Limerick 1-18
Galway 0-27
GALWAY KEPT UP their perfect start to the 2022 league by virtue of a 0-27 to 1-18 victory over Limerick at the TUS Gaelic Grounds.
Henry Shefflin’s side took full control of the contest in the final quarter, scoring seven points without reply to finish the game.
It was a tight game up to that point, despite Limerick being reduced to 14 when Fergal Horgan issued a red card to Gearoid Hegarty four minutes into the second half.
Conor Cooney hit double figures in an impressive display for the Tribesmen who were full value for the win.
The game started perfectly for Limerick when Aaron Gillane rose to catch a Kyle Hayes diagonal delivery and fired a bullet into the net.
Cathal O’Neill followed up with a point before Galway hit five in a row through Cathal Mannion, Conor Cooney (3) and Jack Hastings.
Gillane stopped a 13 minute scoreless period for Limerick with a free before O’Neill bagged his second with a well taken effort from play.
Joseph Cooney levelled the game for a third time in the 19th minute and it was nip and tuck for the rest of the half that was brought to light by a stunning sideline cut from inside his own half by Fintan Burke but two Gillane frees helped Limerick to a 1-9 to 0-10 half-time lead.
Gillane was at it again early in the second half with a sublime point from play before Hegarty was shown the line for a strike on Joseph Cooney.
Limerick still managed to stay in the contest after that with efforts from Diarmaid Byrnes and Barry Nash but Galway were finding the space at will that helped Tom Monaghan and Ronan Glennon (2) for points.
It was Limerick that led 1-18 to 0-20 heading into the final 10 minutes but the All-Ireland champions failed to score again as Galway upped the gears to win by six.
Scorers – Limerick: Aaron Gillane 1-6 (3f), Cathal O’Neill 0-4, Diarmaid Byrnes (2f) and Seamus Flanagan 0-2 each, Gearoid Hegarty, Ronan Connolly, Barry Nash and Tom Morrissey 0-1 each.
Scorers – Galway: Conor Cooney 0-10 (8f), Cathal Mannion 0-4, Joseph Cooney and Fintan Burke (2 s/l) 0-3 each, Ronan Glennon and Johnny Coen 0-2 each, Jack Hastings, Tom Monaghan and Conor Whelan 0-1 each.
Limerick
1: Nickie Quaid
2: Sean Finn, 3: Dan Morrissey, 4: Richie English
5: Diarmaid Byrnes, 6: Barry Nash, 7: Kyle Hayes
8: Brian O’Grady, 9: William O’Donoghue
10: Gearoid Hegarty, 11: Cathal O’Neill, 12: Darragh O’Donovan
13: Aaron Gillane , 14: Seamus Flanagan, 15: David Reidy
Subs:
18: Ronan Connolly for O’Donoghue (5, inj)
24: Tom Morrissey for O’Grady (h-t)
23: Declan Hannon for Connolly (49)
25: Graeme Mulcahy for Reidy (64)
21: Adam English for Flanagan (66)
Galway
1: Eanna Murphy
2: Jack Grealish, 3: Daithi Burke, 4: Jack Fitzpatrick,
5: Padraic Mannion, 6: Gearoid McInerney, 19: Fintan Burke
8: Joseph Cooney, 9: Ronan Glennon
10: Tom Monaghan, 24: Conor Cooney, 11: Jack Hastings,
13: Eanna Burke, Conor Whelan, Cathal Mannion
Subs:
26: Gavin Lee for E Burke (48)
17: Darren Morrissey for Fitzpatrick (56)
23: David Burke for Grealish (59)
12: Cianan Fahy for Hastings (64)
21: Johnny Coen for Glennon (67)
Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)