Conor Cooney was immense as Galway saw off Limerick by 1-20 to 1-12 in the quarterfinal at the Gaelic Grounds.

Cooney finished with a personal tally of 1-09 for the match and he was outstanding from both play and frees as the Tribesmen really took control of the match in the second half.

The 'prize' for defeating the Shannonsiders is a semi final meeting against Kilkenny, but with the likes of Joe Canning and Damien Hayes coming back into the side, Galway manager Anthony Cunningham will be quietly confident of upsetting the odds against the Cats.

For Limerick, they never really looked like causing an upset, although they did play well in the first half, but once Galway got to grips with the game in the second half, there was only ever going to be one winner.

Galway led by a goal at the break (1-08 to 0-08), but it was Limerick that settled early on after Cathal Mannion and Padraig Brehony pointed for the visitors.

James Ryan and Kevin Downes were to the fore for Limerick and they helped them into a 0-05 to 0-02 lead by midway through the first half.

Cooney then had a close range free after Cathal King had fouled Niall Healy and he opted to go for goal, which proved the right decision as the St Thomas' clubman buried the sliotar into the back of the net.

Shane Dowling added a point for Limerick, but their opponents closed out the half strongly as Cooney (2), Jonathan Glynn, and David Burke all pointed before the break.

The Tribesmen upped the tempo in the second half and they outscored Limerick by six points to one to help them lead by 1-14 to 0-09 with just over ten minutes remaining.

Limerick tried in vain to close the gap and they could only manage another three points for the remainder of the match compared to Galway's six.

Scorers for Galway: Conor Cooney 1-9 (1-6fs, 265s), David Burke 0-3, Padraig Brehony 0-2, Jonathan Glynn 0-2, Damien Hayes 0-1, Cathal Mannion 0-1, Niall Burke 0-1, Niall Healy 0-1. Scorers for Limerick: James Ryan 1-3, Shane Dowling 0-3 (2fs, 165), Kevin Downes 0-3, Graeme Mulcahy 0-1, Conor Allis 0-1, Alan Dempsey 0-1.

Galway: Colm Callanan; Fergal Moore, Ronan Burke, David Collins; Aidan Harte, Iarla Tannian, Daithi Burke; Padraig Brehony, Johnny Coen; Niall Burke, Conor Cooney, David Burke; Niall Healy, Jonathan Glynn, Cathal Mannion. Subs: Joe Canning for N Burke (53 mins), Jason Flynn for Mannion (58 mins), Kevin Hynes for Harte (62 mins), Damien Hayes for David Burke (62 mins), Gearoid McInerney for Healy (66 mins)

Limerick: Nicky Quaid; Cathal King, Philip O'Loughlin, Tom Condon; Paudie O'Brien, Wayne McNamara, Gavin O'Mahony; Donal O'Grady, Paul Browne; Kevin Downes, James Ryan, David Reidy; Graeme Mulcahy, Shane Dowling, Conor Allis. Subs: Alan Dempsey for Browne (54 mins), Mark Carmody for King (62 mins), William Hickey for Reidy (65 mins)

Referee: Brian Gavin (Offaly). Tweet

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