PHOTOS Supporters out in force as Limerick fall short to Clare but hold onto top spot

Limerick suffer defeat to Clare but hold onto top spot. Tom Morrissey from Ahane GAA breaks away with the ball. Photo: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick

Supporters were out in force as it wasn’t to be for the Limerick Senior Hurlers who suffered their first defeat of the 2025 Munster Senior Hurling Championship round robin phase to Clare

A Limerick side much-changed from the squad which dismantled Cork last weekend wrapped up their Munster Senior Hurling round robin phase, falling to a Clare defeat in a game which played out 3-20 to 0-24 at the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

The Treaty Men came into the game knowing their place was booked in the Munster Senior Hurling Final, and with Clare already knocked out of this year’s competition, the Banner were playing for pride as they searched for their first win of the campaign against their rivals.

The team came into the fixture off the back of a commanding win over Cork who they will meet again on Saturday, June 7, following their victory over Waterford in the round 5 meeting in Pairc Uí Caoimh.

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With their spot in the final already cemented, Limerick manager John Kiely took the opportunity to rotate the panel giving first championship starts of the year to Declan Hannon, Darragh O’Donovan and Séamus Flanagan and the return of Shane Dowling who was happy to receive his first intercounty Senior Hurling Championship start since 2019.

Limerick came fast out the gate putting a quick three points on the board playing into the breeze at a very windy TUS Gaelic Grounds, for the first few minutes it looked as though the Treaty men were going to pull away early, but Clare fought back strong with unanswered points to bring the game level after the first six minutes.

Although Diarmaid Byrnes, Séamus Flanagan, and Gearóid Hegarty showed some of the trademark attacking power of Limerick with scores in the first half, it was Clare who pulled away and a well-taken Mark Rodgers goal just before half time gave the banner a cushioned six-point lead at the half, taking advantage of the strong breeze.

Limerick fought on in the second half, bringing the score to within 4 points, but the team never seemed to get into their final gear while chasing down the Banner men, and a brace of goals by Ryan Taylor proved too much for a Limerick comeback which saw the Clare team go on to win comfortably, 3-20 to 0-24.

Speaking about the performance, John Kiely told the press, “I thought we got off to a really good start, there was a really strong breeze there and I thought we were in a very good position – 15/20 minutes in, five points a piece, I think was the score. Then they got a goal off a break, and they started to put a little bit of daylight between themselves and us, but I thought overall, against the breeze, our performance was solid.

“ Second half, just didn’t come out of the blocks. I thought it was one of our weakest quarters of the game, lacked intensity, and just lacked a bit of energy and accuracy in what we were doing. We made too many mistakes, and I think ultimately, across the 70 minutes, on analysis, it’ll be shown that we made quite an inordinate number of errors today. Just missed pickups, dropped balls, misplaced passes, unforced errors if you like.”

The Limerick team were Shane Dowling, Barry Murphy, Dan Morrissey, Michael Casey, Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon, Colin Coughlan; Darragh O’Donovan, William O’Donoghue, Gearóid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill, Tom Morrissey, Séamus Flanagan, Shane O’Brien, and Peter Casey.

Photos: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick