Allianz Football League Division 3 – Limerick 0-15 Laois 0-14

Limerick defeated Laois by 0-15 to 0-14 in Round 6, Division 3 of the Allianz Football League on Saturday March 19th at MW Hire O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.

Limerick catapult themselves right back into promotion race

Report by Brian Lowry for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Allianz FL Division 3: Limerick 0-15 Laois 0-14

THEY’RE not done yet. Billy Lee’s Limerick gave their promotion hopes a major boost on Saturday night as they left Portlaoise with two valuable league points.

The men in green showed endless heart to keep going to the end with substitute Robbie Bourke kicking the last two scores of the game to clinch it.

There was very little to separate the sides. Both had their purple patches and both also had their periods where they struggled to get into the game.

Laois had the better of the opening 15 minutes and were ahead 0-5 to 0-3 but Limerick came to life and dominated the reminder of the opening half.

The Adrian Enright and Josh Ryan combination worked a treat for the Munster men with seven of the 10 first half points kicked by the dynamic duo.

Josh Ryan’s third point of the half in injury time but Limerick 0-10 to 0-5 ahead but Eoin Lowry kicked the last score of the half for Laois, breaking a 21 minute scoreless spell for the home side.

Laois meant business in the third quarter and kicked the opening five points of the second half to go a point up on 53 minutes. Gary Walsh fired over two of those while Mark Timmons was also starting to roar into the game and he kicked the score to put them into a 0-11 to 0-10 lead.

Momentum went over and back in the final 10 minutes and a superb Kieran Lillis point looked to have won it for Laois before that late brace from Robbie Bourke send the Limerick men home happy.

Scorers for Laois: M Barry (0-3, 1 free), G Walsh (0-3, 1 free, 1 mark), E Lowry (0-2), K Lillis, S O’Flynn, B Byrne, E O’Carroll, M Timmons and D O’Reilly (0-1 each).

Scorers for Limerick: J Ryan (0-3, 1 free), A Enright 0-4 each, R Bourke 0-3 (0-1 free), P Nash 0-2, D Treacy, M Donovan and C Fahy 0-1 each.

LAOIS: D Bolger; D Bennett, T Collins, A Mohan; A Farrell, J O’Loughlin, D Kavanagh; K Lillis, S O’Flynn; B Byrne, E Lowry, D O’Reilly; M Barry, E O’Carroll, G Walsh.
Subs: G Dillon for D Kavanagh inj (17), M Timmons for D Bennett inj (32), J Finn for A Farrell (47), R Munnelly for E Lowry (64).

LIMERICK: D O’Sullivan; S O’Dea, L Murphy, M Donovan; C Sheehan, I Corbett, P Maher; D Treacy, C Fahy; A Enright, B Donovan, J Naughton; P Nash, J Ryan, H Bourke.
Subs: K Ryan for J Naughton (55), R Bourke for J Ryan (60), B Fanning for S O’Dea (64), T McCarthy for A Enright (69), C Sweeney for P Maher (70)

Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)

Team News

LIMERICK: Donal O’Sullivan (Monaleen); Jim Liston (Gerald Griffins), Sean O’Dea (Kilteely-Dromkeen), Paul Maher (Adare); Cian Sheehan (Newcastle West), Iain Corbett (Newcastle West), Killian Ryan (Mungret); Darragh Treacy (St Kierans), Cillian Fahy (Dromcollogher-Broadford); Adrian Enright (Fr Caseys), Brian Donovan (Monaleen), James Naughton (St Senans); Peter Nash (Kildimo-Pallaskenry), Josh Ryan (Oola), Hugh Bourke (Adare)
Subs: Aaron O’Sullivan (Pallasgreen), Luke Murphy (Monaleen), Brian Fanning (Pallasgreen), Tony McCarthy (Kildimo-Pallaskenry), Eoghan Cregan (Croom), Bob Childs (Galtee Gaels), Liam Kennedy (St Kierans), Barry Coleman (Rathkeale), Tommy Griffin (Gerald Griffins), Diarmaid Kelly (Newcastle West), Dara Noonan (Gerald Griffins). Extended panel: Eoghan Sherlock (Na Piarsaigh), Colm McSweeney (Gerald Griffins), Robbie Bourke (Adare), Darragh Ranahan (Ballysteen), Michael Donovan (Galbally), Gordon Brown (Na Piarsaigh), Kevin Howard (Old Christians), Padraig de Brun (Firies, Kerry).

Laois (AFL v Limerick): D Bolger; D Bennett, T Collins, A Mohan; A Farrell, J O’Loughlin, D Kavanagh; K Lillis, S O’Flynn; B Byrne, E Lowry, P O’Sullivan; M Barry, E O’Carroll, G Walsh.