Limerick IT 0-18 Waterford IT 1 -11

FIVE DAYS out from Portumna’s showdown with Dunloy in the GAA All-Ireland Club semi-final, Joe Canning showed no mercy for the backs of Waterford IT at the LIT’s Moylish campus sports field.

The mercurial full-forward contributed 10 points, eight of them from play, as Limerick IT saw off their south-eastern opponents by four points. Davy Fitzgerald’s men recovered from a slow start to take control of the contest by half-time, but would rely even more on Canning in the closing stages as Waterford IT staged a fightback that brought them to within three points of the Limerick side with four minutes left on the clock.

Tipperary’s Timmy Hammersley tormented Clare’s All-Ireland under-21 winning corner-back James Gunning in the opening quarter as the WIT midfield pair of Mark Molloy and Willie O’Dwyer delivered the telling ball into their inside line.

WIT would ultimately rue not making best use of their initial advantage – four shots from very scoreable positions drifted harmlessly wide in the first 15 minutes, and the visitors would not enjoy a similarly potent spell until well into the final quarter.

LIT managed to stay in touch during this period through scores from Paudie O’Brien and Canning (two). A marvellous turn, run and pass by Seán Tobin led to Niall Quinn firing LIT into the lead for the first time, and that score marked a turning point.

Another run from Tobin set up Canning for another Limerick score, and the Portumna man added another from the sideline to push his side six clear. Tobin himself then registered a fine point, which was soon followed by further white flags from Nicky O’Connell, Canning and Séamus Callinan. Ray McLoughney stopped the rot for Waterford IT with a point, and Hammersley added another soon after to reduce the gap to five.

Two more Canning points from play upped the margin to seven before fellow Galwayman Niall Quinn had the final score of the half to leave the hosts ahead 0-13 to 0-5 at the break.

McLoughney put WIT on the board first in the second half as the visitors set about their uphill task. Seán Collins shot back for LIT before Hammersley and Callinan exchanged points and Ray McLoughney netted from close range in the 42nd minute.

The goal inspired further WIT scores – points from Hammersley and Reade had the deficit down to four. Canning though was once again the master of the situation, tacking on two excellent scores.

Two more Hammersley frees kept the fires of comeback stoking for WIT, and the visitors entered the final quarter carrying the momentum. Four minutes from time goalkeeper Adrian Power’s free screeched a few inches north of Matthew Ryan’s crossbar, and with it perhaps went WIT’s chances of victory.

Fittingly it fell to Canning to hit the final point.

LIT: M Ryan, C Chaplin, C Cooney, J Gunning, N O’Connell (0-1), J McInerney, R Sherlock, S Collins (0-1), P O’Brien (0-1), W Hyland, S Callinan (0-2), N Quinn (0-2), S Tobin (0-1), J Canning (0-10, 2 frees), B Gaffney. Subs: A Ryan for J McInerney, P Browne for A Ryan.

WIT: A Power(0-1, 1 free), B Kenny, S Fives, N Connors, W Hutchinson, E Barrett, PJ Rowe, M Molloy, W O’Dwyer, F O’Leary (0-1), K Reade (0-2), R Good, T Hammersley (0-6, 4 frees), K Grehan, R McLoughney (1-1). Subs: J Gahan for Good, C Lacey for Fives.

Referee: Jason O’Mahony (Limerick).