2025 Allianz Football League Division 4 – Limerick 1-16 London 0-11

Limerick defeated London by 1-16 to 0-11 in Round 3 of the 2025 Allianz Football League Division 4 on Sunday February 16th at McGovern Park Ruislip.

Resilient Limerick record vital Division 4 Allianz Football League victory over London

Report by John Redington at Ruislip, London for the Limerick Leader newspaper

“AT LAST, the monkey is off our back.”

After 17 National Football League fixtures without a win, manager Jimmy Lee summed up the relief of Limerick senior footballers after they finally broke a barren record extend back almost three years with a deserved 1-16 to 0-11 victory over London in Ruislip on Sunday.

“Everybody has been putting their all into since the start of the campaign nd it’s such a relief to get back to winning ways,” Limerick manager Lee added.

After the draw against Longford and defeat to Wexford in their two opening Division Four games, Lee’s charges were in the last chance saloon to keep promotion hopes alive against their hosts who were just coming off the back of a victory over Wicklow and the pressure told as they struggled to establish dominance until the final quarter.

With movement hampered by a very soft surface that caused both sides to repeatedly turn over possession, it was always likely to boil down to which of them had the greater mental staying power and, for a side coming in short of confidence, Limerick will surely draw great comfort for the way they put the outcome to bed once they finally wore down the opposition.

Up to that point, this was a game that could have gone either way. An early Limerick goal was clawed back and, even though they dominated much of the first half, they were caught by four London points that reduced their lead to the minimum at half-time.

Even with the wind at their backs at the restart, Limerick failed to make use of it going into the closing stages but, once they began finding the target again, the Shannonsiders’ kept up the momentum to put their lead beyond the reach of their opponents.

Limerick got the start they wanted when a speculative Josh Ryan effort at a two-pointer dropped short, but Killian Ryan fielded high and off-loaded to Andrew Meade to bury in the net.

However, London’s reply was instant as Ciarán Diver’s point was followed by Paddy Dolan collecting after a turnover to wallop a two-pointer between the posts.

The visitors got back on track when Darragh Ó Siochrú finished at the end of an extended attack and, with their dominance continuing in the middle third, they added points from Paul Maher and Iain Corbett.

Back came London as Diver sent over a free on the quarter mark, but Limerick were still tightening their grip on primary possession as James Naughton, Corbett and Tony McCarthy extended their lead to five points coming up to the break.

However, just as it looked as if they were drifting out of contact, ‘the Exiles’ started to move bodies quicker out of defence and the extra pressure on the Limerick build-up paid off when Diver struck twice inside a minute and was followed by Dolan pointing twice off turnovers to narrow their opponents’ lead to 1-6 to 0-8 at half-time.

London continued the pressure on the restart, but the Limerick defence held firm during a sustained three minute siege. When the turnover in possession was finally forced, a quick breakaway from deep got the ball up to Emmett Rigter to loft over a two-pointer off the pass.

After Dolan and Naughton swapped points, neither side could build any significant momentum after that as the soft surface caused a run of unforced turnovers before points from Joshua Obahor and a Diver free brought the gap back to a point with 15 minutes to go.

At that point, however, the visitors finally got the gears to click and, after Tadhg Ó Siochrú’s goal attempt was saved by Andrew Walsh, they broke London’s search for the equaliser with a breakaway that ended with a Cillian Fahy point.

When that score was followed by points from Bob Childs and Barry Colman, London were already having to search for the goal against an increasingly assured Limerick defence which opened up the spaces for the breakaway.

Naughton’s pointed free, their only score that didn’t come from open play, was followed by Peter Nash marking himself on the scorecard and, with the opportunity to express themselves in the three minutes of added time, Darragh Ó Siochrú and Naughton added substance to the team’s full-time score.

SCORERS: LIMERICK: James Naughton 0-4 (1 free), Andrew Meade 1-0, Emmett Righter (2x), Iain Corbett, Darragh Ó Siochrú, Barry Coleman 0-2 each, Paul Maher, Tony McCarthy, Cillian Fahy, Peter Nash 0-1 each; LONDON: Paddy Dolan (1 2x), Ciarán Diver (3 frees) 0-5 each, Joshua Obahor 0-1.

LIMERICK: Josh Ryan; Cormac Woulfe, Colm McSweeney, Mark McCarthy; Barry Coleman, Iain Corbett, Tony McCarthy; Darragh O’Hagan, Paul Maher; Andrew Meade, James Naughton, Cillian Fahy; Darragh Ó Siochrú, Emmett Rigter; Killian Ryan.
SUBS: Bob Childs for Paul Maher (injured, 40 minutes), Tommy Childs for Killian Ryan (61 minutes), Peter Nash for Andrew Meade (65 minutes), Diarmuid Buckley for Barry Coleman (71 minutes).

LONDON: Andrew Walsh, Eoin Walsh, Seán Taylor, Nathan McEntee; Ciarán McKeon, Mark Moynihan, Kristian Healy; Aidan McLoughlin, Liam Gallagher; Joshua Obahor, Daniel Clarke, Ciarán O’Diver, Paddy Dolan, Thomas Lenihan, Seán Tucker.
SUBS: Shay Rafter for Thomas Lenihan (50 minutes), Conor Redican for Ciarán McKeon (58 minutes), Josh Crowley-Holland (58 minutes), Tighe Barry for Aidan McLoughlin (61 minutes), Conal Gallagher for Kristian Healy (65 minutes).

REFEREE: Pat Clarke (Cavan).

Team News

Jimmy Lee and his selectors has announced their Limerick Senior Football team and match panel for their Round 3 Allianz Football League game:
Take a look at the Limerick Senior Football team that will face London this Sunday afternoon in McGovern Park, Ruislip at 12.30pm. pic.twitter.com/Z1cNu565vr

— Limerick GAA (@LimerickCLG) February 15, 2025

LIMERICK (AFL v London): J Ryan; Colm McSweeney, F Cotter, M McCarthy; B Coleman, K Ryan, I Corbett; T Childs, E Rigter; P Maher, J Naughton, C Fahy (c); P Nash, R Childs, A Meade.
Subs: J Alfred, C Woulfe, R O’Connor, D Buckley, T McCarthy, D O’Hagan, S Clancy, R O’Brien, T O’Siochru, D O’Siochru, K Mullins.