IT WAS conclusive in the end but that took a bit of time to work itself out. Limerick were more powerful and dynamic and they made that count in the final quarter but they were made to sweat for a while and, if you were forced to call a winner in the early stages of the second half, you’d have been guessing. Limerick, to their credit, put that mystery to bed.
This will be their first appearance in an All-Ireland under-21 final since 2002, when their celebrated three-in-a-row came to an end. This team has fewer poster boy players and perhaps not as much flair but it is a big, balanced team with a handful of potential seniors in its ranks. Wexford have been favourites for the All-Ireland for most of the summer as they rampaged through Leinster, but they will have a serious battle on their hands.
For Galway, it was a familiar scenario. Playing their first competitive game of the year they were understandably cold and fumbling around for a bit of rhythm. Their three star forwards from the senior team tried hard to exert an influence but struggled to do so. Cathal Mannion drifted in and out of the game and failed to score; Whelan didn’t score until five minutes from the end. Flynn was energetic and involved, even if his touch was unusually laboured at times.
But none of them could reach the performance levels they have achieved for the seniors this summer and all told they contributed three points from play between them. For Galway to win at least two of them needed to bring their Croke Park form to Thurles.
Battle-hardened and tuned up from a tough provincial campaign Limerick started fiercely. Their wing back and captain Diarmaid Byrnes landed two towering points inside the opening 62 seconds and that set the tone for an explosive opening quarter. All over the place they forced Galway onto the back foot with the bite and pace of their play.
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Limerick led by three points after just six minutes and doubled that advantage by midway through the first half. Tom Morrissey picked off a couple of lovely scores in succession from centre-forward, Gearoid Hegarty landed a beauty from long range and Cian Lynch picked off a typically self-sufficient score, catching a Galway clearance under pressure in the middle of the field and striding forward. Their link-up play was good and they seemed to pose a threat from everywhere.
Galway were six points behind before they got going: then they briefly exploded in Limerick’s faces. Flynn landed a sweet point from a sideline cut, immediately followed by a great score from their centre back Shane Cooney and another from the excellent Brian Molloy. The last three scores of the half were supplied by Flynn, two of them from dead balls, and before they knew it Galway were level at the break, 0-10 to 0-10.
They took the lead for the first time in half an hour with the opening score of the second half and Limerick were on the end of a seven-point swing. Limerick’s response, though, was hugely impressive. Their half-back line stormed into the game again, particularly Byrnes, who was arguably the outstanding player on the pitch.
Lynch took more of a hand around the middle of the field and David Dempsey at wing forward came to life with four second-half points. Molloy kept Galway in touch with a display of real defiance for a five point haul but he didn’t have nearly enough support in the forward line and point by point Limerick turned the screw.
They were three points in front when Morrissey struck for the clinching goal with 11 minutes left. He started the move with a rushed hand pass that forced Dempsey away from goal but Morrissey kept running and Dempsey found him with a return pass.
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He was fouled just inside the 13-metre line and the referee was surely about to blow for a penalty but he allowed play to continue and, in the act of falling to his knees, Morrissey rifled a low shot into the Galway net.
From there Galway had no way back. The goals they desperately needed never looked like they were coming and their season was over in a day.