Allianz FL D4 Final: Limerick triumph at Croke Park:
Allianz Football League Division Four Final
Limerick 3-11 Wexford 0-18
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
Tommie Childs capped a terrific Croke Park performance with the match winning goal as Limerick stole the Allianz National Football League Division Four silverware.
Beaten by Wexford when they met in the group, the Shannonsiders had the last laugh and signed off on their spring campaign with a fourth Division title.
Earlier goals from Darragh O Siochru and substitute Peter Nash were significant too while Emmett Rigter struck two points and was named Man of the Match.
But it wasn’t until Childs converted in the 62nd minute, straight after two two-pointers from resurgent Wexford, that Limerick finally took a lead they would hold onto.
Wexford didn’t lose any face defeat and almost tied the game up late on when, trailing by two, they worked the ball into a position to shoot for another two-pointer.
But Niall Hughes was unable to split the posts and with the hooter having already sounded, it was the last action of a memorable encounter.
The win should give Limerick plenty of confidence ahead of next weekend’s Munster SFC opener with Cork while Wexford will take on Laois in Leinster.
Wexford arrived at Croke Park armed with the only perfect record across all four divisions, their seven group wins yielding a whopping 14 points.
They’d been kicking scores for fun too and previously took care of Limerick in an early February encounter in Rathkeale.
Their all action, gung-ho attitude dovetailed nicely with the vast acreage on offer at GAA HQ and the 2005 Division 1 finalists carved out a series of goal opportunities in the opening half.
Unfortunately for Wexford, whilst the build up play was good with number four Martin O’Connor typically involved, and creative contributions too from the likes of Eoin Porter and Eoghan Nolan, they couldn’t convert any of those chances.
Shane Pettit had a shot deflected wide, Gavin Sheehan was foiled by the Limerick goalkeeper, Mark Rossiter had an effort blocked down and Porter’s second point, in the 29th minute, was tipped over by the ‘keeper.
It was superb defending from Limerick for the most part with full-back Colm McSweeney throwing himself in the way of the Pettit effort.
Meanwhile, at the other end, it was all about James Naughton. Fresh off hitting Waterford for 4-12 last weekend, he was unsurprisingly full of vigour and confidence early on.
He got lots of possession but didn’t always have the accuracy to compliment his ambition.
He drilled three wides including a kick-pass meant for Tony McCarthy who was in space and bearing down on goal.
Naughton also fed 2024 Tailteann Cup All-Star Rigter for a goal chance in the dying moments of the half which the full-forward booted wide.
Still, there were plenty of positives for Naughton who drilled four first-half points and he also helped set up their 24th minute goal for O Siochru by initially linking up with Tommy Childs.
It all added up to a 1-6 to 0-6 half-time advantage for Limerick who showed no signs of distraction with next weekend’s Championship opener on the horizon.
Wexford, to their credit, looked fully focused on lifting silverware too and restarted brightly, scoring three points in a row.
Veteran Ben Brosnan was brought on at half-time and was immediately impactful, winning a free that Rossiter converted and shooting a wide.
Another from Rossiter tied the game up at 0-9 to 1-6 but Limerick’s second goal, from Nash in the 45th minute, turned out to be the game’s turning point.
Rigter and Childs helped set up Nash for the goal in his first play after coming on and Limerick were in pole position for the majority of the game after that.
Wexford didn’t throw in the towel and briefly levelled it at 2-10 to 0-16 following two-point scores from Eoghan Nolan and goalkeeper Darragh Brooks.
But Limerick quickly reestablished their lead when Childs sniped their third goal eight minutes from time.
Childs did brilliantly, finding space initially by darting away from Niall Hughes and then selling a dummy to goalkeeper Brooks before shooting to the net.
Scorers for Limerick: Darragh O Siochru 1-1, Tommie Childs 1-1, James Naughton 0-4 (2fs), Peter Nash 1-0, Emmett Rigter 0-2, Tony McCarthy 0-1, Paul Maher 0-1, Danny Neville 0-1.
Scorers for Wexford: Mark Rossiter 0-4 (3fs), Darragh Brooks 0-3 (2ptf, 1 45), Eoin Porter 0-2, Eoghan Nolan 0-2 (2pt), Pairic Hughes 0-2, Niall Hughes 0-2, Kevin O’Grady 0-1, Graeme Cullen 0-1, Martin O’Connor 0-1.
Limerick: Josh Ryan; Cormac Woulfe, Colm McSweeney, Fiachra Cotter; Mark McCarthy, Iain Corbett, Tony McCarthy; Darragh O’Hagan, Tommie Childs; Paul Maher, Killian Ryan, Cillian Fahy; Darragh O Siochru, Emmett Rigter, James Naughton.
Subs: Rob Childs for McCarthy 29, Peter Nash for O’Hagan 43, Danny Neville for O Siochru 53, Andrew Meade for Fahy 60, Diarmuid Buckley for McCarthy 60.
Wexford: Darragh Brooks; Liam O’Connor, Gavin Sheehan, Michael Furlong; Martin O’Connor, Eoghan Nolan, Eoin Porter; Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Pairic Hughes, Shane Pettit, Tom Byrne; Mark Rossiter, Kevin O’Grady, Cian Hughes.
Subs: Sean Ryan for Byrne h/t, Ben Brosnan for C Hughes h/t, Graeme Cullen for Pettit 46, Dylan Furlong for O’Connor 50.
Referee: Seamus Mulhare (Laois).