Limerick 2-23 Wexford 0-15
Limerick manager TJ Ryan must have been pleased with the high scoring rate of his side who thrashed a disappointing Wexford at the Gaelic Grounds on a bitterly cold and wet evening before an attendance of 2,253.
It was too one-sided throughout after Limerick made a sparkling start with points by Tom Morrissey, Diarmuid Byrne (f), Declan Hannon (f) and Paul Browne inside four minutes.
A point by Liam Óg Murphy was Wexford's sole response after five minutes and by midway in the half the home side led by 0-10 to 0-1 before Ian Byrne pointed a Wexford free.
It was 0-16 to 0-4 at halftime by which stage both Limerick midfielders and five of the six forwards were on the scoresheet. Another Ian Byrne free and a Lee Chin fine score completed the Wexford first half tally.
Manager Liam Dunne was clearly not a happy camper and he introduced three substitutes for the second half having brought in Sean Murphy for Cathal Dunbar after 27 minutes.
In fairness to Wexford they fared much better in the second half and outscored Limerick for twenty minutes. Harry Kehoe took over the free taking role after Byrne was replaced and he struck six points from frees.
The outcome was sealed after 52 minutes when Graeme Mulcahy goaled with his first touch after replacing Barry Nash who contributed 0-2.
Centre back Diarmuid Byrne and midfielder Paul Browne were in superb form for Limerick with the former getting four points (three long range frees), and Browne scored five points all from play.
After eleven minutes of the second half Wexford trailed by six points but Mulcahy’s goal was a killer blow for them and just at the end Declan Hannon struck the second goal to bring his tally to 1-4 with three of the points from frees.
Wexford managed only eight points from play with Andrew Shore getting two of them in the second half after he was switched from centre back to full forward but the bad start had a big affect on them.
Matthew O'Hanlon, Liam Ryan, Lee Chin were best for a Wexford side that will improve on this performance.
Declan Hannon did well for Limerick as did Tom Morrissey and his brother Dan also showed up well.
Limerick will be full of confidence for next Sunday’s away trip to Kerry managed by former Limerick star Ciaran Carey
Limerick: N Quaid; T Condon, R McCarthy, R English; D Morrissey, D Byrne 0-4 (3f), S Hickey; J Fitzgibbon 0-1, P Browne 0-5; D Reidy 0-1, G O'Mahony 0-2, C Lynch; T Morrissey 0-2, D Hannon 1-4 (0-2f), B Nash 0-2. Subs, G Mulcahy 1-1 for Nash (47), D O'Donovan for Fitzgibbon (52), S Tobin 0-1 for Reidy (60).
Wexford: M Fanning; L Ryan, M O'Hanlon 0-1, J Breen; A kenny, A Shore 0-2, P Foley; L Chin 0-2, H Kehoe 0-6 (6f); L Og McGowan 0-1, A Nolan, I Byrne 0-2 (2f); C Dunbarr, S Tompkins, D Dunne. Subs S Murphy for Dunbarr (27), E Conroy for Foley (36), E moore for Nolan (36), P Doran 0-1 for Byrne (36), J O'Connor for Tompkins (57).
Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)
