Kilkenny well beaten by Limerick in Allianz Hurling League Final

Kilkenny's quest to win a 20th Allianz Hurling League title came up short after All-Ireland champions Limerick claimed a convincing victory in the Division 1 decider at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Kilkenny had started the game well when they hit the first three points but once Barry Nash netted for Limerick in the 18th minute, the game turned and John Kiely's team powered clear of the Cats.

In truth it proved to be a very disappointing trip to Leeside for the Noresiders as they only scored five points in the entirety of the second half while Limerick cruised to an 11 point success despite being without the likes of Will O'Donoghue, Declan Hannon and Kyle Hayes.

Derek Lyng would have been happy with the impact of Adrian Mullen on his first game back from a hamstring injury that kept out of Shamrocks success over Dunloy in the All-Ireland Club Final in January but apart from that, positives were few and far between.

The extent of Limerick's dominance in a second period where they outscored Kilkenny 1-7 to 0-5 was the fact that TJ Reid wasn't even sprung from the bench.

Kilkenny had the aid of the wind  at their backs in the opening half but trailing by six points at the break meant the writing was very much on the wall even with 35 minutes of hurling to play.

Aaron Gillane's 53rd minute goal put the game out of reach for the Cats and not for the first time he gave Kilkenny defenders a bit of a torrid time in scoring 1-7 throughout.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the Kilkenny performance was that they failed to score at all between the 52nd and 71st minutes with sub Gearoid Dunne eventually breaking that barren period with a stoppage time score.

A sobering afternoon for Kilkenny and much to ponder for the team and management ahead of the Leinster Championship bow at home to Westmeath on Saturday, April 22.

Teams and Scorers

Limerick- Aaron Gillane (1-7, four frees), Diarmaid Byrnes (0-5, three frees), Barry Nash (1-1), Seamus Flanagan (0-3), Darragh O'Donovan (0-2), Colin Coughlan, Cathal O'Neill (0-1 each)

Kilkenny- Billy Drennan (0-5, five frees), Adrian Mullen (0-3), Eoin Cody (0-2, one free), Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan (0-2 each), Huw Lawlor (0-1)

Limerick- Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Mike Casey, Colin Coughlan; Darragh O'Donovan, Barry Murphy; Gearoid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Cathal O'Neill; Aaron Gillane, Seamus Flanagan, Peter Casey.

Subs- Tom Morrissey for Murphy h-t, Richie English for R.Casey 47 mins, Conor Boylan for Lynch 57 mins, Donnacha O'Dalaigh for Flanagan 62 mins, Shane O'Brien for P.Casey 67 mins.

Kilkenny- Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Tommy Walsh, Padraig Walsh; Richie Reid, Huw Lawlor, David Blanchfield; Conor Fogarty, Paddy Deegan; John Donnelly, Adrian Mullen, Billy Ryan; Billy Drennan, Martin Keoghan, Eoin Cody.

Subs-  Cian Kenny for Donnelly h-t, Paddy Mullen for Fogarty 46 mins, Timmy Clifford for A.Mullen 52 mins, Alan Murphy for Ryan 56 mins, Gearoid Dunne for Drennan 56 mins.

Referee- Paud O'Dwyer (Carlow)