Trip to Mullingar and fixture with Westmeath up next for Limerick hurlers:
By John Keogh Limerick Leader Sport
LIMERICK’S senior hurlers make the journey to Mullingar this coming Sunday for their second round Allianz Hurling League Division 1B fixture.
John Kiely’s men head to Cusack Park for the second year in succession following an opening day 27-point win against Antrim in their opening outing on Sunday last.
The Limerick manager is likely to continue with the experimentation we have seen in 2024 thus far. Kiely gave league debuts to Ethan Hurley, Joe Fitzgerald, Paddy O’Donovan and Emmet McEvoy in Thurles last weekend and others could follow suit in Mullingar.
Limerick came away with a 1-27 to 1-15 win from their last visit to the Lake County and will be unbackable favourites to do something similar this time around.
One of the big plusses from the Antrim game was the collective performance and efficiency of Limerick’s full forward line.
The trio of Adam English, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh and Shane O’Brien plundered 1-22 between them in an impressive showing. English landed 0-10, O’Brien 1-5 and Ó Dálaigh finished the game with 0-7.
Captain Gearóid Hegarty also impressed from half forward, while David Reidy also had a solid outing at a new position for him with Limerick at centre back.
The competition within the Limerick panel at the moment is as fierce as ever with Kiely currently having 46 players at his disposal.
That number is likely to whittled down soon with at least 10 players set to be released. More difficult challenges await for this Limerick team and panel with fixtures against Dublin, Tipperary and Galway to come.
Westmeath come into the fixture on the back of a tough opening day loss to Galway on a 4-31 to 0-12 scoreline. Joe Fortune’s side will be hopeful of a better showing when the All-Ireland and League champions come to town.
The game at Cusack Park on Sunday has a 2pm start.