Allianz Hurling League Division 1 – Limerick 3-26 Westmeath 0-18

Limerick defeated Westmeath by 3-26 to 0-18 in Round 5 of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 on Sunday June 13th at TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar.

REPORT: A late goal-rush helped the @LimerickCLG hurlers to victory over a battling @westmeath_gaa in Division 1A of the #AllianzLeagues today. #GAA

— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 13, 2021

Allianz HL D1: Limerick eventually tame plucky Westmeath

LIMERICK 3-26 WESTMEATH 0-18

Report by GAA.ie

Limerick put their foot on the accelerator in the second-half to eventually run out comfortable 17-point victors over Westmeath in this Allianz Hurling League Division 1A clash at TEG Cusack Park.

The reigning All-Ireland champions started relatively slowly, though, and the teams were tied at 0-4 apiece after the first 10 minutes of the match.

Five successive points before the water-break gave John Kiely’s team a buffer on the score-board but Westmeath produced their best hurling in the third quarter and had reduced the deficit to just four points at the break, 0-14 to 0-10.

Westmeath remained competitive in the third quarter too as both teams shared four points each, but in the final quarter Limerick finally moved through the gears.

Kyle Hayes hit the first goal of the match after 59 minutes and then substitute Darren O’Connell and Pat Ryan hit two more late on that added a gloss to the final score-line that wasn’t quite reflective of just how well Westmeath had played for most of the game.

Scorers for Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-9 (5f, 1 ’65), Seamus Flanagan 0-4, Kyle Hayes 1-1, Darren O’Connell and Pat Ryan 1-0 each, Tom Morrissey 0-3, Peter Casey and Barry Murphy (1f) 0-2 each, Brian O’Grady, Conor Boylan, Graeme Mulcahy, Gearoid Hegarty and Richie English 0-1 each.

Scorers for Westmeath: Niall O’Brien 0-6 (5f, 1 ’65), Ciaran Doyle 0-3 (1f), Derek McNicholas, Aonghus Clarke and Josh Coll 0-2 each, Cormac Boyle, Alan Cox and Shane Clavin 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Jerome Boylan, Richie English, Barry Nash; Brian O’Grady, Ronan Connolly, Kyle Hayes; Robbie Hanley, Darragh O’Donovan; Tom Morrissey, Peter Casey, Conor Boylan; Aaron Gillane, Seamus Flanagan, Graeme Mulcahy
Subs: Adrian Breen for Seamus Flanagan (ht), Pat Ryan for Graeme Mulcahy (49mins), William O’Donoghue for Robbie Hanley (49mins), Gearoid Hegarty for Tom Morrissey (56mins), Darren O’Connell for Peter Casey (61mins), Barry Murphy for Aaron Gillane (61mins), Dan Morrissey for Kyle Hayes (61mins).

WESTMEATH: Noel Conaty; Darragh Egerton, Tommy Gallagher, Conor Shaw; Aaron Craig, Tommy Doyle, Aonghus Clarke; Cormac Boyle, Shane Clavin; Niall O’Brien, Derek McNicholas, Joey Boyle; Darragh Clinton, Niall Mitchell, Ciaran Doyle
Subs: Josh Coll for Darragh Clinton (26mins), Kevin Regan for Aaron Craig (46mins), Alan Cox for Cormac Boyle (51mins), Shane Williams for Joey Boyle (61mins), Brendan Doyle for Darragh Egerton (61mins), Jordy Smith for Niall O’Brien (63mins).

Ref: Chris Mooney (Dublin)

Three late goals sees Limerick past Westmeath with 17 points to spare

Report by Gerry Buckley for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Limerick 3-26 Westmeath 0-18

All-Ireland champions Limerick outscored bottom of the table Westmeath by 3-08 to 0-04 in the last quarter, thereby defeating a very plucky home side by a flattering 17-point margin in Mullingar.

Six Limerick scorers, including three placed balls from Aaron Gillane – two frees and a ‘65 after Noel Conaty had done well to save Gillane’s goalbound shot in 16th minute – helped them to a 0-09 to 0-04 lead by first water break.

Wind-assisted Westmeath, who had suffered three very heavy beatings in their first four games, were hurling with great spirit and some fine points from play from Derek McNicholas and Aonghus Clarke kept them competitive.

Graeme Mulcahy opened his account on the half-hour mark, but the home full back line remained dogged, with Darragh Egerton particularly prominent. Niall O’Brien was accurate from frees and sub Josh Coll rounded off first scoring with a lovely point from play. Seamus Flanagan picked off four points from play throughout the first half and he was replaced at the interval.

The Liam MacCarthy Cup holders led by 0-14 to 0-10 at the break.

Much to the surprise of the 200-odd fans present, many of them sporting green and white colours, John Kiely’s charges failed to pull away from their hosts in the third quarter. Coll superbly doubled his tally for a third unanswered Westmeath point in the 46th minute to leave his side trailing by just three points (0-16 to 0-13).

Conor Boylan’s rasping shot hit the butt of the Westmeath post in the 53rd minute and Limerick only led by 0-18 to 0-14 at the second water break.

Limerick’s superior class showed in the final quarter and some high-profile players entered the fray to bolster the attack. The winners’ goals came courtesy of Kyle Hayes, Darren O’Connell and Pat Ryan in the 60th, 69th and 74th minutes respectively as a hitherto-resilient Westmeath defence began to tire.

However, Shane O’Brien’s troops undoubtedly ended their round robin matches on something of a high ahead of their upcoming Joe McDonagh Cup campaign. For their part, Limerick will be all too aware that huge improvement will be needed for their Munster championship clash with Cork.

Scorers for Limerick: A Gillane 0-8 (5fs, 1‘65’), S Flanagan 0-4, K Hayes 1-1, P Ryan, D O’Connell 1-0 each, B Murphy (2fs), T Morrisey 0-3 each, P Casey 0-2, R English, G Hegarty, G Mulcahy, C Boylan, B O’Grady 0-1 each.

Scorers for Westmeath: N O’Brien 0-6 (5fs, 1‘65’), C Doyle 0-3 (1f), D McNicholas, J Coll, A Clarke 0-2 each, C Boyle, S Clavin, A Cox 0-1 each.

LIMERICK: N Quaid; J Boylan, R English, B Nash; B O’Grady, R Connolly, K Hayes; R Hanley, D O’Donovan; T Morrissey, P Casey, C Boylan; A Gillane, S Flanagan, G Mulcahy.
Subs: A Breen for Flanagan (h-t), P Ryan for Mulcahy (49), W O’Donovan for Hanley (49), G Hegarty for Morrissey (57), B Murphy for Gillane (61), D O’Connell for Casey (61), D Morrissey for Hayes (62).

WESTMEATH: N Conaty; D Egerton, T Gallagher, C Shaw; A Craig, T Doyle, A Clarke; C Boyle, S Clavin; N O’Brien, D McNicholas, J Boyle; D Clinton, N Mitchell, C Doyle.
Subs: J Coll for Clinton (27), K Regan for Craig (46), A Cox for C Boyle (52), B Doyle for Egerton (61), S Williams for J Boyle (61), E Ahearn for O’Brien (65).

Ref: C Mooney (Dublin).

Team News

LIMERICK (AHL v Westmeath): N. Quaid; J. Boylan, R. English, B. Nash; D. Byrnes, R. Connolly, K. Hayes; R. Hanley, D. O’Donovan; T. Morrissey, P. Casey, C. Boylan; A. Gillane, S. Flanagan, G. Mulcahy.