Limerick booked their spot in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship final following a 0-30 to 2-14 win over Waterford at the TUS Gaelic Grounds.
John Kiely's men turned on the style in the final quarter to each the provincial decider for the sixth year running.
Shane Bennett goals in either half had given Waterford hope of a surprise win but Limerick had too much in the tank.
Stephen Bennett opened the scoring for Waterford in the opening minute but a long range strike from Diarmaid Byrnes soon had Limerick on equal footing.
Barry Nash then put Limerick in front with Aaron Gillane and Kyle Hayes hitting the target to see the score at 0-04 to 0-01 in the home side’s favour after seven minutes.
However, Limerick were guilty of some wayward shooting with nine wides in the opening quarter keeping Waterford in the game.
Davy Fitzgerald’s men took full advantage with Stephen Bennett, twice, and Paddy Leavey raising white flags to level the game for a second time.
The Deise then hit the front when Stephen Bennett mishit a free but his brother Stephen was on hand to divert the ball past a wrong footed Nickie Quaid.
Limerick responded with the next four scores to take hold of the game once more with efforts from David Reidy, Cathal O’Neill and championship debutant Shane O’Brien saw the game squared up for a third time.
Tom Morrissey then got in on the act to put Limerick ahead but his score was soon met by a Waterford response courtesy of Jamie Barron.
O’Brien napped a second score to put Limerick one clear again and that was followed up by a Hayes beauty from the sideline. Morriseey then chipped in to see Limerick three ahead with 26 minutes played.
Hayes sent over a third to stretch that advantage to four but Bennett replied for Waterford with his fourth of the half.
Gillane corrected that statistic with his second free of the game to put Limerick 0-14 to 1-6 up at the break.
Callum Lyons began the scoring in the second half but Limerick pointed the next four with Reidy, Gearoid Hegarty, Gillane and O’Neill all raising white flags.
Waterford did manage a second goal on 46 minutes with Shane Bennett again providing the finish but they were unable to get level with Limerick in the final half hour.
The closest they got to the reigning Munster and All-Ireland champions was a two-point margin but Gillane, the impressive O’Brien and Diarmaid Byrnes gave John Kiely’s men breathing space.
Conor Boylan, Hegarty, Lynch and Adam English all hit the target in the closing stages to see Limerick home to a 10-point victory.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Mike Casey, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash (0-01); Diarmaid Byrnes (0-02, 1f), Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes (0-03); Will O’Donoghue (0-01), Cian Lynch (0-01); Cathal O’Neill (0-02), Gearoid Hegarty (0-02), Tom Morrissey (0-04); Aaron Gillane (0-07, 7f), Seamus Flanagan, David Reidy (0-02).
Subs: Shane O’Brien (0-03) for Flanagan (20, inj), Adam English (0-01), for T Morrissey (54), Fergal O’Connor for Casey (61), Conor Boylan (0-01), for Reidy (62), Donnacha Ó Dálaigh for Gillane (71).
Waterford: Shaun O’Brien; Conor Prunty, Iarlaith Daly, Ian Kenny; Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg de Burca, Callum Lyons (0-02); Paddy Leavey (0-01), Neil Montgomery; Jamie Barron (0-01); Dessie Hutchinson (0-02, 1f), Jack Prendergast (0-01); Kevin Mahony (0-01), Stephen Bennett (0-05, 4f), Shane Bennett (2-00);
Subs: Michael Kiely for Montgomery (h-t), Patrick Fitzgerald (0-01) for Barron (46), Padriag Fitzgerald for Stephen Bennett (56), Kieran Bennett for Shane Bennett (64), Jack Fagan for Prendergast (68).
Referee: Michael Kennedy (Tipperary)
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
