WATCH: Limerick stars on opposite sides in Junior Hurling Championship clash
Gearoid Hegarty faced off against Cathal O’Neill in the Limerick Premier Junior ‘A’ Hurling Championship
TWO Limerick hurling inter-county stars faced off on Friday night - in the fourth tier of club championship.
With members of John Kiely's 37-man panel back to club duty for the next few months, the clash of St Patrick's and Crecora-Manister in the Premier Junior 'A' Hurling Championship had two stand-out names involved.
Man of the Match in the All-Ireland final Cathal O'Neill lined out for Crecora-Manister while the favourite for Hurler of the Year Gearoid Hegarty lined out for the Rhebogue side.
And it was O'Neill who came out on top of this one - his side opening the campaign with a statement of intent, scoring a 3-24 to 0-21 victory at Pairc de Paor in Rathbane.
Another member of John Kiely's panel, Oisin O'Farrell, is also involved in this competition. His Askeaton-Ballysteen-Kilcornan side drew 2-19 to 3-16 with Croom on Saturday.
As well as Crecora-Manister, Caherline, Kilteely-Dromkeen, Monaleen and Tournafulla also secured round 1 winners in the Premier Junior 'A' Championship.
The fourth-tier competition continues this week - St Patrick's make the short journey to the Childers Road to take on Caherline on Thursday at 7pm.
On Saturday, O'Neill and Crecora-Manister take on Kilteely-Dromkeen in Hospital with a 7pm throw in.