Dublin Senior Hurlers Defeat Limerick in Thrilling All-Ireland Quarter-Final Clash

DUBLIN 2-24 LIMERICK 0-28

Dublin progressed to the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship as they overcame Limerick by two points at a sun-kissed Croke Park on Saturday afternoon.

The scoreline may have looked tight at the final whistle but failed to accurately reflect how well the Dubs played throughout where anything but their progression to the last four would have been a travesty. 

From the unfussy but hugely effective John Bellew at corner-back up to Ronan Hayes in the full-forward line, Dublin were more than a match for their opponents in front of huge support gathered on Hill 16.  

The recent good weather may have raised spirits around the capital but the dismissal of captain Chris Crummey in the 16th minute darkened the mood of Dublin supporters as an uphill task became even more difficult. 

However, there was no denying Dublin’s dominance in the opening-half with a trio of Conor Burke points from play helping build a deserved 0-15 to 0-12 interval advantage. 

With Limerick edging in front in the 51st minute, Dublin turned the game on its head through goals by replacement John Hetherton and Cian O’Sullivan with some late, insurance frees by Seán Currie sealing their victory.  

Dublin played with the benefit of the breeze in the first-half but fell behind to a 3rd minute point from Tom Morrissey before Crummey replied in an instant to level matters. 

Gearóid Hegarty and Rian McBride exchanged points soon after before the hosts took the lead through an excellent point by deep-lying midfielder Conor Burke in the 7th minute. 

Limerick gradually clicked through the gears, with an Aaron Gillane brace augmented by further scores from Aidan O’Connor and Adam English before another superb Burke point brought the Dubs back to within two points. 

English and Currie traded scores in the 13th minute but with Dublin more than holding their own, they received a massive blow as Crummey was shown a straight red card for a highchallenge on Hegarty. 

The home heads failed to drop however as Currie hit a trio of scores to keep his side on level terms and with Dublin defending heroically at one end, they moved two points clear by the 29th minute through a Ronan Hayes brace. 

The Dubs hit the next three points via Burke, Currie and McBride to reflect their first-half dominance but Limerick hit the final two scores of the half through Morrissey and Cian Lynch to reduce their deficit to three points by the break.  

Another brilliant Burke score and a point from his midfield partner Brian Hayes saw Dublin restore their five-point buffer by the 38th minute with Limerick replying in kind through Gillane (free) and Hegarty. 

An inspirational point from Currie following trojan work by Brian Hayes revitalised the Dubs and they will regret not making better use of a promising goal chance as McBride shot wide from O’Sullivan’s pass. 

That miss looked costly as Limerick picked off the next four points with O’Connor and English sharing them evenly before Dublin swung the momentum of the game completely back in their favour at the end of the third quarter. 

Firstly, Hetherton made light work of an acute angle when blasting a trademark shot beyond the helpless Nickie Quiad and with Limerick still reeling from that concession, O’Sullivan raced onto Hetherton’s knock-down to crash home from eight metres. 

While Limerick got within two points on a number of occasions in the final quarter with Seán Brennan making a superb intervention to deny Gillane in the 60th minute, Dublin were crucially continuing to offer a scoring threat at the opposite end with Ronan Hayes, Brian Hayes and Currie popping over vital points. 

Limerick’s Diarmaid Byrnes saw a late free repelled by a plethora of defenders deep into injury time and with that, Dublin had claimed a win as deserved as it was noteworthy.  

Scorers – Dublin: S Currie 0-9 (6f); C Burke 0-5; C O’Sullivan 1-1; J Hetherton 1-0; R Hayes 0-3; B Hayes, R McBride 0-2 each; C Crummey, F Whitely 0-1 apiece. Limerick: A Gillane 0-9 (6f, 1 ’65); A English 0-5; G Hegarty 0-4; A O’Connor 0-3; C Lynch, T Morrissey 0-2 each; B Nash, P Casey, C O’Neill 0-1 apiece.

Dublin: S Brennan; J Bellew, P Smyth, A Dunphy; C Crummey, C McHugh, P Doyle; C Burke, B Hayes; S Currie, C O’Sullivan, R McBride; F Whitely, R Hayes, D Ó Dúlaing. Subs: J Hetherton for Ó Dúlaing (half-time), D Power for Whitely (52), D Burke for McBride (64), C Currie for R Hayes (69), D Lucey for McHugh (75). 

Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, M Casey; D Byrnes, K Hayes, B Nash; A English, W O’Donoghue; G Hegarty, C Lynch, T Morrissey; A Gillane, A O’Connor, D Reidy. Subs: C O’Neill for Hegarty (Temp, 16-17), O’Neill for T Morrissey (Temp, 23-24), O’Neill for T Morrissey (half-time), B Murphy for Casey (half-time), D Hannon for Nash (51), P Casey for O’Donoghue (58), S O’Brien for O’Connor (64).  

Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway)