Munster U20 HC round-up: Limerick set up home semi-final with Waterford

Cork 1-19 Limerick 1-25

Limerick earned a home semi-final against Waterford in the semi-finals of the Munster under-20 hurling championship after an impressive win over Cork at Páirc Uí Rinn on Wednesday. Cork now travel to play Tipperary.

The sides were level for the fourth time at 0-7 apiece by the 18th minute before Limerick went on a scoring spree of seven unanswered points in a 10-minute burst.

Aidan O’Connor started the sequence from a free and ended it too, firing over a beauty from distance as Cork didn’t score for 14 minutes.

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They then hit three on the spin for 0-12 to 0-10 approaching three minutes of injury-time, only for the visitors to finish strongly, claiming four on the bounce to lead 0-16 to 0-10 at the interval.

Limerick extended their advantage to eight when Jack Cahalane flicked home Daniel Hogan's cross for Cork's lone goal in the 36th minute.

Limerick, though, inspired by Colin Coughlan and O'Connor, responded with a Donnacha Ó Dalaigh goal 12 minutes later and never looked trouble thereafter.

CORK: B Saunderson; D O'Sullivan, K Lyons, C Smyth (0-1); E Downey, E Twomey, L Horgan (0-1); B O'Sullivan (0-4), M Mullins; B Keating (0-1), B Cunningham (0-10, seven frees), D McSweeney; E O'Leary (0-1), J Cahalane (1-0), D Healy.

Subs: D Hogan (0-1) for Mullins and C Walsh for McSweeney (both h-t), C McCarthy for Lyons (38 mins), S Walsh for Healy (44), J Leahy for O'Leary (56).

LIMERICK: C Hanley-Clarke; C Thomas, F O'Connor, E O'Leary; C Scully, E Hurley, C Coughlan (0-4, one free); J Quilty (0-1), J Sweeney (0-2); A English (0-1), A O'Connor (0-9, seven frees), E Stokes (0-2); S O'Brien (0-2), P Kirby (0-1), D O Dalaigh (1-1).

Subs: J Kirby (0-2) for Sweeney (40 mins), P O'Donovan for English (49), B O'Meara for Ó Dalaigh (52), P Reale for Stokes (56), B Duff for Scully (60+3).

Referee: M Kennedy (Tipperary).

Waterford 2-26 Kerry 1-12

Waterford advanced to next week’s Munster under-20 semi-final following an expected win over Kerry who last defeated the Déise in the equivalent grade back in 1979.

Spearheaded by impressive wing forward Aaron Ryan who struck six points in the first half, Waterford led by 12 points at the break, the goal landed by Pádraig Fitzgerald in the sixth minute.

Ten minutes later, the hosts were reduced to 14 men when Jack Ó Floinn was dismissed for a head strike on Ronan Walsh, leaving referee Simon Stokes with no option but to brandish red.

The visitors, for whom Dylan Moriarty, Rory O'Mahony and Felim O'Sullivan stood out, stuck to their task gamely after the interval, with substitute Mikey Kelliher's ground strike whizzing past Mark Kilgannon at the game's three-quarter mark.

Waterford, for whom Joe Booth, Mark Fitzgerald, Aaron Ryan and Pádraig Fitzgerald caught the eye, coped well with Kerry's second-half rally. Eight minutes from the full-time whistle, Fitzgerald doubled his goalscoring account following Seán Walsh's incisive pass. Between then and full-time, Aaron Ryan added five frees to his tally with substitute Tyrone Flynn also finding his range for Waterford.

And in what proved the game’s final play, Kerry midfielder Felim O’Sullivan converted a 21-metre free.

WATERFORD: M Kilgannon; C Foley, R Furlong, J Ó Floinn; J Booth (0-3), M Fitzgerald (0-2), R Power; S Fitzgerald, W Beresford; A Ryan (0-12, 10 frees), S Callaghan (0-2), S Walsh; J Foley (0-1), Patrick Fitzgerald, Pádraig Fitzgerald (2-4).

Subs: T Flynn (0-1) for Patrick Fitzgerald (39 mins), C Rellis (0-1) for Callaghan (42), C Walsh for Power (47), M Clifford for R Walsh (48), E O'Brien for S Fitzgerald; J Fitzgerald for Furlong (both 55).

KERRY: K Molloy; A Segal, D Nolan, K O'Connor; L Crowley (0-1), D Moriarty, R O'Mahony (0-2); F O'Sullivan (0-7, four frees, one 65), C Walsh (0-1); C Keating, R Walsh (0-1, free), R Monahan; N Guerin, J Sheehan, S Brosnan.

Subs: K Carroll for Guerin; M Kelliher (1-0) for Sheehan (both h-t); P O'Sullivan for Keating (38 mins), A O'Connor for Brosnan (54).

Referee: Simon Stokes (Cork).