Limerick end London's hopes of another fairytale summer

Ian Ryan kicked eight points as Limerick ensured their name is in the hat for the second round of the qualifiers.

Limerick 1-16

London 1-13

LIMERICK BOOKED THEIR place in Round 2 of the All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers, but they were made to work for their three-point win against London.

The sides were level at 1-13 apiece as the game entered the last five minutes at the Gaelic Grounds before a free from goalkeeper Brian Scanlon and two points from Ian Ryan shook off the Exiles.

After a fairytale run to the Connacht final last summer, Paul Coggins’s side bowed out of this year’s Championship — but not without a fight.

Limerick raced into an early 0-8 to 0-1 lead but by half-time that margin had been cut to five, 0-11 to 0-6.

And it was London who took control after the break and scored 1-4 before Limerick posted their first point of the second half.

Damien Dunleavy — who finished with 1-5 — got the visitors’ goal on 42 minutes to make it 1-10 to 0-11, and they led until the 57th minute when Limerick sub Gearoid Hegarty beat Adrian Faherty to score.

Points from Lorcan Mulvey and Tony Gaughan drew London level again as the game entered the last five minutes before Scanlon and Ryan settled matters and ensured Limerick’s passage.

Scorers for Limerick: Ian Ryan 0-8 (3f); Gearoid Hegarty 1-0; Killian Phair, Ger Collins, Brian Scanlon (2f) 0-2 each; John Galvin, Danny Neville 0-1 each.

Scorers for London: Damien Dunleavy 1-5; Joe Feeney 0-2; Adrian Faherty (1f), Mark Gottsche, Marcus Miskelly, Lorcan Mulvey (1f), Sean Hickey, Tony Gaughan 0-1 each.

Limerick

1. Brian Scanlon

2. Sean O’Dea

3. Johnny McCarthy

4. Mark O’Riordan

5. Iain Corbett

6. Paudie Browne

7. Pa Ranahan

8. Tom Lee

9. John Galvin

10. Darragh Treacy

11. Ger Collins

12. Seanie Buckley

13. Danny Neville

14. Killian Phair

15. Ian Ryan

Subs: Gearoid Hegarty for Buckley (15), Micheal Brosnan for Treacy (43), Eoin Hanrahan for Phair (48), Stephen Lucey for Corbett (53), John Riordan for T Lee (57), Jamie Lee for Neville (65).

London

1. Adrian Faherty

2. Philip Butler

3. Stephen Curran

4. Donnacha McCarthy

5. Seamus Hannon

6. Tony Gaughan

7. Shane Mulligan

8. Aaron Bradley

9. Martin Carroll

10. Greg Crowley

11. Damien Dunleavy

12. Joe Feeney

13. Marcus Miskelly

14. Brian Collins

15. Lorcan Mulvey

Subs: Mark Gottsche for Collins (24), Sean Hickey for Miskelly (44), Barry Mitchell for Feeney (55), Sean Kelly for Bradley (62), Cathal O’Neill for Crowley (69), Caoimhin Carty for Hannon (71).

Referee: Pádraig O’Sullivan (Kerry)