All-Ireland hurling final: Limerick beat Kilkenny 0-30 to 2-15 as John Kiely’s team secure four-in-a-row

So that’s that ... Limerick win four in a row. They trailed by three at half-time, perhaps the strength of the wind advantage they had in the second half wasn’t as clear until Diarmaid Byrnes starting launching over scores. But Limerick pushed on after the interval, and particularly after Kilkenny’s second goal they hit another gear. The work rate, the honesty, the togetherness and the calm heads and skill execution under pressure. They are a special team. Four in a row, done. After a nine point All-Ireland final win, who’d bet against five!

Next week it’s the football final! For now though, keep an eye on the homepage for the report and reaction from Croke Park. Thanks for joining us this evening.

@DonoghueEamon

FT Kilkenny 2-15 Limerick 0-30

Cian Lynch who was a standout performer for Limerick today, especially in the closing stages of the first half when his team really needed it. He lifts Liam MacCarthy with injured team captain Declan Hannon. What a close-knit group they are. Just 12 months ago it was Hannon who brought Lynch up there on his crutches!

Diarmaid Byrnes who scored eight points for his team: “Unbelievable. Kilkenny brought exactly what we expected, pure intensity. It’s in their DNA. We needed a big talk at half-time to get us going for the second half and you seen what happened. We reinforced our gameplan and got a lot more scores.”

FT Kilkenny 2-15 Limerick 0-30 21 points to 1-6 in the second half, what a performance. The response to that second goal. Incredible. Four in a row, and so deserving. A special, special team!!

Cian Lynch with the assist once more, Cathal O’Neill lands number 30!

Kilkenny 2-15 Limerick 0-29 (71′) Peter Casey is having the second half of dreams! He gets another inside the first of three minutes added on!

TJ Reid’s free cuts the deficit to seven as Quaid is then alert to a long ball in to pick up the lose ball and play it out. Then from the next attack TJ picks out Martin Keoghan with a wonder pass but David Reidy is tracking back to get in a crucial goal saving intervention!

Kilkenny 2-14 Limerick 0-28 (65′) Cathal O’Neill under pressure from two Kilkenny defenders down the left wing, he steps inside and scores! Richie Hogan and Cillian Buckley are on for Kilkenny as Reidy adds another!!

Another wonderful score from Peter Casey! His third in this second half, followed by his fourth. He is on fire! Limerick lead by six!

Kilkenny 2-14 Limerick 0-24 (61′) Hayes carries it down the left wing and then floats over a lovely point. Limerick lead by four.

From his own half back line, Hegarty gets his second from play. Kilkenny are feeling aggrieved as they felt the previous play should’ve led to a 65 rather than a Limerick puck-out and they’d be right. Kilkenny respond with a point before Casey nails one from under the Hogan Stand.

Kilkenny 2-13 Limerick 0-20 (52′) Two in a row for the Cats. TJ with a free and then John Donnelly, set up by Padraig Walsh.

Byrnes’ eighth point, this one another free. Limerick are four up as Cian Kenny comes on for Kilkenny and Cathal O’Neill is in for Limerick.

Kilkenny 2-11 Limerick 0-20 (52′) Limerick exchange about four handpasses to get out of trouble. Then Reidy hits for Gillane in the corner. He’s awarded a free, after being well beaten for the last ball between himself and Lawlor. But the referee’s call went his way this time and he slots the free himself. Hayes then does brilliantly under the puck out and Byrnes bombs one over from his own half. This one from play. He’s been so good.

Byrnes levels matters for a third time. Then Lynch sets up O’Donovan to put Limerick one point up.

Kilkenny 2-11 Limerick 0-16 (48′) Limerick make it five in a row to level matters. Their scramble defence at one end denies Kilkenny two scoring chances, then they work it out short. Hegarty picks out Flanagan in the corner who pops it to Gillane and he nails it from the left sideline. Limerick’s decision making and calm minds among all the chaos is unrivalled. TJ responds with a free.

O’Donovan is fouled in the middle and Byrnes makes it a one point game once more. Four in a row since the goal.

Peter Casey responds with a wonderful score from the right sideline after shaking off the tackle. Nash adds another and it’s a brilliant response.

Kilkenny 2-10 Limerick 0-14 (44′) Hegarty makes it three in a row since the goal. The response of champions.

Kilkenny 2-10 Limerick 0-11 (42′) Phelan grabs the puck out and scores his third from play. He’s been impressive. Then comes another GOAL!! It comes from a quick free to Phelan who breaks the tackle and passes to the overlapping Deegan who buries it. 1-1 from wing back!! The ball went right through the net so a bit of confusion but nevertheless the Cats lead by five!

Then from the next puck out Hegarty wins another free, this time by forcing overcarrying with some excellent tackling. Byrnes cuts the deficit to one point. This third quarter has been by far Limerick’s best all championship.

Kilkenny 1-9 Limerick 0-10 (39′) Cian Lynch wins the breaks and leaves it on a plate for Seamus Flanagan who misses from close range. Hegarty then wins a free. Byrnes gets the second half scoring underway.

Kilkenny 1-9 Limerick 0-9 (37′) The second half is underway, Padraig Walsh is on for Fogarty for Kilkenny. Limerick find Gillane inside but he fails to control the sliotar, it skids off his hurl. Then Reidy is blocked at one end and Phelan hooked at the other as both looked to shoot. The conditions are playing their part.

HT Kilkenny 1-9 Limerick 0-9 Eoin Cody’s goal the difference at the interval. Limerick will have the wind at their backs in the second half, but they are struggling as Kilkenny have brought a huge work rate and are commiting numbers to the middle third, and then defending superbly in the full back line where the conditions and that defensive pressure is making it hard for Limerick to exploit the space left inside.

Kilkenny 1-9 Limerick 0-9 (37′) TJ, just after missing an easy one, scores a free from his own 65. Tom Morrissey responds for Limerick, with Lynch again involved.

A rare missed free by TJ Reid for Kilkenny who lead by three. Two minutes of injury time added on.

A point effort comes down off the post and from the tightest of angles Eoin Cody goes for goal and it flies across Nickie Quaid and out wide. Cian Lynch gets his third point at the other end. He’s also been fouled for a point and is having a brilliant game.

Kilkenny 1-8 Limerick 0-7 (32′) Mikey Butler pulls across Cian Lynch to give Limerick a free after a few minutes of chaos with both teams scrambling for possession: winning it, losing it, scrambling, and then going again. Five in it once more as the free is converted. Hegarty then picks out Gillane who shows superb composure to secure it and set up Lynch for his second point from play.

Kilkenny 1-8 Limerick 0-5 (28′) Eoin Cody does superbly to win a free being tackled by about five Limerick players, he showed massive pace and wonderful stick work in the conditions. TJ converts it and Richie Reid then wins the puckout and puts Kilkenny five points up. Make that six as Nash beats TJ to the ball, but gets nailed for overcarrying as he comes out. TJ slots it. Four in a row.

Kilkenny 1-5 Limerick 0-5 (22′) Long ball into Gillane from Barry Nash drops at the former’s feet and he pulls on it, but it’s well wide. From the next puck out TJ Reid grabs it, wins a free and points it.

Kilkenny 1-4 Limerick 0-5 (19′) Byrnes gets his second point from a free on his own 65. Then, Kyle Hayes wins a puckout, he combines with Tom Morrissey. Gillane collects the crossfield pass and points first time. There’s no defending that.

A yellow too for Byrnes for a late hit. That’s two of their half back line now on yellow. But they are leaving it in on Kilkenny who are tackling like men possessed so far. Eoin Murphy comes up to float over the resultant free.

Kilkenny 1-3 Limerick 0-3 (12′) Gillane nails his first free for Limerick, won by Peter Casey who was being double tackled but the referee spotted a few jersey pulls. Adrian Mullen then sets up Tom Phelan for his second point. O’Donoghue picks up a yellow card for a late hit after Mullen laid it off.

Kilkenny 1-2 Limerick 0-2 (10′) Back to back wides, Byrnes from a free and then David Reidy from out by the left sideline. Limerick playing into the wind in this first half. Then Kilkenny strike. Eoin Cody gathers the breaks under a long ball, steps quickly into space and buries a GOAL into the bottom corner! Tom Phelan follows up with a good point.

Into the wind, Diarmaid Byrnes drives over a free from distance. Won by William O’Donoghue who turned the ball over with a big hit and then held on to win a free.

Kilkenny 0-1 Limerick 0-1 (5′) A little triangle of passes from the sideline frees up Cian Lynch who gets Limerick’s first point.

Darragh O’Donovan denies Adrian Mullen with a brilliant block down but it’s Kilkenny emerging the better of the early 50:50s and they’re tackling ferociously hard!

Kilkenny 0-1 Limerick 0-0 (1′) GAME ON! Limerick win the throw in but their opening attack comes to nothing. Fogarty is lining out at wing back as expected. Kilkenny’s opening attack results in a huge point from distance by Paddy Deegan.

The teams are out shaking hands getting ready for the parade. Less than 10 minutes until throw-in! It’s stopped raining for now, but conditions will be far from ideal after all of it that’s fallen. Pitch still looks terrific.

PREVIEW

Check out Sean Moran’s preview below ...

Kilkenny are hurling with such purpose and – to deploy an oxymoron – controlled abandon that it’s perfectly possible to see them winning if Limerick come up short in any of a few respects ...

[ Controlled Limerick can exert enough pressure on Kilkenny to make history ]

TEAM NEWS:

Walter Walsh is in for Blanchfield. Limerick will play as selected, and as they started the semi-final against Galway.

Conor Fogarty could drop to wing back with John Donnelly operating in midfield.

“Limerick are built on the All-Ireland-winning under-21s of 2015 and ‘17. A dozen of them started the breakthrough senior final in 2018 and the same number lined out for the semi-final against Galway the week before last. A generational takeover.”

[ Former Under-21 All-Ireland-winning captain Tom Morrissey steps up to lead his generation from the front ]

BREAKING NEWS

David Blanchfield is out for Kilkenny. He picked up an injury against Clare in the semi-final.

Gearóid Dunne will wear number 5. No changes for Limerick

More to follow...

“Eoin Murphy and Nickie Quaid go into the final with very few to argue against the idea that they’re two best goalkeepers in the game. They’ve won five of the past seven All Stars between them. Whichever of them has a day tomorrow will make it six from eight later this year. They’ll presumably both be nominated, meaning that there will only have been one season in the past 10 where neither of them was on the shortlist.”

[ Eoin Murphy and Nickie Quaid: The two best goalkeepers in hurling face off in a final for the ages ]

And a look back at that amazing save by Murphy against Clare ...

Two good pieces from Denis Walsh below ...

The Limerick hurlers of 1973 bridged a long gap when they won the All-Ireland and they helped ensure hurling’s pulse stayed strong in the county despite the following frustrating decades ...

[ The men who kept the flame of Limerick hurling alive ]

Cody wasn’t concerned about trends or statistics; Limerick feast on data. The numbers say that more than 90 per cent of matches are won by the team whose forwards make the most tackles. Limerick are bound to that target; Kilkenny invented the dynamic.

[ When Kilkenny look at Limerick they see a flattering resemblance ]

Braving the rain, fair play to them! If you’re not in Dublin, this is the weather currently ...

And sticking to the numbers.. here’s the All-Ireland hurling final: by the numbers ...

3 – All-Ireland finals in a row where Gearóid Hegarty has been the top scorer from play. He put up 1-5 last year, 2-2 the year before and 0-7 in 2020.

Both of our hurling columnists predicting a win for Limerick there. Not too many would disagree. But one stat in Kilkenny’s favour ... the Kilkenny bench has been in much the better form in getting to the final. Scoring 2-18 in their sevens games, 10 of their 13 substitutes have contributed. Limerick have just 0-8 in six games, in comparison to the 1-17 they’d scored off the bench at this stage last year. It’s costing them in the final quarter of games too, they’ve only won the fourth quarter twice so far, and it’s their second worst quarter overall ...

Darragh O’Donovan has been in excellent form so far, Will O’Donoghue is tremendously consistent, the half-back line has been outstanding, Tom Morrissey is having his best year yet and Cian Lynch looked restored in the semi-final and is now captain to boot. It’s a lot of power and it can swing the balance of this match for all of Kilkenny’s shooting efficiency.

—  Nicky English column

[ Nicky English: Power to beat precision as Limerick strike out for history ]

Limerick have been in a few tight corners over the last couple of years, and they could be in another one on Sunday. But I don’t think they’ll be stopped.

—  Joe Canning column

[ Joe Canning: Kilkenny are better than last year - but Limerick may be the greatest of all time ]

PLAYER PROFILES

Your player-by-player guides to both teams, compiled by two all-time greats of the game ...

TEAM NEWS (as per programme)

The big news being the continued absence of injured Limerick captain Declan Hannon from their squad. Experienced defender Richie English is also ruled out. For Kilkenny, David Blanchfield looks set to start after picking up an injury against Clare ...

LIMERICK: N Quaid; M Casey, D Morrissey, B Nash; D Byrnes, W O’Donoghue, K Hayes; D O’Donovan, C Lynch; G Hegarty, D Reidy, T Morrissey; A Gillane, S Flanagan, P Casey.

Subs: D McCarthy, C Boylan, R Connolly, A Costelloe, C Coughlan, A English, G Mulcahy, B Murphy, A O’Connor, C O’Neill, O O’Reilly.

KILKENNY: E Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; D Blanchfield, R Reid, P Deegan; C Fogarty, A Mullen; T Phelan, M Keoghan, J Donnelly; B Ryan, TJ Reid, E Cody (capt).

Subs: D Brennan, C Delaney, C Buckley, P Walsh, D Corcoran, A Murphy, C Kenny, T Clifford, W Walsh, R Hogan, B Drennan.

Hello and welcome ... Not even the persistent rain all morning could dull our excitement for this afternoon’s All-Ireland hurling final. Reigning champions Limerick are on the hunt for four in a row, and looking to stop them are Kilkenny, the last team to achieve the feat!

This is a repeat of last year’s final, a repeat of this year’s league final, it’s the last team to have beaten Limerick in knockout championship hurling looking to do it again. But it’s also the first year of Ciaran Lyng’s reign as Kilkenny manager after the famous Brian Cody years.

The two best teams in the country meet in the final. This promises to be some battle, and the conditions will make it even more so! Throw-in at Croke Park is at 3.30pm.

We’ll be providing build-up and updates throughout. Keep in touch via the comments section or on Twitter (@DonoghueEamon) but for now, let’s get started!

All-Ireland SHC final: Limerick v Kilkenny, Croke Park, Sunday 3.30. Referee: John Keenan (Wicklow) – Live on RTÉ 2 and BBC Two