LIMERICK suffered an unexpected 3-20 to 0-24 loss to rivals Clare to close out their round-robin phase of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship at the Gaelic Grounds.
Ahead of the outing, John Kiely’s side were already more or less assured of a berth in the Final, which will now be against Cork – who were 2-25 to 1-22 winners over Waterford at Páirc Uí Chaoimh – at the Ennis Road venue on Saturday week (6pm, throw-in).
Tipperary qualify for the All-Ireland series as third-placed seeds from Munster.
In Leinster, the Final will involve Kilkenny and Galway, with Dublin also through to the business end of the national competition.
As Joe McDonagh Finalists, Kildare and Laois are both still in the mix for All-Ireland honours.
In the wake of the loss to the Banner, Kiely simply commented: “We’ve parked the round-robin. It’s over now. We’ve qualified out of Munster, we’ve qualified for a Munster final, and we’re very much looking forward to that.”
Limerick: Shane Dowling; Barry Murphy, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes (0-4), Declan Hannon, Colin Coughlan; Darragh O’Donovan, William O’Donoghue, captain; Gearóid Hegarty (0-2), Cathal O’Neill (0-3), Tom Morrissey (0-7); Séamus Flanagan (0-2), Shane O’Brien, Peter Casey (0-2).
Substitutes: Adam English (0-1), Barry Nash (0-1), Aidan O’Connor (0-1), David Reidy, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh (0-1), Patrick O’Donovan.
