Limerick’s rolling wave leaves Waterford drowning in its wake

Limerick 0-30 Waterford 0-19

The least predictable year has ended with the champions that most people wanted in the beginning. The virus upset everything except the basic truth of Limerick’s strength and power, and with it, its dominance over the hurling championship. They went to Waterford for the chopper here and feasted on what was left.

In the end, this couldn’t have been more different from 2018. Limerick headed to All-Ireland without a second thought. There were no concerns, no ghosts of history, no not being able to look. This was business, plain and simple. Waterford could have been anyone; anyway, they would have been crushed.

The margin was 11 points but it could have been anything. Limerick finished the year averaging five games of exactly 30 points. They put Waterford aside toying with their idea of ​​par and challenging Liam Cahill’s side to keep up. Long before the final whistle, it was clear that that wasn’t really an option.

When they’re in this kind of frame of mind, Limerick is a rolling wave. The best you can hope for is to hold your breath and try to get your feet back as soon as you bathe. You’d call Tom Morrissey and the Gear-id Hegarty party man a one-two punch, except one of them usually does the trick, there’s rarely a need for both.

Morrissey had three points on the board at halftime, Hegarty had two. But the basic figures do not do justice to his influence. They were monstrous under the Limerick puck and enterprising in bringing others into the game. Hegarty sent Cian Lynch in for an early scoring opportunity that Lynch killed and twice drew Waterford coverage to make room for Aaron Gillane to score his own points.

Limerick led 0-8 to 0-4 in the first water break, although it could have been much worse. Aside from that Lynch opportunity, Waterford needed Stephen O’Keeffe to pull off an impressive double save. Kyle Hayes was relentless in the Waterford puck-out all day and as soon as he conceded in it, a quick transfer to Lynch meant the goal was scored even though they were still in midfield. O’Keeffe barely repelled Hayes’ shot, but he had to duck to his left to block Lynch’s rebounding effort.

However, you can only catch so many bullets. As soon as the water break passed, disaster struck Waterford. Tadhg de Búrca collapsed in the middle of a shove and immediately removed his helmet. Having spent last winter recovering from a torn crusader, de Búrca seemed resigned to his fate.

At that point, you could forgive Waterford for resigning himself to his own. Gillane tapped on a pair of free hits, Will O’Donoghue hit a bomb from midfield, Hayes and Hegarty kept their feet on the ground. Waterford came into halftime just a one-ball puck behind, with the score at 0-14 to 0-11. In the dressing room, it would have felt like an achievement.

Limerick’s first order of business upon restart, then, was to quell all notions of rebellion. And so from there to the second water break, Hegarty and Morrissey played as if offended by the very idea. Three times in four minutes, Morrissey fed Hegarty and Hegarty split the posts. Throw in a couple of sweet shots from Séamus Flanagan, who barely had a false shot all day and soon Limerick drifted off into the distance.

It was an impressive performance by the forward midfielder couple, Hegarty in particular. He ran through Croke Park like a possessed elusive, blissfully unconcerned by the destruction he was leaving in his wake. He had four up for grabs in that third quarter alone, the phase of the game in which Limerick really asserted his title ownership. The three-point lead was eight by the breakwater.

After that, it was an accounting exercise. Waterford tried a few shots on Nickie Quaid without her having to strain. Both Stephen Bennett and Calum Lyons had contenders that the All Star-elect handled easily.

Meanwhile, Limerick was perfectly happy to move on without going for the green flag at the other end. Hegarty, Morrissey and Gillane added point after point at will. They made some oversights here and there as time went on, but they didn’t influence the outcome.

All of Limerick Ireland. And if anything, the distance back to the rest of the field seems to be growing.

COMIC QUINTILLA: 1 Nickie Quaid; 2 Sean Finn, 3 Dan Morrissey, 4 Barry Nash; 5 Diarmaid Byrnes (0-1), 6 Declan Hannon (0-1), 7 Kyle Hayes (0-1); 8 Darragh O’Donovan, 9 Will O’Donoghue (0-1); 10 Gearóid Hegarty (0-7), 11 Cian Lynch, 12 Tom Morrissey (0-5); 13 Aaron Gillane (0-10, six free), 14 Séamus Flanagan (0-3), 15 Graeme Mulcahy.

Subs: 19 Peter Casey for Mulcahy (49 minutes), 25 David Reidy for O’Donovan (59 minutes), 26 Pat Ryan (0-1) for Flanagan (63 minutes), 24 Paddy O’Loughlin for Hayes (71 minutes).

WATERFORD: 1 Stephen O’Keeffe; 2 Ian Kenny, 3 Conor Prunty (captain), 4 Shane McNulty; 5 Calum Lyons (0-1), 6 Tadhg de Búrca, 7 Kevin Moran (0-1); 8 Jamie Barron, 9 Kieran Bennett (0-1); 11 Neil Montgomery, 15 Jack Prendergast, 10 Jack Fagan; 13 Dessie Hutchinson (0-1), 12 Stephen Bennett (0-10, nine free), 14 Austin Gleeson (0-5).

Subs: 25 Iarlaith Daly for de Búrca (22 minutes), 23 Darragh Lyons for K Bennett (40 minutes), 22 Conor Gleeson for Montgomery (44 minutes), 20 Patrick Curran for Moran (52 minutes), 26 Shane Fives for Kenny (55 minutes) )).

Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary).