All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Qualifier Preliminary Round – Limerick 6-21 Laois 1-11

Ruthless Limerick hammer Laois

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Report from the GAA.ie web site

GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Qualifiers Preliminary Round: Limerick 6-21 Laois 1-11

Limerick had far too much for Laois as they cruised into Phase 1 of the All-Ireland Hurling Qualifiers with a massive 25-point victory at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday evening. Two first half goals, from David Breen and Niall Moran, set John Allen’s men on their way, and Laois never mounted a challenge against the Treaty men in what was a very one-sided game. Although Teddy McCarthy’s side battled in the second half, they weren’t able to get anywhere near the home team on the scoreboard, and four more Limerick goals, two of them from Moran as he completed a hat-trick, put a huge margin between the teams.

Limerick led 2-10 to 0-3 at the break after a dominant first-half performance which completely overwhelmed Laois. They started brightly, and were 0-5 to 0-1 up early on, with Graeme Mulcahy and Shane Dowling among their scorers. The decisive score of the half came after 15 minutes, David Breen firing to the net after a brilliant assist from James Ryan. Limerick didn’t let up either, and a second goal from the stick of Moran after 23 minutes put 13 points between the sides.

Willie Hyland clipped over a couple of points for Laois before the break, and McCarthy’s men added a couple more after the restart, Hyland and Stephen Maher increasing their tally. That mini Laois scoring run reignited Limerick though, and points from Paudie O’Brien, Dowling (2), and Declan Hannon put them 14 points ahead again.

The final 20 minutes were all about goals. First, Moran finished off a brilliant Limerick move on 53 minutes, and then seconds later grabbed his third goal after a fine Breen set-up. Hyland goaled for Laois with a brilliant finish shortly afterwards, but Limerick found two more majors before the end to pile the misery on Laois, Dowling and Tommy Quaid both hitting the net. Limerick will now play Antrim in Phase 1 of the Qualfiers next weekend.

Match Preview

They last met in the championship in 2009 when Limerick won an All-Ireland qualifier tie by 0-20 to 1-14 in Thurles. They also beat Laois in 2005, winning a qualifier clash by 2-15 to 1-9. This will be Laois’ third outing in this year’s championship, having beaten Carlow by 0-20 to 0-13 in the Leinster first round before losing the quarter-final to Dublin by 3-23 to 1-7. Limerick had one outing so far, losing a Munster quarter-tie to Tipperary by 2-20 to 1-19. The winners play Antrim in the next round on Saturday week, June 30.

Team News

Limerick (SH v Laois): N Quaid; S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; W McNamara, D O’Grady, G O’Mahony; J Ryan, P Browne; S Dowling, B Geary, D Breen; G Mulcahy, N Moran, S Tobin.