Limerick down Exiles to secure home preliminary q-final

First-half goals from Danny Neville and Paul Maher laid the platform for back-to-back Limerick wins in the Tailteann Cup, propelling them through to the preliminary quarter-finals.

Fresh off their win over Offaly, Jimmy Lee’s Shannonsiders were never behind at Parnell Park and turned the screw after a tight first 20 minutes or so with the two goals.

Their fourth ever win in the tier two competition comes with the reward of a home preliminary quarter-final tie next weekend and they will find out their opposition in tomorrow evening’s draw.

Cathal Downes and Peter Nash impressed for Limerick too as they saw off a London side that memorably defeated Offaly in their opening game of the campaign.

All is not lost for Michael Maher’s London despite consecutive defeats with the three best third placed teams across the four groups also advancing to knock-out action.

Captain Iain Corbett returned to the Limerick lineup along with Neville while Daire Rooney and Nathan McElwaine were drafted into the London team from the side that lost to Down in Round 2.

McElwaine wore number 15 but dropped deep to shore up London’s defence and, for the first 20 minutes at least, they kept pace with Limerick.

The sides were level on four occasions up to the 0-04 apiece but Limerick took over in the second quarter to put significant daylight between the teams.

Limerick pressed up hard on London’s kick-outs, forcing goalkeeper Andrew Walsh to go long with most of them.

London, who had the wind, initially broke better than even under the high ball at midfield but were soon overwhelmed by the ferocity of Limerick’s general play.

The aggression of that high press was mirrored throughout the field with Limerick working some impressive counter-attacks.

Neville got his first score, a 27th minute point, from one such move and he scored the opening goal six minutes later.

On that occasion he was in the right place at the right time as a pass into the danger zone flicked into the air, allowing Neville to volley to the net.

Downes was Limerick’s brightest performer in the opening half and kicked four excellent points, two off the outside of his right boot and another off his left as he displayed his impressive skillset.

Shay Rafter and Daniel Clarke drilled a couple of London points each and Ciaran Diver, the star of their Round 1 win over Offaly, added another but they were beginning to live on scraps.

Limerick went a long way towards sealing victory with their second goal moments before the interval.

It was another lightning quick counter-attack that did the trick with Neville centrally involved and defender Maher eventually finishing from close range after a ball across the goalmouth.

Leading 2-08 to 0-06 at the interval, it was Limerick’s game to lose but London, who drew with Laois at the same ground in last year’s competition, never looked like hauling themselves back into contention.

The second-half wasn’t as exciting but that was fine from Limerick’s perspective as the Division 3 outfit held their Division 4 opponents to just four points in the 35 minutes or so.

Barry Coleman clipped two points for Limerick in the third quarter while goalkeeper Josh Ryan, Emmett Rigter, Nash and sub Brian Ahern all added scores to ensure a double digits winning margin in the end.

Limerick: Josh Ryan (0-01, 0-01f); Paul Maher (1-00), Sean O’Dea, Cormac Woulfe; Barry Coleman (0-02), Cillian Fahy, Tony McCarthy; Iain Corbett, Tommy Childs; Emmett Rigter (0-01), James Naughton, Cathal Downes (0-04); Peter Nash (0-04, 0-02f), Rob Childs, Danny Neville (1-01).

Subs: Bryan Nix for Naughton 50, Jim Liston for Maher 55, Tommy Griffin for T Childs 60, Colm McSweeney for Fahy 63, Brian Ahern (0-01) for Rigter 70.

London: Andrew Walsh; Daire Rooney, Cahir Healy, Eoin Walsh (0-01); Oran Kerr, Ciaran McKeon, Aidan McLoughlin; Joshua Obahor, Michael Carroll (0-03); Stephen Dornan, Daniel Clarke (0-02), Ciaran Diver (0-02); Ruairi Rafferty, Shay Rafter (0-02, 0-02f), Nathan McElwaine.

Subs: DJ O’Flaherty for Dornan 54, Joseph McGill for Rafter 60, Sean Tucker for Rafferty 65, Tighe Barry for McElwaine 67, Michael Miller for McLoughlin 70.

Referee: David Murnane (Cork).