Agony for Cats as Limerick crowned All-Ireland champions once again

Kilkenny's wait for an All-Ireland Senior Hurling title goes on after Limerick produced a devastating second half display to claim glory for a fourth year in a row.

A 37th All-Ireland crown looked very much within reach for the Cats when an Eoin Cody goal helped Derek Lyng's men lead by three points at the break.

A Kilkenny success looked even more realistic when Paddy Deegan blasted in a 42nd minute goal but from that point on it was all one way traffic as Limerick ran riot at Kilkenny's expense.

Kilkenny only scored five points over the course of the following half an hour while their opponents notched an incredible 19 point tally as the likes of Peter Casey, Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane scored at will.

Like in 2022, Kilkenny brought the fight to the Shannonsiders and they led by six points at one stage of the opening half.

But in similar circumstances to the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway, Limerick despite being without the likes of team captain Declan Hannon and multiple all-star Sean Finn soon turned the tide and even before Deegan's goal the momentum looked to be turning.

Kilkenny themselves were without David Blanchfield who was ruled out of the game with a lung injury with Padraig Walsh taking his place and they  asked many questions but once Limerick got on top, there was no stopping them and they ran out 0-30 to 2-15 winners by the time of John Keenan's full-time whistle.

Kilkenny goalscorers Eoin Cody and Paddy Deegan had decent games as did TJ Reid and Tom Phelan but in the end, Limerick's skill and power was too much as they claimed a 12th All-Ireland success.

Teams and Scorers

Limerick- Diarmaid Byrnes (0-8, seven frees), Peter Casey (0-5), Aaron Gillane (0-5, three frees), Gearoid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, David Reidy, Cathal O'Neill (0-2 each), Barry Nash, Kyle Hayes, Darragh O'Donovan, Tom Morrissey (0-1 each)

Kilkenny- TJ Reid (0-7, six frees and one 65), Paddy Deegan (1-1), Eoin Cody (1-0), Tom Phelan (0-3), Eoin Murphy (0-1, one free) Richie Reid, Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly (0-1 each)

Limerick- Nickie Quaid; Michael Casey, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O'Donoghue, Kyle Hayes; Darragh O'Donovan, Cian Lynch; Gearoid Hegarty, David Reidy, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Seamus Flanagan, Peter Casey.

Subs- Cathal O'Neill for T.Morrissey 55 mins, Graeme Mulcahy for Flanagan 61 mins, Conor Boylan for Hegarty 67 mins, Barry Murphy for O'Donovan 71 mins, Aaron Costello for M.Casey 73 mins.

Kilkenny- Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Tommy Walsh; Conor Fogarty, Richie Reid, Paddy Deegan; Adrian Mullen, John Donnelly; Walter Walsh, Martin Keoghan, Tom Phelan; Billy Ryan, TJ Reid, Eoin Cody.

Subs- Padraig Walsh for Fogarty h-t, Alan Murphy for W.Walsh 47 mins, Cian Kenny for Ryan 54 mins, Cillian Buckley for T.Walsh 63 mins, Richie Hogan for Phelan 64 mins.

Referee- John Keenan (Wicklow)