Allianz Hurling League Division 1B – Limerick 1-17 Laois 1-13

Limerick defeated Laois by 1-17 to 1-13 in round 5 of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1B on Sunday March 23rd at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise.

Ryan praises team character as Limerick show battling qualities

Laois 1-13 Limerick 1-17

By Daragh Ó Conchúir for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Limerick dug deep to chisel out a desperately hard-fought win over a Laois side continuing on an upward curve, with a 62nd-minute goal from substitute Shane Dowling the critical score at O’Moore Park. The hosts led by 1-9 to 0-5 at half-time and were in no way flattered by that seven-point advantage. In fact they shot nine wides in that period of dominance.

And even though they tired in the final quarter, they will rue two missed goal chances in the second half. Nickie Quaid made a smart save from Neil Foyle before the otherwise excellent John Purcell failed to find his outstanding team-mate, Tommy Fitzgerald with a simple hand-pass on the edge of the square.

To give Limerick credit, they improved significantly in the second half. Even allowing for the wind, the Shannonsiders were out-battled in that opening period. Donal O’Grady came on at half-time to add workrate to Limerick’s cause. Dowling was introduced 10 minutes later after Conor Allis had missed his third free and the Na Piarsaigh marksman’s accuracy from placed balls helped Limerick into the lead for the very first time in the game.

“We created a couple of half-goal chances early on and didn’t take them and they kind of grew in confidence a bit,” said Limerick joint manager, TJ Ryan. “Maybe we didn’t get the pace of the game up where we wanted to but Laois played quite well at the start of the game. “There’s plenty determination and plenty character in this team. The second half performance was good. To go away from home and win by four, I’ll take it.”

Laois came out on top in the physical exchanges in the first half and it was winning another 50-50 challenge around the middle that set up the move that ended with Fitzgerald’s 25th-minute goal. Limerick scored four of the first five second-half points but when the Purcell brothers, Paddy and John, responded at the other end, the margin was still six with 20 minutes remaining.

Seamus Plunkett’s men started to run out of puff in the final quarter and the margin was down to one when Dowling pounced on a rebound after Graeme Mulcahy’s shot had been blocked to strike the vital goal. Further points from David Reidy and Dowling (free) cemented the win.

Scorers for Limerick: S Dowling 1-3(0-3fs); D Reidy, C Allis (2fs) 0-3 each; J Ryan, P Browne, T Condon 0-2 each; W McNamara, G Mulcahy 0-1 each

Scorers for Laois: T Fitzgerald 1-1; J Purcell, W Hyland 0-3 each; M Whelan, S Maher 0-2(fs) each; D Palmer, P Purcell 0-1 each

LIMERICK: N Quaid, S Walsh, P O’Loughlin, T Condon, P O’Brien, W McNamara, D Morrissey, C King, P Browne, C Allis, J Ryan, D Reidy, G Mulcahy, K Downes, M Ryan
Subs: D O’Grady for Walsh (ht), S Dowling for Allis (45), S Tobin for M Ryan (66), D Hannon for Mulcahy (68)

LAOIS: E Reilly, D Maher, B Campion, B Stapleton, J Fitzpatrick, M Whelan, T Delaney, P Purcell, D Palmer, N Foyle, J Purcell, W Hyland, S Maher, T Fitzgerald, R King.
Subs: C Dunne for Delaney (47), PJ Scully for Foyle (59), P Whelan for P Purcell (62), J Campion for King (63), B Reddin for Palmer inj (70)

Referee: A Kelly (Galway)

Limerick come from behind to beat Laois but miss out on promotion

Limerick 1-17 Laois 1-13

Report from thescore.ie

LIMERICK CAME FROM behind to defeat Laois this afternoon in O’Moore Park but still fell short in their efforts to secure promotion from Division 1B. Limerick were left to rue last week’s draw against Offaly which cost them in their efforts to move up to Division 1A as Cork finished top of the table.

Both teams from today’s game have quarter-finals to look forward to next week with Limerick taking on Galway while Laois will meet Clare. Laois made the brighter start with Matthew Whelan and Willie Hyland impressing in the scoring stakes. A goal by John Purcell provided a further boost for Laois and they were in front by 1-9 to 0-5 at the interval.

Limerick began the second-half strongly with James Ryan and Paul Browne leading the way to leave them trailing 1-10 to 0-9 by the 47th minute. Patrick and John Purcell responded then to stretch the Laois lead to six points with twenty minutes left.

But Shane Dowling came off the bench to make a major contribution then for Limerick. He grabbed some frees as Limerick reeled Laois and then hit the crucial goal in the 61st minute that helped propel Limerick to victory.

Scorers for Limerick: Shane Dowling 1-3 (o-3f), David Reidy, Conor Allis (0-3f) 0-3 each, Paul Browne, James Ryan, Tom Condon 0-2 each, Graeme Mulcahy, Wayne McNamara 0-1 each.

Scorers for Laois: John Purcell 1-3, Willie Hyland 0-3, Stephen Maher (0-2f), Matthew Whelan (0-2f) 0-2 each, Patrick Purcell, Tommy Fitzgerald, Dwayne Palmer 0-1 each.

Team News

Limerick senior hurling team v Laois Announced for Sunday Game http://t.co/eSGTS9l6vw

— Limerick GAA (@LimerickCLG) March 21, 2014

The Limerick senior hurling management has announced their team and panel in their third game against Laois in the Allianz hurling league in O Moore’s Park Portlaoise on this Sunday afternoon at 2pm. The team is named as follows:

1, Nickie Quaid, (Effin), , 2, Stephen Walsh (Glenroe), 3, Philip O Loughlin (Kilmallock), 4, Tom Condon (Knockaderry), 5. Paudie O’Brien (Kilmallock)(Capt), 6. Wayne McNamara (Adare), 7. Dan Morrissey (Ahane), 8. Cathal King (Na Piarsaigh), 9. Paul Browne (Bruff), 10.Conor Allis (Croom), 11. James Ryan (Garryspillane), 12. David Reidy (Dromin/Athlacca), 13. Graeme Mulcahy (Kilmallock), 14. Kevin Downes (Na Piarsaigh) and 15. Michael Ryan (Doon).

Match Panel is as follows:

16. Aaron Murphy (Hospital/Herbertstown)17. Richie McCarthy (Blackrock), 18.Mark Carmody (Patrickswell, 19. Alan Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh), 20. Thomas Ryan (South Liberties), 21. Donal O’Grady (Granagh/Ballingarry), 22. William Hickey (South Liberties), 23. Séan Tobin (Murroe/Boher), 24. Tommy Quaid (Effin), 25. Thomas O Brien (Patrickswell) and 26. Shane Dowling (Na Piarsaigh).