Yellow card for Mike Casey
Limerick’s big personnel decision coming in was who to put on Jason Rabbitte. Mike Casey got the nod over Dan Morrissey, echoing his 2018 role on Johnny Glynn when he overcame a significant height disadvantage to nullify the big Ardrahan man. This one didn’t go so well for the Limerick full back though – Rabbitte won frees from the first three balls that went into him. Casey got a yellow card and was immediately moved off the 20-year-old.
It felt like an early win for Galway. Aaron Niland potted the frees that resulted from Rabbitte’s dominance, and with Darach Fahy pulling off a couple of fine saves on Gearóid Hegarty at the other end, Galway were able to get a foothold in the game. After 20 minutes, they were well in touch, just a point behind.
Limerick’s pre-half-time push
Galway got within sight of the break in reasonable shape. In the 27th minute, they were 0-7 to 0-6 down and had scored three of the previous four points. But Limerick were starting to find their rhythm. Aaron Gillane whipped his second point of the game from a Kyle Hayes delivery. Adam English nailed another from a Seán Finn turnover. And though Rabbitte continued his day of resistance with a fantastic score over his shoulder from the Hogan Stand sideline, it was a brief reprieve.
Points from Peter Casey, Cian Lynch, Aidan O’Connor (a free) and Gillane again meant Limerick finished out the half like they were running downhill. Galway had stuck in there as best they could, but now they were facing a second half against the wind with a five-point gap to make up. Ominous.
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Cathal O’Neill goal
Galway needed a fast start to the second half if they were to have any hope and Niland did manage to grab the first score, nailing a free after Darragh Neary was fouled. But then Limerick kicked for home, putting up a score a minute for the next eight minutes. Most critically for Galway, they were coming from everywhere – Hayes got up for a point, Barry Nash did likewise, Aidan O’Connor stitched on from play.
And then, in the 43rd minute, the dagger. Gillane was having a silken day at corner forward, getting on a world of ball and laying it off for team-mates coming through. After setting Peter Casey up for his third of the day, he drew the cover this time and sent Cathal O’Neill in on the left. O’Neill cut in one way, jinked the other, and buried low past Fahy in the Galway goal. Game over.
Ronan Glennon red card
Galway had made a bit of a gallop in the minutes previously, running up their only four-in-a-row sequence of the day with two frees from Niland, one each from Tom Monaghan and Cathal Mannion, plus a sniff of a goal chance for Neary. They were still eight points behind and almost certainly far beyond hope, but it was their best spell of the day, no question.
Glennon’s red card quashed whatever tiny sliver of optimism remained in the Galway ranks. He caught Peter Casey on the chin with a high elbow and, however little intent there was in the challenge, nobody could really argue with the outcome. Glennon was visibly distraught, to the point where he was consoled by several of the Limerick players as he trudged off the pitch. But Colm Lyons had no other choice.
Aaron Gillane’s last point
Hard to argue it was a key moment – it pushed Limerick into a 13-point lead when the game was at a stage where the size of the margin was immaterial. But it felt like a release for Gillane, who had been taken off in both the Munster final and the All-Ireland semi-final. In its way, it was symbolic of Limerick’s day.
Kyle Hayes found time and space in midfield to spear a long, raking delivery to Gillane in the bottom corner under the Cusack Stand. The Limerick inside forward controlled it on his stick before running nearly 20 metres back out the field, flicking it to himself. He was showboating now and, from a tricky angle, fired a soaring shot so high that it cleared the safety net behind the goals. It’s an easy game when you know you’re home and dry.
