Limerick 1-11 Dublin 0-12: LIMERICK CUT it fine here but secured another local victory as Justin McCarthy continues to whittle and shape the turbulent county into his own likeness.
The Cork man has been opportunistic in his approach to this league, trying to balance the essential business of assembling his championship team with the immediate requirements of springtime wins. Already, the signs of McCarthy’s presence on the Limerick training ground are evident.
The Limerick application – the blocking and the hooking and the closing down – were plain to be seen. McCarthy’s demeanour afterwards suggested he is optimistic that the rest can come. When one thinks of all the managerial heaves that have occurred in Limerick hurling in the past decade, there is already a settled feel about McCarthy and Limerick.
Was it really just last summer that he broke so suddenly from his Waterford project? It is too early too gauge the trouble Limerick could cause in the championship, but you can bet they will be an intriguing and lively proposition under his stewardship.
This was a bread-and-butter win against a game Dublin outfit that might have nicked at least a share of the points in injury-time, but Limerick held out. McCarthy was pleased with the day’s work.
“We had a lot of wides and need to sharpen up that way. But it does show the possession we got – I would rather be getting wides than not because you can work from those. It wasn’t easy, it was right close so it was a case of sticking in there and not giving ground and we took it at the end. We are trying to build a team, so it is a two-way thing.”
Limerick shot five wides against the breeze in the first half, but landed 10 over the second to the audible displeasure of the local fans.
It was a frantic, congested game and consequently their more experienced men looked most comfortable, with Séamus Hickey, Stephen Lucey and Brian Geary anchoring a solid defensive unit.
Andrew O’Shaughnessy was diligently shadowed by Stephen Hiney and dropped deep outfield for the second half, registering his tally of six points from frees.
So it was as well for Limerick that Niall Moran had tapped into his scoring touch. His goal caught Dublin just after half-time, scrambled home after goalkeeper Alan Nolan lost possession as he tried to clear his lines. Moran finished his day with a fine sideline cut that brought the match to a close.
Dublin responded well to the blow of Moran’s goal. Their best period of the match followed, as they produced a run of four points, three of those simple and well -taken scores from play from Simon Lambert, Alan McCrabbe and Johnny McCaffrey.
Dublin brought Liam Rushe outfield to try and bring more ball his way and he did make some hay as playmaker, but wasn’t given enough space to get a shot away.
Dublin had really solid showings from Tomás Brady, Michael Carton and Liam Ryan in the centre and McCrabbe set the tone with a fine distance score on four minutes.
The first half was reduced to a dead-ball contest between himself and O’Shaughnessy and the teams were tied at 0-6 at the interval.
The second half was slightly more open, but it still boiled down to placed ball accuracy: O’Shaughnessy made a 65th-minute free to give Limerick a 1-10 to 0-12 lead and three minutes later McCrabbe, from a tricky angle, snapped his attempt wide.
Dublin had one more chance when Ryan was fouled. This time David O’Callaghan stepped up, but he too missed the target.
“It is one of those things,” shrugged Anthony Daly. “If it goes over it is a mighty job. Tell me about it, hitting those late frees.”
That Daly could admit that the Metropolitans were feeling down because they are not sitting on top of the league table today says a lot.
“It was tight, but we were happy with the attitude,” said Daly. “That is the league at this time of year – fellas are training hard and they are not quite fit enough and they are tired from all the running during the week.
“We have three weeks to work hard now. We always felt that the second half of the league will be tougher. Clare and Waterford are coming to Dublin and with Kilkenny losing today, I suppose they will be getting the auld whip out.”
LIMERICK:B Murray; D Reale, S Lucey, T Condon; S Walsh, B Geary, S Hickey; D O'Grady, P Browne; W McNamara, N Moran (1-4, free, cut), B O Sullivan (0-1); A O'Shaughnessy (0-6 frees), D Breen, R Ryan. Subs: D Curtin for P Carton (32 mins), G Maguire for A Nolan (55 mins), D Treacy for S Durkan (67 mins).
DUBLIN: A Nolan; R Treanor, T Brady, N Corcoran; S Hiney, M Carton, D O'Reilly; S Durkan, J McCaffrey (0-1); S Lambert (0-1), L Ryan, A McCrabbe (0-8, five frees, one 65); D O'Callaghan (0-2), D Curtin, L Rushe. Subs: G Mulcahy for D Ryan (29 mins), G O'Mahony for T Condon (42 mins), R McCarthy for W McNamara (50 mins).
Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).
