Dublin fall to first defeat

Limerick 1-11 Dublin 0-12

Anthony Daly's Dublin side fell to their first defeat in this year's Allianz NHL Division 1 campaign as Niall Moran shot Limerick to a hard-earned victory at the Gaelic Grounds.

Moran showed a poacher's instinct when he was in the right place at the right time to tap home the game's only goal, just minutes into the second half.

And the Ahane man increased his influence when firing over a late point which proved to be the final score of a poor quality game.

Limerick hit ten wides over the opening hour to Dublin's eight, but Justin McCarthy's men had just enough accuracy to chalk up their second win in three league games.

Dublin, who included the Limerick-born Maurice O'Brien at right half-back, had the elements at their backs in the first half.

The Dubs had the run of the ball for some stretches of the half but dangerous corner forwards David O'Callaghan and Liam Rushe were well-shackled by the Limerick defence.

Frees were the order of the day and Alan McCrabbe fired over four points for the visitors in the opening 35 minutes, with Limerick free-taker Andrew O'Shaughnessy matching that tally.

The sides were locked level at 0-6 apiece at half-time and Limerick got the ideal start to the second half when Moran scored a somewhat fortuitous goal.

Graham Mulcahy played the ball in towards the danger area, Dublin goalkeeper Alan Nolan lost the flight of it and Moran was in to bulge the net on the rebound.

Bryan O'Sullivan was narrowly wide with a subsequent point attempt for the Shannonsiders and Dublin were able to rally over the next 12 minutes, scoring four points without reply.

McCrabbe, Simon Lambert, Rory Trainor and influential midfielder John McCaffrey all tagged on scores as Daly's men moved into a 0-10 to 1-6 lead.

A Moran point had the sides level for the sixth time before the same player and McCrabbe exchanged scores.

O'Shaughnessy then handed the hosts a 1-9 to 0-11 buffer and with McCrabbe missing two gilt-edged chances for Dublin from frees, it was left to Moran to settle the tie from 40 yards out.