2024 Tailteann Cup Football – Down 1-20 Limerick 1-6

Down defeated Limerick by 1-20 to 1-6 in Round 1 of the Tailteann Cup Football on Saturday May 11th at Páirc Esler, Newry.

Tailteann Cup: Down register win

Down 1-20 Limerick 1-6

Report By Kieran Lynch at Páirc Esler for GAA.ie

Down were far too strong for Limerick in Newry on Saturday evening, as they claimed an emphatic 14-point win.

It took almost 10 minutes for the first score to come, and it was Odhran Murdock who got down up and running, before Liam Kerr and Ryan Johnston added to their lead.

Limerick’s Peter Nash got his side on the scoreboard from a free, as the Munster outfit failed to score from play for the entirety of the first half.

At the other end, Down pushed well clear, with six points in-a-row from five different players: Pat Havern (two), Murdock, Eamonn Brown, Ryan Magill and Danny Magill all found the target.

Limerick did settle down and finished the half the stronger of the two sides, as they claimed three of the last four points on offer, with James Naughton (two) and Nash converting frees, whilst Down’s Ryan McEvoy closed out their scoring as they took a 0-10 to 0-4 lead in at the break.

Down started the second half brightly with Brown scoring a second, before Nash replied for Limerick. However, the game was effectively put to bed on 39 minutes, when Shealan Johnston laid the ball off for Daniel Guinness and he rifled a shot into the roof of the net.

Danny Magill pushed the lead out to 10, but to Limerick’s credit, they kept battling and worked their first score from play, when Brian Ahern fist passed the ball inside for Nash, and he buried his shot low and hard past John O’Hare.

However, the visitors could never build on that goal and instead, Havern replied from a mark.

Then both sides were shown cards, as Brown received a black card for a late hit on Paul Maher, whilst Jamie Baynham – who was only introduced from the substitutes bench two minutes prior – was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Ryan Johnston.

Down coasted to the finish line from there, as they scored eight of the last nine points following Nash’s goal.

Second half substitute John McGovern caught the eye with three points from play in an impressive cameo, and he will be hoping for more minutes when they travel to London next week.

Down: John O’Hare; Finn McElroy, Ryan McEvoy (0-1), Peter Fegan (0-1); Ryan Magill (0-1), Pierce Laverty, Shealan Johnston; Daniel Guinness (1-0), Odhran Murdock (0-2, 2f); Ben McConville, Liam Kerr, Eamonn Brown (0-3); Danny Magill (0-2), Pat Havern (0-3, 1f, 1m), Ryan Johnston (0-2).
Subs: Shane Annett for McConville (45), John McGovern (0-3) for Kerr (46), Gareth McKibben (0-1) for D Magill (49), Paddy McCarthy for R Johnston (58), Conor McCrickard (0-1) for Brown (59).

Limerick: Josh Ryan; Tony McCarthy, Sean O’Dea, Cormac Woulfe; Barry Coleman, Cillian Fahy, Paul Maher; Tommy Childs, Tommy Griffin; Shane Costelloe, James Naughton (0-2, 2f), Cathal Downes; Brian Ahern, Rob Childs, Peter Nash (1-4, 4f).
Subs: Joe Sweeney for Griffin (34), Darragh Siochru for Ahern (49), Jamie Baynham for McCarthy (51), Darren O’Doherty for Naughton (56), Eoin Hurley for Maher (65).

Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan).

Team News

Jimmy Lee announced his Tailteann Cup Team:
Limerick Senior Football team and match panel has been announced by Jimmy Lee and the management team for tomorrow’s Tailteann Cup round 1 game against Down pic.twitter.com/ye4DYAPYsr

— Limerick GAA (@LimerickCLG) May 10, 2024

Limerick: Josh Ryan; Darren O’Doherty, Seán O’Dea, Cormac Woulfe; Barry Coleman, Cillian Fahy, Paul Maher; Tommy Childs, Michael Donovan; Shane Costelloe, James Naughton, Cathal Downes; Brian Ahern, Rob Childs, Peter Nash.
Subs: Jeffrey Alfred, Iain Corbett, Tony McCarthy, Shane Doherty, Ruadhan O’Connor, Joe Sweeney, Tommy Griffin, Darragh Siochru, Eoin Hurley, Jamie Baynham, Andrew Meade.

Down: John O’Hare; Finn McElroy, Ryan McEvoy, Peter Fegan; Ryan Magill, Pierce Laverty, Shealan Johnston; Daniel Guinness, Odhran Murdock; Shane Annett, Liam Kerr, Miceal Rooney; Danny Magill, Pat Havern, Ryan Johnston.
Subs: Kevin Anderson, Paddy McCarthy, Ben McConville, Eamonn Brown, John McGovern, Oisín Savage, Conor McCrickard, James Guinness, Rory Mason, Jonny Flynn, Gareth McKibben.