Limerick claim a 15th National Hurling League title with victory over Cork

Limerick claim a 15th National Hurling League title with victory over Cork. Photo via GAA Official

Limerick came out with a six-point victory over rivals Cork to claim their 15th National Hurling League title in front of a sold-out TUS Gaelic Grounds crowd

The Limerick Senior Hurlers claimed their 15th National Hurling League title with a well-fought six-point victory over Cork in front of a crowd of 41,678 at the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday, April 5.

The sold-out Gaelic Grounds crowd got to witness a great day of hurling as part of a National League final double header with Clare claiming the Division 1B title with a win over Dublin earlier in the day, before Limerick and Cork took to the stage.

Limerick got underway with a high-paced start, with early goals on both sides seeing Limerick race to a 1-12 to 1-03 lead with an Aaron Gillane goal in the 18th minute helping the Treaty men establish dominance in the game.

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Aaron Gillane was central to the win, scoring 1-07 as John Kiely’s side claimed their 15th league title, drawing level with Cork in third place on the all-time roll of honour. The result also marked another milestone in Kiely’s tenure, with Limerick now boasting 18 trophies from 19 final appearances.

The game wouldn’t be easy sailing as a strong Cork side pulled back to go in at the break within a score at 1-13 to 1-10 thanks to some great defensive errors and Limerick being denied a second goal in the opening half.

Limerick regained control in the second half, although a purple patch for Cork saw them score four unanswered points, a standout performance from Gillane helped Limerick to a 1-27 to 1-21 victory, seeing captain Cian Lynch raise the trophy in front of the packed out crowd.

Speaking after the game, John Kiely commended his team’s performance, highlighting the high performance early on in the game which he says “hasn’t been good” in previous outings.

Kiely said, “From a performance perspective, really, really happy with our start to the game. It hasn’t been good in the last couple of games, and it was something we were going after that first quarter, and we did, and the return was really good.

“I thought, you know, Diarmuid made a mistake for the goal, but his response to it, I thought, on a personal level, was something really commendable. He didn’t allow that error to stay in his remaining part of the game. I thought he responded brilliantly to it, to be honest with you. And it’s not me highlighting it, it’s more highlighting how he reacted to it. And I thought he did brilliantly.”

Limerick are set to take on the Rebels once again on Sunday, April 26, kicking off their championship campaign, with Kiely saying it is now a time to reset, but also thankful there has been no new injuries following what a tough game it was.

 John Kiely said, “We’ll use this week now as a reset, absolutely. It’s just enough time for us to have that reset and to still be able to put in a couple of hard sessions to go after a few pieces that we need to go after. And just to bring a focus, a clear focus, into the championship for ourselves that the league finishes today. There’s a full stop there. It’s done. It’s over. It’s behind us. 

“One other massive plus for us today was that we had no injuries, which was a huge plus. And that gives us a great chance now to get the lads back on the pitch quite soon again and push on.”