Allianz Hurling League Division 1A

Limerick 1-26 Kilkenny 2-16

By Tom Clancy at TUS Gaelic Grounds

Limerick bounced back from opening day disappointment to collect a first victory of their 2026 Allianz Division 1A hurling campaign.

Aidan O’Connor top scored with 10 points for the Shannonsiders, while Peter Casey turned in a Man of the Match display, with five majestic points.

John Kiely will have liked much of the quality and endeavour as they led for much of this contest, and Limerick took complete control in the second half.

Both these counties had contrasting fortunes in their season opener, Kilkenny edging by Leinster rivals Offaly on opening weekend, while Limerick were beaten by the same score, four points, by Waterford last weekend.

The home side, playing in front of 8,958 supporters, raced into a five point lead. Diarmaid Byrnes and Aidan O’Connor, both landed frees while the later also chipped in from play.

The returning Aaron Gillane was also on the mark as Kilkenny struggled to get to the required pace early on. After a trio of wides, the Cats registered through John Donnelly and there was more life when Eoin Cody fired over his first for Derek Lyng's men.

The Ballyhale forward set up the opening goal, feeding Martin ‘Mossy’ Keoghan, whose shot just about went through a sea of green bodies. Limerick had earlier gone close through Gillane, but Aidan Tallis and Mikey Carey combined to prevent the Patrickswell forward finding the net.

It was a tight remainder of the half, with the sides level a further five times as they traded scores. Nice efforts from Timmy Clifford and Eoin Cody for Kilkenny were answered by Matthew Fitzgerald and the busy Peter Casey.

However, four of the final five points in the half went to the home outfit, as Casey, Adam English and O’Connor were accurate. English’s point the pick of the scores to push Limerick 0-14 to 1-9 ahead at the change of ends.

Aaron Gillane rattled the net on the 57 minutes. Played in, unmarked by English, the inside forward elected not to pass to Cathal O’Neill, but instead thunder home a rocket that Tallis had little chance of seeing and certainly not stopping.

He added a point soon after as the gap widened to seven. Kilkenny were inaccurate for much of the second half and this is one of the reasons the 2023 League winners pulled clear.

There was time for Diarmaid Byrnes to see a penalty saved by Aidan Tallis, after Mikey Carey was black carded for a trip. Kilkenny host Waterford in a fortnight's time, while the Treaty clash with old rivals Tipperary in Thurles.

Scorers for Limerick: Aidan O’Connor 0-10 (7fs); Aaron Gillane 1-2; Peter Casey 0-5; Diarmaid Byrnes 0-3 (2fs); Matthew Fitzgerald, Adam English, David Reidy, Gearoid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill, Tom Morrissey 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kilkenny: Eoin Cody 1-6 (1f); Martin Keoghan 1-0; Cian Kenny 0-2 (2fs); Liam Moore 0-2; John Donnelly, Timmy Clifford, Darragh Corcoran, Paddy Deegan, Luke Hogan, Jordan Molloy 0-1 each.

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Mike Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, William O’Donoghue, Matthew Fitzgerald; Adam English, Cian Lynch (Capt); Gearoid Hegarty, David Reidy, Aidan O’Connor; Aaron Gillane, Hugh Flanagan, Peter Casey.

Subs: Cathal O’Neill for Flanagan (HT); Dan Morrissey for Finn (40); Darragh O’Donovan for Reidy (52); Tom Morrissey for Hegarty (59); Paddy O’Donovan for Gillane (70).

Kilkenny: Aidan Tallis; Mikey Butler, Mikey Carey, Rory Garrett; Killian Doyle, Darragh Corcoran (Capt), Paddy Deegan; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; Timmy Clifford, Eoin Cody, Luke Connellan; Liam Moore, John Donnelly, Martin Keoghan.

Subs: Luke Hogan for Connellan (47); Stephen Donnelly for John Donnelly (48); Shane Murphy for Doyle (54); Cathal Beirne for Clifford (57); Fionán Mackessy for Molloy (64).

Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway).