Dublin deliver telling blow

FINALLY, it came to pass.

All through the 2010 league campaign, what even the most optimistic of the Limerick hurling support must have feared was that their new, vastly understrength team would come a cropper and suffer a big beating at the hands of one of hurling’s superpowers.

There was a hint of it against Tipperary in round four, a 20-point loss, but mitigating circumstances were offered as excuse, Limerick reduced to 14 from early in the first-half. They didn’t disgrace themselves against Galway, Cork, Kilkenny, Galway or Waterford, while in their second-to- last game of the league they pushed Offaly to the pin of their collar in Tullamore.

All those results offered hope to the long-suffering Limerick hurling optimist that perhaps embattled manager Justin McCarthy was indeed building something good in Limerick, that he was right to jettison a dozen experienced players last October, an action which caused a dozen more to walk away in protest (although James O’Brien and David Breen, returned and played yesterday).

Well, after this debacle in Parnell Park, what can be said now?

The Offaly match apart, this was the first game in this league in which Limerick came up against a team that had as much to lose as they had themselves, that fielded its strongest available starting 15, and that never took the pedal off the metal.

The result was humiliation, relegation to Division 2 next year. You want a quick run-through? How’s this; 0-11 to 0-4 after the first quarter; 0-20 to 0-8 at half-time; six goals in nine minutes of the second half, between the 52nd and 61st minutes, after Limerick had the temerity to score the game’s first major; 31-point losing margin.

True, Limerick again had a man sent to the line, the aforementioned James O’Brien in the 44th minute, after getting entangled off the ball with namesake and former Limerick colleague Maurice O’Brien, but this time, there is no excuse, this time it was a gulf in class already well established, already cruelly exposed.

Afterwards Justin McCarthy wasn’t for pausing to speak to the press, but winning manager Anthony Daly, unhappy that some felt Limerick had a chance – however slim – coming into the game, put the win in perspective: “I was a bit pissed off that we were doubted a bit,” he said; “I felt we’d win, I was confident all week that we were a better team than they have at the moment.

“We just had to bring a bit of intensity to the equation – a lot of teams (that Limerick played) didn’t bring intensity in the league, but we felt that if we played championship-type hurling, we’d be there or thereabouts.

“After ten minutes or so you could see our lads were on top in most places, then you were reassured. The lads did well, they did what we asked them to do, they stuck to the game-plan, and the three boys inside (lethal full-forward trio of Dotsie O’Callaghan, Liam Rushe and Alan McCrabbe) looked very good when the ball went into them. But they were probably on a class of player that maybe wouldn’t normally be playing at this level, so we won’t be reading too much into it. We’re just happy to get the job done.”

Even at the time of the sending off of O’Brien, which, said Dublin’s Maurice, wasn’t merited, Dublin were already well in control, leading 0-26 to 0-9, but a Paudie McNamara goal (from a mis-hit 20m free) for Limerick seemed to galvanise the men in blue, and they hit that nine-minute spell, the like of which Anthony Daly couldn’t recall seeing before – “Maybe an U-15B final in 1982 or something, and we were on the other end of it, I was corner-back! It opened up, I suppose the Limerick lads dropped their heads a bit – hard to keep going when there’s 16 or 17 points in a game.”

What now for Limerick, though?

“It needs a Limerick solution to a Limerick problem, has to be sorted out from within,” said Anthony Daly.

“It’s not my business, but it is bad, no matter who’s wrong or right – I don’t want to get into that, but it is sad to see Limerick being beaten like that in the first division. It’s getting near to championship for them (Limerick) now, you’d be thinking – if they have to go to Thurles on a hot day, against the winners of Tipp and Cork...”

Scorers for Dublin: A McCrabbe, 0-10 (7f); D O’Callaghan, 2-3; L Rushe, 1-5; P Ryan, 1-2 (1f); S Lambert, 0-4; J Kelly, 1-1; P Kelly, 0-3; S Ryan, 1-0; J Boland, J McCaffrey, 0-1 each.

Limerick: P McNamara, 1-7 (1-5f, 0-1’65’); G Mulcahy, 1-1; R McKeogh, 0-2; J O’Brien, 0-1.

Subs for Dublin: R Treanor for Gough, 35; J Kelly for P Kelly, P Carton for McCrabbe, S Ryan for McCaffrey, all 48; D O’Dwyer for O’Callaghan, 56.

Subs for Limerick: T O’Brien (Patrickswell) for Quaid, 25; S Herlihy for Browne, 35; K O’Rourke for Lynch, C Hayes for Kenny, both 58; D Madden for Brennan, 60.

Referee: Michael Wadding (Waterford).