February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Limerick put the disappointment of losing to Kilkenny a couple of weeks back behind them by defeating Clare in this senior hurling clash at Gaelic Park on Sunday. Clare’s season continues in disarray, having been well beaten by Tipperary recently, they fell again. Though it was by a smaller margin this time, the Banner men will be looking to turn their season around as soon as possible before this slump gets beyond repair.
Tommy Simms opened the scoring for Limerick in the early stages of the first half and this point was followed by scores from his namesake Dave, who put Limerick further ahead. The first half was an even affair, with both sides getting on the scoresheet with something approaching regularity. Clare’s one-man scoring machine, midfielder John Kennedy, notched five first-half points, though Dave Simms retaliated with a nicely taken goal to give his side the slenderest of leads going into the interval, where Limerick led by 1-3 to 0-5.
The second period opened with both sides having made tactical changes. Timmy Kelly came on to the field of play for Limerick, and Tomas Cogley made an appearance for Clare. Clare midfielder Kennedy was not the force he was in the second half, having been more tightly marked, and his scoring streak came to an end. Darren Doherty hit a point for Clare to give the tie an even appearance, but Dave Simms continued from where he left off in the first half with a number of efforts that sailed over the bar to give Limerick a stronger lead. This was one of Dave Simms typically fighting performances, and Limerick have his accurate shooting to thank for their victory.
Whereas the first half was a reasonably evensided performance, Limerick took more control of the tie in the second period with Danny Grealish assisting Simms up front, and some good midfield work from the experienced Eamonn Shields adding some much needed bite to their performance. Others to shine for Limerick included halfback Tom Canty, and midfielder Brendan Cagney.
Clare’s Darren Doherty got on the scoresheet again, and David Pilkington came close a number of times, but it was too little too late. Limerick sub Morgan Burns nabbed another for his side, and with two late scores from Simms, the tie had slipped too far out of reach for Clare. An important 5-point victory for Limerick bodes well for this team and after last season’s success, they hope to be back on track for further glory this season.
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Limerick: Finbarr Flood, Dermot O’Brien, Ken Delanty, Aidan O’Connor, Tom Canty, Tom Sims (0-1), Brendan Cagney, Eamonn Shields, Damian Hallassy, Maurice Nelligan, Danny Grealish (0-2), Dave Simms (1-7), Stan Hayes. Subs: Morgan Burns (0-1), Timmy Kelly, John Noonan.
Clare: Aidan O’Connor, Tony Burns, Noel McGovern, Brian Adams, Seamus Pender, Marty McGlade, Sean Harvey, John Kennedy (0-6), Paul Burke, Donald Moore, Eddie Flynn, David Pilkington, Darren Doherty (0-3). Subs: Donald Keogh, Tomas Cogley, Kevin Moore, Barney Breen, Joe Egan.