Limerick hurlers bow to the inevitable

Kilkenny 0-18 Limerick 0-13

It was demanded of them if they were to mount a serious challenge in this disappointing Guinness All-Ireland hurling quarter-final.

But, against a disjointed Kilkenny side who just about stuttered through to their inevitable win, the best they had to offer was very determined and skilful play from their defence.

Peter Lawlor, Ollie Moran and Mark Foley, in that order, all laid claim to justifiable recognition for the man-of-the-match accolade.

Understandably, because of Kilkenny's status as provincial champions, this was billed as the 'main' match by being placed second on the programme.

But, in terms of how the Galway/Tipperary tie exploded into life in the second half, it would have been no more than an averagely entertaining curtain-raiser.

Again failing to produce a goal - except that DJ Carey got one from a 62nd-minute penalty, only to put it over the bar when he was ordered to re-take it - Kilkenny managed a display which was arguably one of their least impressive over the length of Brian Cody's managership.

True, they were vulnerable to the extent that Peter Barry was clearly not match-fit and often struggled, while Richie Power was not right either after his recent injury.

Against that, U21 full-back John Tennyson did well on his championship debut against a seasoned opponent in TJ Ryan, helped by the stability achieved by Michael Kavanagh and James Ryall in the corners.

The problem was that the return from some of the more established players was minimal at stages.

Kilkenny were slow enough to settle and after 13 minutes were just a point in front.

Limerick opened promisingly, with Niall Moran quick to make an impact at midfield.

However, they found it hard to penetrate, even though Andrew O'Shaughnessy was to make a few threatening runs down the centre which proved to be unproductive because of a lack of scoring power in and around goal and the effectiveness of Kilkenny's covering in the area.

Outside in the half-back line, their best work came from JJ Delaney on the left wing, but Peter Barry never managed to control the centre or to prevent a confident James O'Brien from making some good openings.

On the other side, Paddy Mullally was always comfortable against an out-of-touch Michael Cahill (just like Patrick Kirby in the right corner).

Kilkenny's forwards saw more of the ball after Derek Lyng began to win more ball against Niall Moran, and Bryan Barry was prominent for a while.

However, the half-forwards made very little progress, apart from the occasional break by Martin Comerford and Tommy Walsh (whose shooting on the day was a bit wayward).

Apart from the strength of the Limerick wing-backs, Brian Geary in the centre never had to extend himself against a disappointing Eoin Larkin, who played well below the standard of his second-half performance in the Leinster final.

It meant that Kilkenny had to depend heavily on Henry Shefflin, both through his free-taking and in general play - in the left corner and later when he switched to centre-forward.

Carey, typically, beavered away at full-forward, showing his trademark pace and mobility and no little craft.

He did contribute to the overall effort - much more than some of the others - but still it was a tribute to Stephen Lucey that he rarely allowed him the space where he could really exploit his skills.

After a bit of magic from Shefflin on the left wing when he produced the score of the game in the 21st minute, Kilkenny might have had a goal four minutes later when Tommy Walsh darted in from the right, but his attempted pass to Carey was intercepted by Lucey.

Limerick's weakness in attack saw them go 17 minutes without a score until TJ Ryan pointed from a 21-yard free - from which he appeared to try for a goal - and a quick score from O'Shaughnessy (his only one) meant that just six points separated the teams at half-time, Kilkenny 0-11, Limerick 0-5.

Donie Ryan, who showed a marked improvement over the course of the third quarter, had the ball in the net for Limerick just 20 seconds after the resumption, only to have it disallowed for over-carrying the ball.

For the comparatively small Limerick following in an emptying stadium, it was a cruel blow. Ultimately, an inability to get the ball in the net undermined their challenge, even though James McGarry was never tested in goal - just like Timmy Houlihan at the other end.

And, in the case of both goalkeepers, their handling of the ball was impeccable.

Nevertheless, Limerick had the consolation of putting the favourites under fairly consistent pressure for a 15-minute period, during which time the two wing-backs, Foley and Damien Reale made a valuable contribution and the forwards posed a bigger threat, with John O'Brien again to the fore in the centre.

It saw them narrow the gap to a single point after TJ Ryan got his only score from play in the 48th minute and, for a short while, show promise of building on this.

But, that was as near as they came and the only other scores they managed came through Lawlor, from play and a '65.

A speculative shot from Carey followed by two Shefflin frees gave Kilkenny a bit of breathing space on the scoreboard.

However, while they retained overall control, they were never able to impose their will on the game because of the stubbornness of the Limerick play in defence.

It didn't help either that substitutes Eddie Brennan (more so) and Eoin McCormack wasted good chances of scores. Sad to say, when it eventually came the final whistle was a welcome sound - and it left a lot of us baffled about the final outcome of the championship.

By my reckoning, referee Gerard Harrington made about six bad calls apart from not applying the 'advantage' rule consistently.

But, the greater part of his refereeing was good.

Scorers: Kilkenny: H Shefflin 0-9 (0-7 frees); DJ Carey 0-3 (0-1 free); M Comerford and T Walsh 0-2 each; D Lyng and B Barry (free) 0-1 each. Limerick: T.J Ryan 0-6 (0-5 frees); P Lawlor 0-3 (0-1 free, 0-1 '65); A O'Shaughnessy, J O'Brien, N Moran and P O'Grady 0-1 each.

KILKENNY: J McGarry; M Kavanagh, J Tennyson, J Ryall; R Mullally, P Barry (capt.), JJ Delaney; B Barry, D Lyng; M Comerford, E Larkin, T Walsh; R Power, DJ Carey, H Shefflin.

Subs: E Brennan for Power (47th minute); E McCormack for B Barry (56th).

LIMERICK: T Houlihan; D Reale, S Lucey, M Foley; O Moran, B Geary, P Lawlor; P O'Grady, N Moran; D Ryan, J O'Brien, M Cahill; P Kirby, T.J Ryan, A O'Shaughnessy.

Subs: A O'Connor for Cahill (27th minute); P Tobin for Kirby (58th).

Referee: G Harrington (Cork).

Attendance: 44,438.