All-Ireland GAA Hurling Championship Qualifier Round 3 – Limerick 3-22 Antrim 0-12

Limerick defeated Antrim by 3-22 to 0-12 in Round 3 of the All-Ireland GAA Hurling Championship Qualifiers on Saturday at Parnell Park Dublin.

Match Preview

2011 Championship

Antrim 1-21 Laois 3-12; Wexford 3-16 Antrim 1-11; Antrim 2-25 Westmeath 1-19;

Antrim 0-23 Carlow 1-12

Waterford 3-15 Limerick 3-14; Limerick 1-22 Wexford 2-13

A place in the All-Ireland Quarter-finals will be the prize for the winners. They meet in the championship for the first time since the 2005 qualifiers when Limerick won by 4-25 to 1-9 (current Limerick selector, TJ Ryan was Limerick’s top scorer on 1-5). Prior to that, their last meeting was in 1996 when Limerick won an All-Ireland Quarter-final clash by 1-17 to 0-13. Limerick last reached the All-Ireland Quarter-finals in 2009 where they beat Dublin by four points. Antrim were in last year’s quarter-final losing to Cork by 1-25 to 0-19. This will be Antrim’s fifth game in the Liam MacCarthy Cup race while they also won the Ulster title beating Armagh in the final last Sunday. Limerick and Antrim clashed in Division 2 of the Allianz Hurling League on April 17 in Loughgiel with Limerick winning by 4-15 to 0-15 in a game where Limerick full forward, Kevin Downes, scored 3-0.