Galway booked their place in this year's Allianz HL final courtesy of a 1-21 to 1-11 penultimate stage victory over a below par Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds today.

Played in front of 9,523 spectators, the team in maroon and white didn't really have to break a sweat as they finished with 10 points to spare over the Shannonsiders.

Limerick lacked a cutting edge up front and accumulated 17 wides in total whereas Galway's full-forward line - Conor Whelan, Cathal Mannion and Conor Cooney - caused all sorts of problems for the home side's defence and were much more efficient in front of the posts.

That trio helped lay the foundations for the victory when sending over eight points between them during the opening period while 'man-of-the-match' Cooney practically wrapped up the victory when netting their goal midway through the second-half.

Limerick played second fiddle in most areas of the field but a goal against the run of play from William O'Donoghue briefly lifted the spirits of their supporters.

O'Donoghue kicked the sliotar to the back of the Galway net after good work by David Dempsey but it proved to be false dawn for the Treaty County as Galway's response to that set-back was impressive.

Points from Johnny Coen and Joe Canning (2 frees) steaded the ship and they took a 0-13 to 1-5 advantage into the break.

With wind advantage to come in the second-half, Limerick manager John Kiely would have demanded an improvement from his players during his half-time team talk but, despite Shane Dowling sending over the first score of the second-half in the 42nd minute, it never materialised.

It's also safe to assume that Kiely's Galway counterpart Micheal Donoghue will be looking for his players to brush up on certain aspects of their game plan ahead of their final date against the winners of Tipperary versus Wexford.

The early exchanges after the resumption were scrappy, to say the least, but Galway's class shone through as the game progressed.

Conor Cooney's 56th minute green flag left them 1-15 to 1-9 to the good and they eased their way into the final with a string of scores from Cathal Mannion, Canning and Cooney rounding off a satisfactory afternoon's work.

Canning and Cooney top scored for the winners with 0-7 (6 frees) and 1-4 respectively while Mannion hit 0-4.

They now turn their attention to a first league final appearance since 2010.

Galway - C Callanan; A Tuohy, J Hanbury, A Harte; P Mannion (0-1), G McInerney, Daithi Burke; J Coen (0-1), David Burke (0-1); J Cooney, J Canning (0-7, 6f), P Brehony; C Whelan (0-2), C Mannion (0-4), C Cooney (1-4). Subs: T Monaghan (0-1) for P Brehony, P Killeen for J Hanbury, N Burke for J Cooney, J Flynn for C Whelan, S Loftus for David Burke.

Limerick - N Quaid; R English. R McCarthy, M Casey; D Byrnes (0-1), D Hannon, S Hickey; A Dempsey, W O'Donoghue (1-0); S Dowling (0-5, 4f), D Dempsey (0-1); G Hegarty; G Mulcahy, K Hayes, C Lynch (0-1). Subs: G O'Mahony for D Hannon, S Finn for S Hickey, B Nash (0-2) for G Mulcahy, J Fitzgibbon (0-1) for D Dempsey, J Ryan for A Demspey.

Referee - P O'Dwyer.

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