Results
NHL Division 1A: Waterford 1-19 Offaly 0-16, Limerick 1-26 Kilkenny 2-16
NHL Division 1B: Clare 3-35 Down 0-15, Kildare 3-21 Antrim 0-20
LGFA Division 1: Galway 3-12 Kildare 1-7, Meath 2-12 Kerry 4-10
Here is Seán Moran’s report:
With two smashing goals in the second half, catching the highlights might be a good idea for those who missed out.
Here’s the standings across all the hurling divisions after week three, courtsey of GAALeagueTables on X (formerly Twitter).
Paul Keane has a round-up of all the action in Division 1B, where Kildare and Clare enjoyed big wins today.
[Kildare boss Brian Dowling delights in weekend double as Lilywhites trim Antrim]
Here’s Seán Moran’s thoughts after the final whistle at the Gaelic Grounds:
‘Limerick got their league campaign up and running in the TUS Gaelic Grounds with an ultimately comfortable win over Kilkenny. What had been a tight enough contest until the final quarter, broke open with Limerick beginning to maintain a three-point lead when Aaron Gillane, who had an up until then quiet afternoon, scored the decisive goal in the 57th minute to give his team a 1-21 to 1-15 lead.
The goal was well set up by Cian Lynch and Adam English and even though Eoin Cody with a fine goal of his own in the 66th minute, Limerick never looked like losing in the closing minutes.
There were opportunities off the bench for Cathal O’Neill and the Morrissey brothers, which will have cheered John Kiely and a fine afternoon’s shooting by Aidan O’Connor with 0-10, seven frees, and Peter Casey, who scored five from play.
Derek Lyng will be unhappy with the 13 wides Kilkenny managed to hit but heartened by the competitiveness shown throughout. Mikey Carey was sin binned at the end for taking down Diarmuid Byrnes and denying him a goal scoring chance. Byrnes hit the resulting penalty at Aidan Tallis who blocked the shot but it was only an asterisk on the afternoon.’
Here’s Jack McKay’s report on Waterford’s victory over Offaly in Division 1A.
[Reuben Halloran’s haul of 1-12 helps a far from fluent Waterford past Offaly]
Here’s that superb Gillane goal. What a finish.
A very good win for Limerick after their disappointment in Waterford last week. Some lovely hurling in that game, with man of the match Peter Casey particularly brilliant throughout.
76 Mins: Penalty for Limerick! Mikey Carey heads to the line a fraction early for pulling down Diarmaid Byrnes. His penalty effort is saved though!
Full-time: Limerick 1-26 Kilkenny 2-16
74 Mins: Adam English chops the ball up off the turf brilliantly, and is taken out in full flight by Corcroan. O’Connor points the resulting free. Limerick 1-26 Kilkenny 2-16
73 Mins: Both sides are tired, taking poor touches, playing hospital passes, and generally making errors leading to big collisions. The quality then comes from Corcoran, who finds Cody out wide. He slips it through to Deegan, who feeds Liam Moore, but his effort goes just over. At the other end, Peter Casey scores another point from a mad angle. Limerick 1-25 Kilkenny 2-16
70 Mins: Cathal O’Neill nearly gets a super score, but it drifts just wide. Gillane is replaced by Paddy O’Donovan and gets a warm hand from the home crowd. Five minutes are added on, as Cody puts a free wide that he would put over in his sleep generally. Limerick 1-24 Kilkenny 2-15
68 Mins: Bizarre from Fionán Mackessy, who tamely hits a line ball straight back out for a Limerick line ball. Aidan O’Connor is fouled in midfield then, takes the free and pops it over. Limerick 1-24 Kilkenny 2-15
65 Mins: Myself and the TG4 commentators are on the same wavelength on Ben O’Connor anyways, as they make a few jokes about that passage of play while the ref has his mic fixed.
Goal for Kilkenny! Eoin Cody with a smashing strike beyond Quaid. Limerick 1-23 Kilkenny 2-15
64 Mins: A spell of play there where the whistle should really have been blown several times on both sides, as they battled for the ball. Ben O’Connor is smiling somewhere! Limerick 1-22 Kilkenny 1-15
62 Mins: Subsitute Cathal Beirne misses a simple enough chance for the Cats, as the game seems to be getting away from them at the minute. Limerick 1-22 Kilkenny 1-15
60 Mins: Tom Morrissey replaces Gearóid Hegarty, showing the depth of this Limerick panel. There’s been some great scraps to lift the ball this half, but this one has to be broken up by the ref. It comes back to Will O’Donoghue eventually, and he finds Gillane for a lovely score off his left side. Limerick 1-22 Kilkenny 1-15
57 Mins: GOAL for Limerick! And what a goal! Cian Lynch lifts it under pressure, feeding Adam English. He plays a lovely reverse pass into Gillane, who ignores runners off his shoulder, steadies down and strikes it at massive speed to the top corner. Limerick 1-21 Kilkenny 1-15
55 Mins: Paddy Deegan scores a great point from out wide. Jordan Molloy sees yellow in the play after that and Aidan O’Connor strikes it over. Killian Doyle is replaced by Shane Murphy. Limerick 0-21 Kilkenny 1-15
53 Mins: David Reidy is replaced by Darragh O’Donovan. A lovely pass from Timmy Clifford finds Jordan Molloy in space, but his effort is waved wide. Molloy isn’t happy. At the other end, Casey gets another good score, before Luke Hogan responds for the Cats. Limerick 0-19 Kilkenny 1-14
50 Mins: Aidan O’Connor jumps back to life in the second half, with back-to-back points, one from play and one from a free. Jordan Molloy races through the Limerick defence from the next puckout and pops it over. Limerick 0-18 Kilkenny 1-13
48 Mins: Luke Conellan is replaced by Luke Hogan, John Donnelly by Stephen Donnelly. Cody tries to do it all himself again but his effort drops short and wide under pressure. Limerick 0-16 Kilkenny 1-12
46 Mins: After a battle for possession, Barry Nash rises the ball and John Donnelly takes him out with a high shoulder. The Thomastown forward gets a yellow. Limerick 0-16 Kilkenny 1-12
43 Mins: Hegarty rushes a point attempt and the inside forwards aren’t happy with watching it go out for a wide. Next time it comes up, Peter Casey makes their point, beating Mikey Butler a couple of times before striking it over from a tight angle. A great catch from Liam Moore at the other end gets him a point, but he could have played it on for a goal chance. Cody adds another point after a solo run. Limerick 0-16 Kilkenny 1-12
41 Mins: There’s already been some great battles to lift the ball. This time Cian Lynch wins possession and ploughs through three men, before being dragged down. Byrnes misses the free again though. Limerick 0-15 Kilkenny 1-10
38 Mins: A very high tackle on Cian Lynch gives Byrnes his first free of the second half. That effort hits the bar, but Limerick win it back and Hegarty pops it over. Dan Morrissey is on for Seán Finn. Limerick 0-15 Kilkenny 1-10
37 Mins: The whole first minute is one mad scramble for possession, until Will O’Donoghue rises it and takes control. But it’s another mess when it goes up the other end. When it comes down again, O’Donoghue fouls Cody, giving him an easy free to start the half. Limerick 0-14 Kilkenny 1-10
Seán Moran has his say on that first half:
‘What looked like turning into a procession, as Limerick led by five unanswered points in the 13th minute before the visitors got on the scoreboard, rapidly became an engrossing tit-for-tat contest. Once John Donnelly fired Kilkenny’s opening score, they took off and within two minutes were level. Eoin Cody led the way with a fine point from the left and then Martin Keoghan’s angled shot beat a couple of defenders on the line to equalise, 0-5 to 1-2.
Referee Shane Healy reflected the weekend’s theme by penalising a few hand passes as throws, one when Limerick looked on the verge of cutting through for a goal opportunity. A previous chance for Aaron Gillane had been kept out by the twin attentions of goalkeeper Aidan Tallis and full back Mikey Carey.
It went point-for-point with Cian Kenny, just switched onto frees instead of Cody, converting one to put Kilkenny ahead at 1-7 to 0-9 in the 25th minute.
Limerick responded and by half-time pulled away slightly to lead by two, 0-14 to 1-9 before a crowd of 8,958.’
Here are highlights of today’s other Division 1A game, as Waterford beat Offaly by six at home.
Half-time: Limerick 0-14 Kilkenny 1-9 - Kilkenny had a couple of bad misses to end the half there.
34 Mins: A fantastic score there from David Reidy out on the left wing. Limerick 0-14 Kilkenny 1-9
33 Mins: Seán Finn picked up a knock adventuring off up the park, so he’s getting treatment. On the pitch, Gearóid Hegarty hauls in a mighty catch, turns for goal, and seems to escape the jersey pull, but the referee calls him back to the dismay of the crowd. O’Connor pops over the free. Limerick 0-13 Kilkenny 1-9
31 Mins: Adam English goes inside and then outside his man, flicks it up off the stick and strikes it over. Kilkenny’s giant centre-back storms up the field in the next play, and strikes it over for a great score. Limerick 0-12 Kilkenny 1-9
29 Mins: Lovely work from Paddy Deegan to break a tackle and find Cody on the wing, who fires over. Limerick go direct then, and Casey gets another. Limerick 0-11 Kilkenny 1-8
28 Mins: Byrnes puts his third free over in typical fashion. Limerick 0-10 Kilkenny 1-7
26 Mins: Byrnes is called for a thrown pass which is so obvious that he doesn’t bother to protest. That gives Kenny a chance to score his second free, which he takes. Limerick 0-9 Kilkenny 1-7
24 Mins: A super one-handed block from Jordan Molloy sets up Timmy Clifford for a score. Limerick 0-9 Kilkenny 1-6
22 Mins: Peter Casey bustles out to win a ball, bounces off Mikey Butler, and sticks a lovely point over from down in the right-hand corner of the pitch. At the other end, Cian Kenny takes over the frees from Cody and sticks his first over. O’Connor wins the ball from the puckout and slaps it over for the hosts though. Limerick 0-9 Kilkenny 1-5
19 Mins: Another great score by Cody there, after a lovely lift by Cian Kenny set up the score. Timmy Clifford does well in the next play to win a free around the halfway line, but Cody sticks that wide to leave things level. Limerick 0-7 Kilkenny 1-4
17 Mins: Eoin Cody scored a lovely point, but it was cancelled out by Diarmaid Byrnes immediately. Some good skills and physicality being shown so far. Limerick 0-7 Kilkenny 1-3
15 Mins: Goal for Kilkenny! Mossy Keoghan’s efffort is half-blocked, but dribbles past several Limerick men and nestles in the back of the net. Matthew Fitzgerald puts Limerick back in front. Limerick 0-6 Kilkenny 1-2
13 Mins: Finally, a score for the Cats after 12 minutes, John Donnelly with the score. Eoin Cody adds a second, keeping them going. In between that, Aidan O’Connor nearly went clean through on goal, but Shane Hynes blew his whistle for a throw by Cian Lynch. Very marginal. Limerick 0-5 Kilkenny 0-2
10 Mins: Cian Lynch is fouled on the 65′, meaning O’Connor has a straight-forward free for five-in-a-row for Limerick. Limerick 0-5 Kilkenny 0-0
8 Mins: Kilkenny should really have scored through Luke Conellan there, who misses under no pressure. So far, Limerick are motoring really well, getting runners off the shoulder on the ball, and plenty of tacklers in off it. Their next attack should have seen the first goal of the game, but Gillane caught it really poorly and Kilkenny scramble it away. Limerick 0-4 Kilkenny 0-0
6 Mins: Eoin Cody, starting at 11, touched the ball twice in Kilkenny’s next attack and was surrounded immediately both times. Limerick force a bad shot, then work it up to Gillane who gets his first score. Limerick 0-4 Kilkenny 0-0
4 Mins: A handy free for Aidan O’Connor gets him started for the day. Limerick have started well, battling to win the ball back, and it’s O’Connor who strikes over the bar from out wide after the turnover. Limerick 0-3 Kilkenny 0-0
1 Mins: And we’re off! An early ball into the Limerick full-forward line is won well by Mikey Carey, but the first score of the game comes off the stick of Diarmaid Byrnes, a free from halfway. Limerick 0-1 Kilkenny 0-0
Seán Moran is in the Gaelic Grounds for this one and has some team news before throw-in:
‘A lovely afternoon in Limerick with the TUS Gaelic Grounds showing the recent advantages of avoiding the East-coast deluge. Limerick haven’t welcomed Kilkenny here in the league since 2010 and will be anxious to make up for their shock opening defeat by Waterford.
That meant that John Kiely’s team had lost their last four matches across league, All-Ireland series to Dublin, Munster final, Cork, and their concluding round-robin fixture, Clare. A sequence they’ll be anxious to arrest.
Kilkenny, short All Star full back Huw Lawlor and nominee, Billy Ryan, for the season, won their opening match against Offaly but were less than convincing doing so.
One change sees Pádraic Moylan, wearing 21, come in for Richie Reid on the bench.
A good crowd gathering with the Mackey Stand full.’
Here is the Kilkenny side to face Limerick at 3.45pm.
And here’s Limerick’s starting XV.
Full-time: Kildare 3-21 Antrim 0-20 - A bit of a row at the end, and Antrim’s Jack McCloskey was deservedly sent off for a wild pull.
Things are coming towards a natural end in Newbridge, with Jack Sheridan getting the latest score from a free. 68 Mins: Kildare 3-21 Antrim 0-18
The game just got away from Offaly in the middle of the second half there, and their failure to conver three good goal chances will haunt them. Waterford move onto four points, alongside Tipp, and two points behind Cork atop Division 1A.
Full-time: Waterford 1-19 Offaly 0-16
Antrim give the ball away poorly to give subsitute Conn Kehoe his first score. 62 Mins: Kildare 3-20 Antrim 0-16
74 Mins: Offaly ‘keeper Mark Troy shows some good moves, to get past a couple of Waterford forwards, before he’s fouled. Dan Ravenhill points the free. Waterford 1-18 Offaly 0-16
71 Mins: Stephen Bennet is showing touches of class since his introduction, skinning his man on the line with a fake hand pass and sending Barron clear for a point chance. That touch of class is matched by an incredible block by Ben Conneely, but the full-back is penalised for his enthusiastic follow-up tackle. Another simple free for Waterford. Waterford 1-18 Offaly 0-14
The Kildare-Antrim game looks over despite the time on the clock after that goal spree from the hosts. The atmosphere and some of the intensity has gone out of things. 55 Mins: 3-19 Antrim 0-15
66 Mins: David Nally does very well to lift the ball out of a ruck and pop it over the bar. Waterford 1-17 Offaly 0-13
65 Mins: Screeney gets the chance to pop over a handy one after the referee spots more pulling and dragging off the ball. It looks out of their reach now though, as Seán Walsh points for Waterford. Waterford 1-17 Offaly 0-12
Two stunning goals for Kildare! Both finished by Muiris Curtin. The first was a high fetch, followed by a cracking shot up into the postage stamp. The second was a moment of magic from Cathal Dowling, who chipped it up to himself off the boot, having been stripped of his hurl. Curtin still had work to do when he took the shot, but buried it into the corner. 50 Mins: Kildare 3-18 Antrim 0-14
61 Mins: Lovely bit of passing between Barron and Shane Bennett, but they slightly overplay it and Michael Kiely’s goal effort is blocked down. Halloran gets the 65′. Waterford 1-16 Offaly 0-10
60 Mins: Daniel Lalor picks up a knock and is replaced by Seán Mackey. Waterford 1-15 Offaly 0-10
Full-time: Clare 3-35 Down 0-15. A huge win for the Banner, but Down will be disappointed after showing great character against Wexford last week.
Kildare goal! James Dolan with the finish in close to goal. They’re all over the breaks and making big tackles so far in the second half. 42 Mins: Kildare 1-17 Antrim 0-12
Reuben Halloran gets another score from a dead ball, this one a 65′. Waterford are winning all the breaks and tussles right now.
Goal for Waterford! Barron breaks through without his hurl, laying it on for Calum Lyons, who feeds the on-form Halloran to bury it low into the corner. Waterford 1-15 Offaly 0-10
Sheridan taps over a short-range free to make it a five-point game in Newbridge. 39 Mins: Kildare 0-16 Antrim 0-11
51 Mins: Halloran taps over a free, and then Jamie Barron sets Patrick Curran through for another point a minute later. Offaly need to get a score soon to stay in it. Waterford 0-14 Offaly 0-10
Kildare-Antrim is back on and the hosts’ Cathal McCabe gets the first score of the second half. 37 Mins: Kildare 0-15 Antrim 0-11
Three goals in eight minutes for Clare, as Peter Duggan and David Fitzgerald get in on the act. 65 Mins: Clare 3-32 Down 0-13
47 Mins: Screeney is dumped out of play unceremoniously by his marker, Conor Keane. He gives a bit back to Keane then, who flops to the ground. It’s all a bit embarrasing, and Lalor and Cahill are booked for joining in, but it worked for Keane, as the free turns to a throw-in. Waterford 0-12 Offaly 0-10
44 Mins: Stephen Bennett is on for Waterford, and strikes over from a tight angle. Then there’s a massive goal chance at the other end, but Billy Nolan is equal to Duignan’s effort. A super lay-off from Eoghan Cahill sent him through, but it’s another goal chance gone to waste. Waterford 0-12 Offaly 0-10
39 Mins: A handy free gets Screeney and Offaly going in the second half. Then Offaly nearly cobble a goal chance together, after mainly going down blind alleys, but the Waterford defence manage to clean up. Waterford 0-11 Offaly 0-10
Goal for Clare! Mark Rodgers hit the back of the net. 54 Mins: Clare 1-27 Down 0-12
36 Mins: Waterford start the half well, as Jamie Barron does trojan work to turnover Offaly backs and win a free. Halloran pops it over. Waterford 0-11 Offaly 0-9
Half-time: Kildare 0-14 Antrim 0-11
Kildare push out their lead through Cathal Dowling and Paul Dolan. Travers is getting some treatment on his left leg now. 31 Mins: Kildare 0-13 Antrim 0-9
A great score from out on the wing under pressure by Kildare’s Jack Travers. 29 Mins: Kildare 0-11 Antrim 0-9
Clare start the half with three scores in a row, before Eoghan Sands hits back for the Ardsmen. 39 Mins: Clare 0-25 Down 0-8
39 Mins: A break in play there as Ross Ravenhill gets a dunt to the head. There’s no badness in it really, but Shane Bennett is rightly booked. Cahill misses the free, and that’s the half.
Half-time: Waterford 0-10 Offaly 0-9
Kildare’s good run of consecutive scores comes to an end thanks to Conal Cunning. 23 Mins: Kildare 0-10 Antrim 0-8
36 Mins: Brian Duignan makes a superb catch and drives a shot just over the bar, with Nolan rooted to the spot. Waterford tot up another two though to stay in front. Waterford 0-10 Offaly 0-9
Both the Kildare and Antrim forward-lines are getting going now. Jack Sheridan does really well to win his own break and add a point to level things for the Lilywhites. Then he puts them in front with a lovely strike. 20 Mins: Kildare 0-8 Antrim 0-7
32 Mins: Screeney showing glimpses of the sublime and glimpses of the ridiculous. This time he dummies the shot to give himself acres to strike open from 30 yards, but spoons it wide in the end. At the other end, Tom O’Connell gets a sniff of goal, but is well blocked down. Waterford 0-8 Offaly 0-8
Big cheers in Newbridge, as Gerry Keegan levels the score, but Ryan McCambridge puts Antrim back in front. 15 Mins: Kildare 0-4 Antrim 0-5
29 Mins: The ref has spotted fouling off the ball, so Screeney has a simple tap-over to level things. Waterford 0-8 Offaly 0-8
27 Mins: Massive goal chance passed up for Offaly! Screeney gets in behind his man, but he puts it over from close range, much to his disappointment. Waterford 0-8 Offaly 0-7
Half-time: Clare 0-22 Down 0-7
25 Mins: Oisin Kelly gets his first point of the afternoon for Offaly. Cathal King enters the book after taking out Darragh Lyons, and Halloran drives the free over to capitalise for Waterford. Waterford 0-8 Offaly 0-6
22 Mins: Halloran misses one free, but rights that error from the next one. Then Screeney gets a very artistic score up the other end, swinging it over his right shoulder. Waterford 0-7 Offaly 0-5
The gap between Clare and Down is beginning to show badly on the scoreboard. 34 Mins: Clare 0-21 Down 0-6
Kildare-Antrim is underway now in Division 1B as well. The Saffrons start well, with back-to-back points. 4 Mins: Kildare 0-0 Antrim 0-2
17 Mins: A big clash between Carthach Daly and Oisin Kelly sees a break in play, and a yellow for Daly, who was a bit late. Screeney misses the resulting free, and Callum Lyons gets another score for the hosts. Waterford 0-6 Offaly 0-4
14 Mins: Groundhog Day for Offaly, as Dan Ravenhill pulls down Jamie Barron this time, and Halloran converts the free. Waterford 0-5 Offaly 0-2
Pearse Óg McCrickard finally breaks Clare’s steak, but Cathal Malone strikes back immediately. 26 Mins: Clare 0-14 Down 0-5
11 Mins: Waterford work it well out of their backline, and Tom O’Connell shows good pace to skin his man, before being pulled down. Another point for Halloran, so. Waterford 0-4 Offaly 0-2
9 Mins: Jamie Barron plays a lovely one-two before striking over for Waterford. From the puckout, Daniel Lalor is called for handling the sliotar on the floor and Screeney pops it over. Waterford 0-3 Offaly 0-2
Things are getting away from Down early on in Ennis. David Reidy and Darragh Lohan open their accounts in this unanswered assault on the Ulster side. 20 Mins: Clare 0-11 Down 0-4
6 Mins: Adam Screeney strikes a free over for Offaly. Then they seem to work a goal chance, but the ref, correctly, calls it back for a thrown pass. Billy Nolan comes out for the free, play a one-two for a couple of yards extra, and sticks it over. Waterford 0-2 Offaly 0-1
4 Mins: A hectic start in Walsh Park as rain pours down despite the sunshine. Reuben Halloran gets out in front and is fouled, and then sticks over the free for the first score. Waterford 0-1 Offaly 0-0
On the other side of Munster, four scores in a row for the Banner has stretched their lead. 17 Mins: Clare 0-8 Down 0-4
1 Mins: We’re off in Walsh Park for Waterford-Offaly. Billy Nolan tries a huge effort from a free, but no joy. Waterford 0-0 Offaly 0-0
Clare take the lead for the first time thanks to a Senan Dunford point. 9 Mins: Clare 0-4 Down 0-3
Down get the first two scores of the game, but Mark Rodgers and Diarmuid Stritch hit back for the Banner. 5 Mins: Clare 0-2 Down 0-2
One change for Waterford ahead of their Division 1A clash with Offaly
No notice on any changes for Offaly, but we’ll see when it throws in at 1.45pm.
Clare-Down is just about to throw-in in Ennis, as the Banner look for a third win on the bounce, while the Ardsmen search for a first victory.
Despite starting the season at 38 years old, there wasn’t much soul searching for TJ Reid to do regarding his return to intercounty. As Gordon Manning writes, the man with “more silverware than many counties” didn’t think much over his decision to come back again for the Cats.
[Kilkenny’s TJ Reid raring to go after brushing off retirement talk]
There’s a few games that are really in the balance, so Seán Moran once again has a tough task in picking out winners for this hurling weekend.
[Hurling previews: Cork have bit between their teeth for visit of Tipperary]
Even with Limerick facing the Cats today, the major fixture of the weekend was last night, as Cork took on Tipperary in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final. This time, the Rebels reversed the result in front of a crowd of over 30,000 in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. You can read Denis Walsh’s report on a fractious and tense game below.
[Cork’s sharper focus key as they have seven points to spare in win over Tipperary]
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the third week of the National Hurling leagues. While the footballers are on their break, there are four games across Divisions 1A and 1B in the small ball. In the top tier, Waterford host promoted side Offaly at 1.45pm, with the Faithful County still chasing a first win. In the day’s premier clash, Limerick look to get their first win of the campaign at home to Kilkenny at 3.45pm. In Division 1B, the 2024 All-Ireland champions Clare face Down in Ennis (1.30pm), while last year’s Joe McDonagh Cup champions Kildare play Antrim at home (2.00pm), with both sides needing their first victory.
