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Irish Examiner
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Goalfest victory over Wexford sets up historic day for Limerick footballers
Tailteann Cup quarter-final: Limerick 4-21 (4-2-17) Wexford 2-19 (2-6-7) Prior to March 29, the Limerick footballers had not set foot in Croke Park in just under three years. The gap to the most recent visit before that was nine years, give or take a week. Eighty-five days after their Division 3 League success over the same opponents bettered here, the Limerick footballers will step back out onto the Croker sod next Sunday. There'll be history in that step. The first Limerick football team to visit GAA HQ twice in the same year. The last step to securing history was more harum-scarum than hardship. Once Danny Neville immediately answered Mark Rossiter's goal on 48 minutes to restore Limerick's four-point lead, their ongoing numerical advantage on account of Seán Ryan's black card and the strong wind behind them meant no other outcome bar Limerick again turning the bus for Croker was conceivable. This fourth championship win in succession is also believed to be a Limerick football first. This fourth win in succession has secured a first championship appearance on Jones Road since the 2011 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kerry. Their dancing partner will be one of Fermanagh, Kildare, and Wicklow. All four are first-time Tailteann Cup semi-finalists. But irrespective of how next Sunday pans out for Jimmy Lee's side, this 2025 season has already exceeded external expectations and reclaimed the backward steps of a 2024 annus horribilis where they lost 10 of their 13 outings, suffered relegation to the League's basement tier, and exited the championship 17 points adrift of Sligo. This still ongoing campaign is unrecognisable by comparison. Since Wexford bettered them on February 2, they've recorded nine victories and a draw, and lost only once, that to Cork in the Munster quarter-final. According to Lee, the Round 6 League stalemate away to Wicklow on March 16 stands as their turning point. A rescued point that kept them ahead of their hosts in the table and in possession of a promotion berth. 'Hats off to the lads. They've shown a lot of courage, resilience, and character throughout. We've built that character since... I go back to that Wicklow game always. That is what made it. That was the start of it. 'Fierce happy for the lads that they are achieving their goals. We set a KPI of getting back to Croke Park and that box is ticked. They deserve this.' A strange and enjoyable first half. Wexford, with a strong wind, powered five clear inside five minutes. They then fell six behind, only to wipe out that gap for a 3-8 to 1-14 interval stalemate. The visitors won the first four Limerick restarts. The latter three were promptly returned between the posts by Jack Higgins, Seán Nolan and Páiric Hughes. Limerick's response was to wrestle back control of their own kickout, take control also of the Wexford kickout, post 1-6 without reply in the process, and hold Wexford scoreless for an entire quarter of an hour. Their opening goal on 16 minutes involved Danny Neville taking advantage of a slip to himself slip inside the cover, the offload to Cillian Fahy was palmed home. Neville was provider turned finisher for their second. Fahy bagged his second and Limerick's third in a shifting 10-minute spell. An 11-point swing, Limerick now six in front. Wexford's closing five minutes was as productive as their opening five. Seán Nolan found the net. His subsequent two-point equaliser arrived 17 seconds shy of the hooter. It represented Wexford's fifth orange flag of the half. In the 25 minutes between their busy bookending of the half, all they had for sustenance was Niall Hughes and Mark Rossiter kicks from the beyond the arc. Another orange flag threw in the second half, James Naughton supplying Limerick's first. Their second orange flag pulled the curtain down. Goalkeeper Josh Ryan, far from home, capped the day and continued a restorative season when coming forward for an audacious boomer. To-ing, fro-ing, six green flags, eight more in orange, and a not insignificant piece of history at the end of it all. Infrequent Croker callers no more. Scorers for Limerick: J Naughton (0-9, 0-3 frees, tp free); D Neville (2-2); C Fahy (2-0); E Rigter (0-3); J Ryan (tp), P Maher (0-2 each); M McCarthy, D O'Hagan, R Childs (0-1 each). Scorers for Wexford: S Nolan (1-7, 2 tp, 0-2 frees); M Rossiter (1-3, tp); N Hughes (0-4, 2 tp); J Higgins (0-3, tp); E Porter, P Hughes (0-1 each). LIMERICK: J Ryan; J Hassett, D O'Doherty, M McCarthy; P Maher, I Corbett, T McCarthy; T Childs, D O'Hagan; J Naughton, E Rigter, C Fahy; P Nash, D Neville, K Ryan. SUBS: T Ó Siochrú for McCarthy (two mins, temporary); R Childs for O'Hagan (50); D Murray for T Childs, R O'Brien for Neville (both 59); C Ó Duinn for Ó Siochrú (65); A Meade for Maher (68). WEXFORD: D Brooks; E Porter, G Sheehan, M Furlong; P Hughes, G Malone, D Furlong; L Coleman, N Hughes; M Kinsella, J Higgins, M Rossiter; S Nolan, R Brooks, B Brosnan. SUBS: S Ryan for R Brooks, K O'Grady for Brosnan (both HT); R Martin for Kinsella, C Walsh for D Furlong (both 59); C Kehoe for Malone (64). REFEREE: B Griffin (Kerry).
Irish Examiner
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
History and Croke Park beckons for Limerick footballers
Táilteann Cup: Limerick 4-21 (4-2-17) Wexford 2-19 (2-6-7). TO-ING, fro-ing, six green flags, eight more in orange, and a sizeable piece of history at the end of all that. Limerick's fourth consecutive win of the Tailteann Cup has them back on the road to Croker. It was Wexford who they also trumped when last visiting GAA HQ on March 29 for the Division 3 League decider. And therein is your piece of history; no Limerick football team has ever visited Croke Park twice in the one season. Limerick's fourth consecutive win of the Tailteann Cup has them on the road to Croke Park for a first championship appearance since the 2011 All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Kerry. Fermanagh, Kildare, and Wicklow and their potential semi-final opponents. And although unverified as of yet, there may be history too in Limerick recording four championship wins on the bounce. That too is believed to be a welcome first. Irrespective of how next Sunday pans out for Jimmy Lee's side, this 2025 season of theirs has already exceeded external expectations and reclaimed the backward steps of a 2024 annus horribilis where they lost 10 of their 13 outings and suffered relegation to the League's basement tier. This ongoing campaign is unrecognisable by comparison. Since Wexford bettered them in the League's second round on February 2, they've recorded nine victories and a draw, and come off second best only once, that to Cork in the Munster quarter-final. A strange and enjoyable first-half. Wexford, with a strong wind, powered five clear inside five minutes. They then fell six behind, only to recover and wipe out that gap for an interval stalemate. Wexford won the first four Limerick restarts. The latter three were promptly returned between the posts. Jack Higgins rose orange, Seán Nolan and Páiric Hughes rose white. Added to the opening kick of Higgins 40 or seconds in and Wexford's smart start had the scoreboard reading 0-5 to 0-0. Limerick's response was to wrestle back control of their kickout, take control also of the Wexford kickout, kick 1-6 without reply in the process, and hold Wexford scoreless for an entire quarter of an hour. James Naughton and Danny Neville were twisting and turning the Wexford defence inside out when cutting in from the Mackey Stand side. Their opening goal on 16 minutes involved Neville taking advantage of a slip to slip inside the cover, offloading across the large parallelogram to where Cillian Fahy palmed home. Neville was provider turned finisher for their second five minutes later. Fahy bagged his second and Limerick's third in 10 minutes on 26 minutes. An 11-point swing, Limerick now six to the good. LEE-DING MAN: Limerick manager Jimmy Lee. Wexford's opening five minutes, as mentioned, produced five points. Their closing five minutes produced 1-5. Higgins to Ben Brosnan to Seán Nolan for the goal. Nolan's two-point equaliser arrived 17 seconds shy of the hooter. It represented his second and Wexford's fifth orange flag of the half. In the 25 minutes between their busy bookending of the half, all they had for sustenance was Niall Hughes and Mark Rossiter kicks from the beyond the arc. Another orange flag pulled back the curtain on the second period, James Naughton supplying Limerick's first of the day. Limerick had further wind billowed into their sails when Wexford half-time sub Seán Ryan was black carded on 43 minutes. The 14-men Model County actually clawed the deficit back to the minimum during Ryan's 10 minutes in the bin, Mark Rossiter barreling his way through before executing a fine finish. 3-13 to 2-15. That was as close as this quarter-final came in the second 35 minutes. Cillian Fahy answered with his second and the Treaty's fourth major. Their lead swelled from there. Goalkeeper Josh Ryan capped the day and continued a restorative season when coming forward for an audacious two-pointer. History at the end of a harum-scarum 70 minutes. Scorers for Limerick: J Naughton (0-9, 0-3 frees, tp free); D Neville (2-2); C Fahy (2-0); E Rigter (0-3); J Ryan (tp), P Maher (0-2 each); M McCarthy, D O'Hagan, R Childs (0-1 each). Scorers for Wexford: S Nolan (1-7, 2 tp, 0-2 frees); M Rossiter (1-3, tp); N Hughes (0-4, 2 tp); J Higgins (0-3, tp); E Porter, P Hughes (0-1 each). LIMERICK: J Ryan; J Hassett, D O'Doherty, M McCarthy; P Maher, I Corbett, T McCarthy; T Childs, D O'Hagan; J Naughton, E Rigter, C Fahy; P Nash, D Neville, K Ryan. Subs: T Ó Siochrú for McCarthy (two mins, inj); R Childs for O'Hagan (50); D Murray for T Childs, R O'Brien for Neville (both 59); C Ó Duinn for Ó Siochrú (65); A Meade for Maher (68). WEXFORD: D Brooks; E Porter, G Sheehan, M Furlong; P Hughes, G Malone, D Furlong; L Coleman, N Hughes; M Kinsella, J Higgins, M Rossiter; S Nolan, R Brooks, B Brosnan. Subs: S Ryan for R Brooks, K O'Grady for B Brosnan (both HT); R Martin for Kinsella, C Walsh for D Furlong (both 59); C Kehoe for Malone (64). Referee: B Griffin (Kerry). ENDS
