Limerick 1-16
Waterford 1-14

A superbly struck '45' from goalkeeper Brian Scanlon on the eve of injury-time helped Limerick to claim this year's National Football League Division Four title at the expense of Waterford this evening at Croke Park.

After leading by a single point at half-time thanks to a fortunate Ger Collins goal, Limerick fell behind to a resilient Waterford side, who had Man of the Match Shane Briggs leading them from the back and took the lead midway through the half with a brilliantly executed goal from Liam O Lionain.

However, Limerick had some reliable firepower up front in the likes of Ian Ryan and team captain Sean Buckley, who managed to pull them level heading towards the final stages, when Scanlon's gem and coolly fisted point from Ryan proved the difference come the long whistle

Waterford opened with good intent by forcing two 45s, which Wayne Hennessy failed to convert, before Brian Wall struck over the opening point when he was sent through by Conor McGrath on three minutes.

Ger Collins immediately levelled with a left-footed free for the Treaty men, but Hennessy had his team back in front with a nice turn past his man after which he raised the white flag.

Waterford looked in control but Limerick forced them into squandering their possession and when James Ryan intercepted the ball and fed Collins on the right wing the corner-forward's effort of a point dropped short and into the Deise net for three points.

Momentarily stunned, Waterford conceded three more points from the lethal Ian Ryan without response, which saw them fall five behind, before good work from McGrath racing off the 40 saw them pull one back.

Collins and Tony Grey exchanged scores to maintain the difference, but Waterford had a glorious chance of bagging their first goal in the 22nd minute when Gary Hurney's drilled effort across goal was just a whisker away from being met by the boot of Liam O Lionain but the ball slid wide.

Limerick hit back through Pa Relihan racing up from wing back to split the posts, but Waterford were determined not to let their neighbours away from them as Hennessy and Brian Wall (free) narrowed the gap to a goal.

From there, John Owens' team started to get a real grip around the centre and rattled off four points without reply to storm into the lead. The first coming from a slick move across the field that was finished over by Robert Ahearne. Grey's second point and a Wall free followed and when the latter sent over his third accurate placed ball of the evening it looked as though his side would be boasting the lead at half-time.

However, a vital free won by John Galvin in the right corner was converted by Collins and backed up by Ian Ryan, after some sloppy defending, to send the Shannonsiders in at the interval with a 1-8 to 0-10 advantage.

In the second-half, Waterford drew first blood to level matters as their forwards brought Conor Mullane's run from full-back to a halt and found Niall Hennessy, who sailed the ball over the bar.

A Collins free straight in front of goal nudged the favourites back in front, but O Lionain curled on over from close range to keep things on a knife-edge.

Hurney blasted a half goal chanced wide soon afterwards, as Limerick moved back into the lead when Ian Ryan collected a high ball into the square from Collins to turn and fist over.

Waterford substitute Patrick Hurney traded points with Seanie Buckley almost immediately after coming on and with 20 minutes to go the Deise men were given a major boost by their talisman in the left corner.

Brilliant approach play from Hurney on the left side saw the attacker cut in and release O Lionain, who steamed through the centre and buried a devastating finish past Scanlon in the Limerick goal right on the 50-minute mark.

It was a wake-up call for Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's charges, but their response wasn't as immediate as expected, with Stephen Kelly and Eoin O'Connor both being introduced to the attack, and they only managed a point over the next ten minutes as James O'Donovan muscled his way through for a score.

Points from Wall (free) and Ian Ryan kept us on course for an interesting finish and when Buckley sent through O'Connor for a darted point the sides had 1-14 each with eight minutes remaining in this decider.

With three minutes to go, Waterford found a gap through the centre and looked certain for their second goal when Patrick Hurney's soccer style shot was saved by Scanlon and the rebound sat up nicely for Tommy Prendergast, but his shot smacked off the upright and the danger was cleared by Limerick.

In the next attack, the Treaty men forced a '45' which was mulled over who would kick and eventually it was Scanlon that stepped up to sail the ball over the black spot to send the Limerick contingent into a euphoric state.

Waterford hunted for an equaliser but couldn't get past the Limerick rearguard in the remaining moments and were victims of an excellent break up field which Ian Ryan finished over with his fist to secure the title.

Limerick - B Scanlon (0-1, '45); M O'Riordan, C Mullane, A Lane; D Carroll, P Browne, P Ranahan (0-1); J O'Donovan (0-1), J Galvin; J Mullane, C Joyce-Power, S Buckley (0-1); G Collins (1-6, 3f), J Ryan, I Ryan (0-5). Subs - S Gallagher for Carroll, S Kelly for Mullane, E O'Connor (0-1) for J Ryan, E Joy for Lane, C Fitzgerald for Joyce-Power.

Waterford - T Wall; M O'Gorman, T O'Gorman, K Connery; T Grey (0-2), S Briggs, N Hennessey (0-1); T Prendergast, M Ahern; B Wall (0-5, 2f), C McGrath (0-1), W Hennessy (0-2); G Hurney, R Ahearne (0-1), L O Lionain (1-1). Subs - P Hurney (0-1) for Ahearne, S Cunningham for W Hennessy, C Phelan for Connery, J Phelan for Prendergast, M O'Gorman for N Hennessy.

Ref - R O'Donnell (Donegal). Tweet

Most Read Stories