincing defeat.

Cork kept the score-board ticking throughout the second half as they eased to a 10-point win.

SCORERS: Cork: Colin O’Brien 0-6 (0-5 frees) Tommy O’Connell 0-5, Declan Hanlon 0-3, Joe  Stack, Kian Farmer 0-1 each. Limerick: Seanie O’Connor 0-4 (0-4 frees) Josh Considine (free), Mark McCarthy 0-1 each

CORK: Luke Donovan; Eoin Roche, Ciaran Nyhan, Ronan Sheehan; Daire Connery, Conor O’Callaghan, Jack Hallahan; Liam Ryan, Sean Twomey; Declan Hanlon, Colin O’Brien, Tommy O’Connell; Owen McCarthy, Joe Stack, Brian Roche. Subs: Killian Murphy for Joe Stack (46); Kian Farmer for Owen McCarthy (55); Kevin Finn for Tommy O’Connell (58); Sean McCarthy for Sean Twomey (60).

LIMERICK: Louis Dee (Mungret/St Pauls); Liam Griffin (Kildimo/Pallaskenry), David Mulqueen (Bruff), Paul Power (Monaleen); Sean Long (Na Piarsaigh); Paudie O Connor (Kilmallock), Josh Considine (Patrickswell); Seanie O Connor (Granagh/Ballingarry), Liam Barry (Na Piarsaigh); Sean O’Leary (Dromin/Athlacca), Shaun Barry (Kildimo/Pallaskenry), James O Brien (Croagh/Kilfinny); Calum Sheehan (Garryspillane), Frank Costello (Adare), Mark McCarthy (Templeglantine); James Daly (Na Piarsaigh) for Shaun Barry (54). Subs: Mike Hayes (Kildimo-Pallaskenry) for Paul Power (34); Chris Berkery (Doon) for James O’Brien (41); Adam Carrig (Patrickswell) for Sean Long (41); Kieran O’Dowd (Mungret) for Liam Barry. 

REFEREE: Kevin Jordan (Tipperary)