Limerick 2-24 Galway 1-18
For just the third time ever, the four-in-a-row will be up for grabs in an All-Ireland final after Limerick powered past Galway to move within 70 minutes of history.
It was the champions’ most polished Championship performance arguably since the All-Ireland final demolition of Cork two years ago as, after a difficult first half hour or so during which it looked like Galway might cut them adrift, they blew Henry Shefflin’s side away.
Galway were well worth a six-point lead by the 25th minute, and might have pushed further ahead afterwards, but from there they were thoroughly outplayed as Limerick outscored them by 1-18 to 0-6.
Aaron Gillane advanced his Hurler of the Year claims with a tally of 2-6, while midfield workhorse Darragh O’Donovan put in a huge shift on a night when Limerick had 12 different scorers to Galway’s six.
Having lived dangerously during the Munster Championship and suffered injuries to key defenders, there was a vulnerability to Limerick coming into this and it manifested itself on the field for most of the opening half, but they delivered an emphatic response.
And they are now on the brink of becoming just the third team in hurling history to win four successive All-Ireland titles after Cork 1941-44 and Kilkenny 2006-09.
Despite the published line-up, Limerick kept us guessing right up to the throw-in on how they would line out in the absence of Declan Hannon though there was a clue in how they warmed-up, as Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue and Kyle Hayes operated in their own pod and, sure enough, the half-back line took their positions in that order.
Gearoid Hegarty reverted to his customary right half-forward slot, with David Reidy moving to centre-forward as Cian Lynch dropped to midfield in his first Croke Park start since his magnificent display in the 2021 All-Ireland final.
There was less mystery to Galway’s defensive alignment as Gearoid McInerney and Daithi Burke played at full-back and centre-back respectively, as has been the case this campaign, despite the numbers on their backs.
Still, Burke found himself in the full-back position as Tom Morrissey, playing with an advantage, sent a delivery to Aaron Gillane, who outwitted the Galway captain and slotted past Eanna Murphy in the fifth minute.
It proved a critical score in terms of keeping Limerick in touch as Galway had much the better of the next 20 minutes or so.
Brian Concannon was dropping deep to good effect for Galway and was an outlet several times for his defensive colleagues as they repeatedly broke down Limerick attacks. His long delivery in the 15th minute led to Galway’s goal as Kevin Cooney collected possession and brilliantly linked up with Cathal Mannion, who galloped through and beat Nickie Quaid with a fierce shot from a tight angle.
The Limerick defence was struggling, with Mike Casey finding Conor Whelan particularly problematic, and Galway’s aggression was too much at times as Evan Niland had seven points from placed balls to his name by the 25th minute.
After Niland’s free put his side 1-12 to 1-6 in front, Quaid went down with ‘an injury’ before restarting play in what the Galway crowd interpreted as a cynical attempt to halt their momentum, but of much greater impact was Concannon’s goal effort in the 30th minute which Mike Casey inadvertently blocked with his outstretched hurley.
A goal would have put Galway eight in front at that stage but instead Limerick swept down the field and O’Donovan pointed.
A flurry of Limerick points followed, to which Galway only responded with one of their own and, suddenly, their lead was most slender at just 1-13 to 1-12 at half-time.
Galway couldn’t wrestle back control as Limerick’s purple patch before the break turned to sustained domination in the second.
Lynch and Reidy swapped positions, a switch that benefited both players as their influence was much more pronounced in the second half, while Limerick shut down the space at the back as the Galway attack lost its way badly.
A Gillane free in the 40th minute put Limerick back in front for the first time since the early exchanges and they never looked back from there.
Gillane’s goal seven minutes later, after his initial effort came back off the crossbar only to be flicked back into his path by Padraic Mannion, as good as put the game to bed, even if Limerick’s lead was only four points at that stage.
With Galway unable to get anything going in attack and Limerick growing in confidence, the lead grew steadily, with the eventual nine-point margin their biggest Championship victory since last year’s opener against Cork.
LIMERICK: N Quaid; B Nash, D Morrissey, M Casey; D Byrnes (0-3f), W O’Donoghue, K Hayes (0-2); D O’Donovan (0-1), C Lynch (0-1); G Hegarty (0-2), D Reidy (0-1), T Morrissey (0-2); P Casey (0-2), A Gillane (2-6, 0-5f), S Flanagan (0-2).
Subs: C O’Neill (0-1) for T Morrissey (56), G Mulcahy (0-1) for P Casey (67), C Boylan for Hegarty (68), A English for O’Donovan (70+2), O O’Reilly for Flanagan (70+2).
GALWAY: E Murphy; J Grealish, G McInerney, D Morrissey; P Mannion, Daithi Burke, S Linnane; J Cooney, R Glennon; C Mannion (1-1), C Fahy, B Concannon (0-3); C Whelan (0-3), K Cooney (0-1), E Niland (0-9f).
Subs: T Monaghan (0-1) for Glennon (50), C Cooney for Linnane (54), L Collins for Concannon (63), F Burke for Fahy (67).
REFEREE: J Owens (Wexford).
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