Munster Express Online

Munster Senior Hurling League

Kerry 0-8
Waterford 0-17

Tony Ryan at Fitzgerald Stadium

Derek McGrath and his selectors utilised their final fixture in the Munster League as a training camp, including Saturday’s League win over Kerry, and a second match on Sunday morning in Tralee, with a completely different 15 facing the Kingdom.
Waterford fielded their strongest team of recent weeks, with their first National League game against Kilkenny on February 14th now looming.
Playing with the wind in the first half, Derek McGrath’s charges led by 0-10 to 0-3 at the break and they would have routed Kieran Carey’s outfit but for four incredible saves by stand-in Kerry keeper and man of the match Martin Stackpoole.
The Waterford team lined out as selected with Darragh Fives operating as an extra man in defence, midfielder Kevin Moran operating at number six and wing forward Michael Walsh drifting out to midfield.
Despite the fine condition of the field, it wasn’t a good day for hurling but both teams admirably stuck to their task with the winners never being led and Kerry’s first and only score from play coming as late as the 65th minute from substitute Jack Goulding.
The winners registered several early wides but three pointed frees by Maurice Shanahan inside 11 minutes set the trend of the game.
From a Michael Walsh pass, Shanahan had a goal effort saved by Stackpoole while the winner’s first point from play was registered by Jake Dillon in the 15th minute on foot of good support play by both Shane Bennett and Colin Dunford.

Indeed, Dunford enjoyed a good hour’s hurling, hitting three points from midfield, the first in the 16th minute and followed immediately by a similar score by Michael Walsh.
A fourth Maurice Shanahan pointed free gave Waterford a seven point lead after 23 minutes before the home side’s Shane Nolan, following two earlier misses, opened Kerry’s account four minutes later.
With his eye now in, Nolan repeated the feat twice before the break, matched though on each occasion by Maurice Shanahan, while the score of the match came from a familiar source when Austin Gleeson disposed the Kerry goalie by the sideline and rifled over a fine point from the most acute of angles.
Kerry used their full compliment of subs in this game while Waterford started as they finished, apart from Shane O Sullivan replacing Gavin O’Brien temporarily on blood sub duty.
Kerry’s visitors almost had an early second half green flag but Kevin Moran’s pass to Maurice Shanahan was well saved by the alert Stackpoole at the stadium’s dressing room end.
Following the Lismore man’s seventh pointed free in the 41st minute, Patrick Curran, on receipt of a good delivery by Shane McNulty, was upended in front of goal with Shanahan taking the point from the resultant penalty to leave the Deise 0-12 to 0-3 up after 45 minutes.
When Kerry free taker Shane Nolan was brought ashore in the 40th minute, half-time substitute Philip Lucid took over from placed balls and he struck the first of his four successful attempts in the 49th minute.
Waterford raised their game for a period resulting in Austin Gleeson pointing and Patrick Curran bringing a third superb save out of Stackpoole at the expense of a ‘65’.
Following a second Lucid pointed free, Curran made the score 0-14 to 0-5 in the 55th minute and Colin Dunford increased this further when finishing a move by Austin Gleeson and Jake Dillon.
Stackpoole again saved Kerry’s blushes when he thwarted a Jake Dillon 56th minute fine goal attempt and this encouraged his team mates, resulting in two final Philip Lucid pointed frees by the hour mark.
The hosts still hadn’t scored from play by then but substitute Jack Goulding righted this statistic in the 65th minute before further good team work by the visitors resulted in the two final scores of the match by Patrick Curran and Colin Dunford.

Kerry: Martin Stackpoole; Sean Weir, Brian Murphy, Darren Dineen; John Griffin, Thomas Casey, Jason Diggins; Daniel Collins, Johnny Buckley; Colm Harty, Patrick Kelly, Shane Nolan; Keith Carmody, Michael O Leary, Jordan Conway.

Substitutes: Mikey Boyle for Patrick Kelly and Philip Lucid for Michael O Leary (HT), Brendan O’Leary for Shane Nolan (37), Jack Goulding for Johnny Buckley (55), James O Connor for Colm Harty (56).

Waterford: Ian O’Regan; Shane Fives, Barry Coughlan, Noel Connors; Shane McNulty, Darragh Fives, Gavin O’Brien; Kevin Moran, Colin Dunford; Michael Walsh, Shane Bennett, Jake Dillon; Austin Gleeson, Maurice Shanahan, Patrick Curran.

Scorers: Maurice Shanahan (0-8f), Colin Dunford (0-3), Austin Gleeson and Patrick Curran (0-2 each), Jake Dillon and Michael Walsh (0-1 each).

Scorers: Philip Lucid (0-4f), Shane Nolan (0-3f) and Jack Goulding (0-1).

Referee: Jason Mullins (Limerick).

* Waterford’s victorious line-up on Sunday against Kerry was: Stephen O’Keeffe; Paudie Prendergast, Kieran Bennett, Conor Gleeson; Seamus Keating, Shane O’Sullivan, Mark O’Brien; Mikey Kearney, Jamie Barron; Tommy Waring, Tommy Ryan, Brian O Halloran; Colm Roche, Tom Devine, Andy Molumby.

DEISE COMEBACK TOO LATE

Limerick 3-16
Waterford 1-17

Dermot Keyes reports

Waterford, fielding their strongest team of the year up to that point, went down by five points to Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds on Tuesday last, having rallied well after a difficult opening quarter.

Both Tom Morrissey and David Reidy netted goals for the hosts inside the first 11 minutes, by which time they were 2-5 to 0-2 down and, even by then, one might have expected that the Deise would have been left firmly engaged in a damage limitation exercise thereafter.
But Waterford didn’t let the heads drop despite conceding seven successive points, and a superb Austin Gleeson goal, after intercepting a would-be Limerick clearance, helped Waterford to a run of 1-4 without reply. At the break, Limerick still led by eight points, 2-12 to 1-7, and a Deise win still looked unlikely.
Yet on Waterford brilliantly rallied, leaving the 1069-strong crowd wondering if Mission: Impossible could be realised.
The free-taking accuracy of Maurice Shanahan and two fine Jake Dillon points reduced the arrears even further but a 56th minute goal from Limerick substitute Kevin O’Brien steadied Treaty nerves and ensured their victory.
On Saturday night last, Clare lifted the inaugural Munster Senior Hurling League when they saw off Limerick by 0-18 to 0-17 at the Gaelic Grounds.

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Tom Condon, Richie McCarthy, Seanie O’Brien; Paudie O’Brien, Diarmuid Byrnes, Wayne McNamara; John Fitzgibbon, Paul Browne; Barry Nash, Gavin O’Mahony, Tom Morrissey; Thomas O’Brien, David Reidy, Sean Tobin.

Substitutes: Barry Hennessey for Nickie Quaid (27 mins), Dragh O’Donovan for John Fitzgibbon (HT), Graeme Mulcahy for David Reidy and Kevin O’Brien for Thomas O’Brien (both 51) and Michael Reidy for Tom Condon (52)

Scorers: David Reidy (1-5; 0-2f; Tom Morrissey and Kevin O’Brien (1-1 each); Seanie Tobin 0-3; Thomas O’Brien, Diarmuid Byrnes and Gavin O’Mahony (0-2 each)

Waterford: Ian O’Regan; Paudie Prendergast, Shane Fives, Noel Connors; Shane Roche, Shane McNulty, Conor Gleeson; Jamie Barron, Kevin Moran; Colin Dunford, Shane Bennett, Jake Dillion; Austin Gleeson, Maurice Shanahan, Patrick Curran.

Substitutes: Gavin O’Brien for Shane Roche (23 mins), Tom Devine for Kevin Moran and Shane O’Sullivan Jamie Barron (47 mins) and Peter Hogan for Colin Dunford (51)

Scorers: Maurice Shanahan (0-7; 0-5f), Austin Gleeson (1-0), Jake Dillon (0-3), Patrick Curran and Shane Bennett (0-2 each), Jamie Barron, Peter Hogan and Shane McNulty (0-1 each).

Referee: Philip Kelly (Tipperary).