Bennett’s hat-trick for Waterford in vain as Limerick minors complete Munster hurling double

Limerick 1-20 Waterford 4-8: Limerick claimed a Munster senior and minor provincial hurling double for the first time since 1940 at Semple Stadium last night.

The Shannonsiders saw off Waterford in a dramatic Munster minor hurling championship final replay in Thurles.

There were bizarre scenes before throw-in as the start time was delayed by 10 minutes.

Thousands of fans arrived late and that led to congestion as hundreds of people streamed across the pitch from the New Stand side of the pitch to the Old Stand.

And there were still fans on the pitch as the national anthem was being played.

When the dust finally settled, it was Limerick celebrating at the end of another titanic encounter between these sides, after the first game had finished level at 2-19 apiece nine days previously.

In front of 6,532 spectators, Limerick had raced into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead before Waterford fought their way back with goals from hat-trick hero Stephen Bennett and Adam Farrell.

Cian Lynch struck Limerick’s only goal in stoppage time at the end of the first half .

That strike handed the Shannonsiders a 1-7 to 2-2 half-time lead ahead of a memorable second half.

Bennett’s second goal tied the game early in the second half before Limerick took over for a spell, outscoring Waterford by 0-9 to 0-2 before Bennett’s third goal levelled the game at 4-8 to 1-17 with three minutes left.

But Limerick had a kick left in them and in the final minutes, Ronan Lynch, David Dempsey and Pat Ryan popped up with the precious scores to win the game for the Treaty boys.

Limerick march on to an All-Ireland semi-final against Galway or Laois, with Waterford facing a quarter-final against Antrim at Parnell Park next Sunday.

LIMERICK: C Ryan; R English, S Cahill, S Finn; A La Touche Cosgrave, R Lynch (0-6, 0-5 frees), S Flanagan; J Butler, D O'Donovan; D Dempsey (0-2), B Nash (0-3), C Lynch (1-2); D Coleman (0-1), T Morrissey (0-3), P Ryan (0-3). Subs: E Doyle for Coleman (30 mins), M Casey for Cahill (39 mins), L Lyons for Butler (53 mins), D Coleman for Doyle (58 mins).
WATERFORD: G Power; C Leamy, K Daly, W Hahessy; Shane Bennett, A Gleeson, T Devine; M Kearney, M Harney; A Farrell (1-0), P Curran (0-3, 0-1 free), DJ Foran; C Roche, Stephen Bennett (3-2, 1-0 free), C Gleeson (0-1). Subs: C Curran (0-2) for Roche (29 mins), MJ Sutton for Devine (49 mins).
Referee: J O'Brien (Tipperary).