Kiely's leaders arrive to escort Limerick into semis

Limerick’s leadership group of Diarmuid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Peter Casey and Gearoid Hegarty all came off the bench when the going got tough.

Evan Niland of Galway in action against Declan Hannon of Limerick during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group B match between Galway and Limerick at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Pic: Stephen McCarthy, Sportsfile

Allianz HL Division 1B: Galway 0-17 Limerick 0-17 

There was no mistaking the happier camp in the wake of this full-blooded league match at a wintry Pearse Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Limerick left Salthill to begin preparations for a semi-final against Kilkenny next Saturday feeling fairly good about themselves, after a match where they had played for 55 minutes with only 14 men but were still two points up heading into added time.

Galway did dig out two late scores from Evan Niland frees to snatch a draw, but that wasn’t enough to keep their interest in the competition alive.

Henry Shefflin’s team only managed to register five points in the second half and a string of wides and missed opportunities left them cursing their luck when the final whistle sounded.

They also missed the experience and quality of suspended duo Daithí Burke and Conor Whelan at times, but the likes of Ronan Glennon and Gavin Lee both caught the eye when Galway were moving well.

Shane O’Brien’s red card in the 26th minute had handed the initiative to the Tribesmen but, despite leading at half time by three points, they lost their way.

That was when Limerick’s leadership group of Diarmuid Byrnes (who drilled five points from frees), William O’Donoghue, Peter Casey, and Gearoid Hegarty all came off the bench.

Their big-game experience counted when the going got tough.

“Overall, I’m happy to get a draw and hoping for a better performance the next day,” admitted John Kiely afterwards.

“I wouldn’t be happy with the number of scores we got or the number of chances we created, so next weekend we’ve got to do better.”

The All-Ireland champions also lost Colin Coughlan (groin) and Fergal O’Connor and Mike Casey (both HIA) to injuries during the second period.

“We started the game well, but look, five points return in the second half is very poor so from that point of view, it’s very disappointing,” conceded Shefflin.

“We would have loved to have made the league semi-final and it was well within our grasp but we didn’t achieve that.”

Shefflin was also asked afterwards about the possibility of Johnny Glynn, who is based in New York, rejoining the Galway squad for the upcoming Leinster championship campaign.

“The plan was, he was back for a week trial. He’ll be back for another week, and we’ll see how he gets on at that stage. Then we’ll make a call on it,” he said.

Scorers for Galway: E Niland (0-6, 5 frees); C Mannion (0-4); G Lee, R Glennon (0-2 each); P Mannion, A Tuohey, D Burke (0-1 each).

Scorers for Limerick: A English (0-5), D Byrnes (0-5 frees); A Gillane (0-2 frees); T Morrissey (0-2); S O’Brien, D Reidy, G Hegarty (0-1 each).

GALWAY: D Fahy; J Grealish, F Burke, P Mannion; A Tuohey, C Fahy, R Glennon; D Burke, S Linnane; G Lee, T Monaghan, J Cooney; C Mannion, C Cooney, E Niland.

Subs: B Concannon for Lee (50); J Ryan for J Cooney (57); D Morrissey for Tuohey (63); D O’Shea for D Burke (68);

LIMERICK: N Quaid; F O’Connor, M Casey, B Nash; C O’Neill, D Hannon, C Coughlan; D Reidy , B Murphy; S O’Brien, C Lynch, T Morrissey; A Gillane, S Flanagan, A English.

Subs: D Byrnes for Coughlan (inj, 35); P Casey for Flanagan (47): W O’Donoghue for Murphy (47); G Hegarty for Gillane (57); A Costello for O’Connor (inj, 63); R Lyons for M Casey (65); G Mulcahy for Reidy (67);

Referee: T Walsh (Waterford).