2018 Limerick county hurling team season

The 2018 Limerick county hurling team season was the Limerick senior hurling team's 127th active season of participation in inter-county hurling. During the season, Limerick played in the Munster League, the National League, the Munster Championship and the All-Ireland Championship. It was the team's most successful season in nearly half a century.

Limerick county hurling team
2018 season
Irish:Luimneach
Nickname(s):The Shannonsiders
The Treaty County
Province:Munster
Dominant sport:Hurling
Ground(s):Gaelic Grounds, Limerick
County colours:Green and white   
County teams
NHL:National Hurling League Division 1B
Hurling Championship:All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Regular kit
Change kit

Veteran players James Ryan and Gavin O'Mahony retired from inter-county hurling within days of each other at the end of the previous season, while 2017 championship panellist Stephen Cahill was also an absentee.[1][2] Notable players returning included Kevin Downes, who missed the 2017 season due to a cruciate injury, and David Reidy, who rejoined the Limerick panel after a year with the Kildare senior hurling team. Other additions included several players from Limerick's 2017 All-Ireland Under-21 Championship-winning team, such as Séamus Flanagan.[3]

On 19 August 2018, Limerick won the All-Ireland title for the 8th time in their history after a 3-16 to 2-18 defeat of Galway in the All-Ireland SHC final at Croke Park.[4] Leading by nine points at one stage in the second half and by eight with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Limerick withstood a sensational Galway comeback, which included late goals by Conor Whelan and Joe Canning, to win by a single point. It was their first All-Ireland title since 1973.

Limerick were described as the "worthiest All-Ireland champions" of all time after playing eight games to win the title, including defeats of the traditional big three - Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary - as well as the 2017 All-Ireland champions Galway and runners-up Waterford.[5] Over 80,000 fans lined the streets of Limerick to welcome the team home the day after the final.[6]

Players and staff

Backroom staff
Position Name
Manager John Kiely
Selector Brian Geary
Selector Jimmy Quilty
Selector Aaron Cunningham
Coach Paul Kinnerk
Strength and conditioning coach Joe O'Connor
Goalkeeping coach Timmy Houlihan
Performance coach Caroline Currid
Statistician Seán O'Donnell
Statistician Kieran Hickey
Statistician Conor Reale
Statistician Ruairí Maher
Logistics Eamon O'Neill
Logistics Conor McCarthy
Kitman Ger O'Connell
Maor Camáin Alan Feely
Doctor James Ryan
Physio Mark van Drumpt
Physio Mark Melbourne

[7]

All-Ireland Championship

Knockout stages
Date Round Opponents Result Scorers Attendance
7 July 2018 Preliminary
Quarter-final		 Carlow 5-22 - 0-13 A Gillane 1-6 (0-2fs), P Casey 1-3, T Morrissey 0-5, G Mulcahy, D Byrnes (0-1 '65') 1-1 each,
K Hayes 1-0, G Hegarty 0-2, C Lynch, B Nash, S Flanagan, D O'Donovan 0-1 each.		 6,000
14 July 2018 Quarter-final Kilkenny 0-27 - 1-22 A Gillane 0-5 (2f), T Morrissey 0-4, K Hayes, G Mulcahy, G Hegarty, D O'Donovan (1 sideline) 0-3 each,
P Casey 0-2, S Flanagan, D Byrne, D Hannon, S Dowling 0-1 each.		 18,596
28 July 2018 Semi-final Cork 3-32 - 2-31
(aet)		 A Gillane 0-13 (0-7 fs); S Dowling (1-0 pen; 0-1 f) 1-4 (0-1 f); C Lynch 1-1; G Mulcahy 0-4; P Ryan 1-0;
G Hegarty 0-3; D Byrne (f), D O’Donovan, S Flanagan, K Hayes, T Morrissey, B Nash, D Reidy 0-1.		 71,073
19 August 2018 Final Galway 3-16 - 2-18 G Mulcahy 1-2, K Hayes 0-4, T Morrissey 1-1, S Dowling 1-0, A Gillane 0-3 (0-2f), D Hannon 0-2,
D Byrnes, D O’Donovan, C Lynch, S Flanagan 0-1 each.		 71,073

Statistics

Scorers
Player Munster League National League Munster Ch. All-Ireland Ch. Overall
ScoreTotalScoreTotalScoreTotalScoreTotalScoreTotal
Aaron Gillane 1-21246-67850-10101-27308-125149
Tom Morrissey 0-0880-14140-15151-11141-4851
Séamus Flanagan 3-05140-14140-0990-0333-3140
Graeme Mulcahy —2-04101-0692-10165-2035
Diarmaid Byrnes 0-0331-13160-0661-0472-2632
Gearóid Hegarty 0-0111-11141-0580-0882-2531
Shane Dowling ——0-19192-05112-2430
Cian Lynch 0-0220-0770-0991-0361-2124
Kyle Hayes —1-0360-0551-08112-1622
Darragh O'Donovan 0-0330-0330-0550-0660-1717
David Reidy —0-1515—0-0110-1616
Barry Nash 1-07100-011—0-0221-1013
Paul Browne 0-0220-099——0-1111
Pat Ryan 0-0111-036—1-0032-0410
Peter Casey ———1-0581-058
Colin Ryan —0-066——0-066
Oisín O'Reilly —1-025——1-025
Barry O'Connell 0-0110-044——0-055
Barry Murphy —0-0111-003—1-014
Declan Hannon 0-011——0-0330-044
Andrew La Touche Cosgrave 0-022———0-022
Dan Morrissey ——0-022—0-022
Paddy O'Loughlin 0-011———0-011
David Dempsey ——0-011—0-011
Total 5-587313-1772163-9210111-9612932-423519

Clean sheets
Player Munster League National League Munster Ch. All-Ireland Ch. TOTAL
Nickie Quaid14117
Barry Hennessy01001
Totals15118

References
  1. "Gavin O'Mahony retires from intercounty hurling". RTÉ Sport. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  2. "Limerick captain Ryan announces inter-county retirement". RTÉ Sport. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  3. O'Toole, Fintan (16 November 2017). "Downes back from cruciate, Reidy back from Kildare and U21 winners added to Limerick panel". The 42. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  4. McGoldrick, Seán (19 August 2018). "Limerick are All Ireland hurling champions for the first time in 45 years following epic victory over Galway". Irish Independent. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  5. McEvoy, Enda (18 August 2018). "The victors will be the worthiest All-Ireland champions in history. That'll be Limerick". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  6. Raleigh, David (21 August 2018). "80,000 plus fans pay tribute as Limerick's All Ireland-winning team return home". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  7. O'Connell, Jerome (16 August 2018). "Who's who in the 20-strong Limerick hurling management". Limerick Leader. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
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