NY GAA- Limerick lift-off in second half

Waterford needed this match and they pulled out all the stops, importing two county men, Damien Joyce from Galway and Sean O’Connor, who took the field against his fellow Limerick men.
The Deices were first on the board with an early John Gerraghty free. Limerick erased that lead at the 7-minute mark when Dave Simms managed to nudge the slithoar over the goal line after Paul Murray stripped Waterford keeper Ian Duggan and fed Simms.
Waterford were in charge throughout most of the first half as they tried to improve their playoff prospects. The South Easterners are battling Clare for the second playoff spot in the B division, with Limerick in commanding position at the top of the table.
O’Connor was causing his New York-based county mates a lot of grief scoring 0-5 in Waterford’s cause in the first half. The big center forward had 0-2 from play and 0-3 from frees, although Shane McDermott made him work for everything he got.
John Redmond’s goal after a fine build up involving Aiden Sweeney, Noel Lonegran, and Damien Joyce staked Waterford to a 1-6 to 1-2 lead en route to a 1-9 to 1-4 midway lead.
Limerick broke from the blocks with a furious burst, scoring five straight points to pull level with just over three minutes played in the second half. Dave Simms got it started with a point seconds after Referee Dermot Flynn’s throw in. Simms had a second point before the opening minute had ticked off the Gaelic Park scoreboard.
The Limerick sideline team made some changes at the break that led to the quick re-start. Sixty-day sanction player Jonathan Deere had a quiet first half at midfield, so he was moved to the 40 with Mike Stretch coming in to play midfield.
Deere had a big impact over the final 30 minutes, including scoring the third point in Limerick’s opening run. O’Connor finally halted traffic when he drove over a long-range free to edge Waterford back in front, 1-10 to 1-9.
O’Connor and Simms once again traded points, and the score stood at 1-13, all with eight minutes to play. Mike Stretch stepped in for a great steal and his point put Limerick briefly back in front, but O’Connor cancelled it with a 26th-minute free.
Limerick’s other half time substitute Tadgh Lyons followed Stretch’s effort with the go-ahead point, and Maurice Foley and his sideline men were looking very clever indeed. Limerick’s wingback dynamo Tadgh O’Callaghan had been his usual aggressive, inspirational self and now he stepped forward to rifle a great point over the lathe.
Waterford could surely hear the clock ticking down as they continued to push forward. The pressure on the Limerick goal was intense but Finbarr Flood was equal to it. Twice in the match’s warning moments, Flood bailed out the Treaty County.
First Flood robbed home county man turned rival O’Connor and then the Limerick keeper denied Waterford substitute Joe Walsh his chance to be a hero for a day. Waterford kept pressing, adding a point from Tomas Maher but Limerick held on, if only just ,to keep their record perfect and secure their spot in playoffs.

Man of the Match: Tadgh O’Callaghan

Referee Dermott Flynn

Limerick
Finbarr Flood, Justin White, Noel O’Brien, Brian Geary (0-1), Shane McDermott (0-1), Tadgh O’Callaghan (0-1), Michael Barron, Jonathan Deere (0-2), Dennis McCarthy, Paul Murray, Johnathan Loftus, Dave Simms (1-9, 3 frees, 1-70), Vinny Norton Subs: Joe Brennan, Mike Stretch (0-1), Tadgh Lyons (0-1)

Waterford
Ian Duggan, Pat Coleman, Colin Ruth, Tomas Maher (0-1), Victor O’Shea, Ray Duggan, Jamie Duggan (0-2), Damien Joyce (0-1), John Gerraghty (0-1), Sean O’Connor (0-9, 7 frees), Aiden Sweeney, John Redmond (1-0), Noel Lonegran (0-1) Sub: Joe Walsh