All Ireland Hurling Semi Final 2023

After 25 minutes of this All-Ireland semifinal, Limerick was down by six points, leaving you to wonder if the three-peat All-Ireland champions were in danger.

They found it difficult to summon their normal combination of fluency with the ball and restrained aggression without it because they had been outhustled and outthought by a Galway team that was brimming with enthusiasm.

However, once their defence, which included William O'Donoghue in the unaccustomed position of center-back, had a handle on the players they were tasked with guarding, they started vying for the ball with their typical vigour in the middle third and won the puck-out contest.

They were able to use that as a platform to really engage their attackers in the game, and they absolutely controlled the final ten minutes of the first half and the whole second to win with ease.

As they proceed to yet another All-Ireland Final and attempt to win a record-tying fourth championship in a row and fifth in six years, it is evident that this Limerick team's hunger has not abated.

The Galway players will be extremely disappointed with how their campaign fizzled out after a really positive beginning.

With points from Evan Niland (free) and Brian Concannon sandwiching an Aaron Gillane free for Limerick, they immediately got into the game.

But then, somewhat adversly, Limerick dealt the game's first significant blow when Gillane scored his signature goal.

He used remarkable muscle to intercept Tom Morrissey's pass above Daithi Burke's head and ruthlessly finished from close range.

Munster GAA

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2023 GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final – Limerick 2-24 Galway 1-18

 July 8 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Limerick defeated Galway by 2-24 to 1-18 in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Semi-Final on Saturday July 8th at Croke Park.

Match Highlights

All-Ireland SHC semi-final: Limerick overpower Galway

LIMERICK 2-24 GALWAY 1-18

Report By John Harrington at Croke Park for GAA.ie

After 25 minutes of this All-Ireland semifinal, Limerick was down by six points, leaving you to wonder if the three-peat All-Ireland champions were in danger.

They found it difficult to summon their normal combination of fluency with the ball and restrained aggression without it because Galway's team was out-hustled and out-thought.

However, after their defence, which included William O'Donoghue in the unaccustomed position of center-back, started to get a handle on the players they were tasked with marking, they started vying for the ball with their customary vigour in the middle third, and they won the puck-out fight.

They were able to use that as a springboard to really engage their strikers in the game, and they absolutely controlled the final ten minutes of the first half and the entire second to win with ease.

As they proceed to yet another All-Ireland Final and attempt to win a record-tying fourth championship in a row and fifth in six years, it is evident that this Limerick team's hunger has not abated.

The Galway players will be extremely disappointed with how their campaign fizzled out after a really positive beginning.

With points from Evan Niland (free) and Brian Concannon sandwiching an Aaron Gillane free for Limerick, they immediately got into the game.

Then, almost against the grain of the game, Limerick dealt the first significant blow when Gillane scored his signature goal.

He used amazing power to receive a Tom Morrissey pass over Daithi Burke's head and then ruthlessly finished from close range.

With another Niland free, Galway responded right away, demonstrating their tenacious mental fortitude in the match.

Conor Whelan gave them the advantage back after winning a pass ahead of Mike Casey, eluding the Limerick defender, and lancing the ball over the crossbar after another Niland free had levelled the score.

Following another Niland free, Limerick immediately pulled even again, 1-3 to 0-6, on goals from Gillane (free) and Peter Casey.

When Cathal Mannion was brought in by Kevin Cooney with a pass that had real vision, the midfielder scored the game's best offensive play from a tight angle.

Concannon struck a very lovely point as he expertly sidestepped past Kyle Hayes before driving it over the bar. Galway now had the match well in hand.

Concannon was giving Limerick a lot of trouble because he was slithering all over the pitch into open areas, making himself accessible for passes while also producing some fantastic diagonal deliveries into Conor Whelan from deep positions.

With seven different players firing seven wides in the first half, Limerick's shooting at the other end of the field was notably off-color.

Galway was more efficient, both in play and with put balls, and by the 25th minute, they had increased their lead to 1-12 to 1-6.

If Mike Casey had not produced an outstanding goal-line save from a Concannon ground-stroke that appeared headed for the net, Limerick's precarious situation may have gotten considerably worse.

The closing ten minutes of the first half saw Limerick come to life, as though energised by that close call.

Darragh O'Donovan should receive a lot of praise for their comeback. He sank a fantastic point from wide to the left before expertly weighted passes for Aaron Gillane and Seamus Flanagan resulted in two more points.

It must not have felt like a fair reflection of the enormous effort the Tribesmen had put in as the scoreboard at the break read 1-13 to 1-12 to Galway after the reigning champions made their final four points of the half.

In this game, Limerick continued their well-deserved tradition of stepping up their play at the start of the second half.

In the first ten minutes of the half, they outscored Galway by four points to two, with Tom Morrissey's inspired performance being the best of the bunch.

Then they scored their second goal, which will give Galway nightmares.

With a deft pass, David Reidy was put in position to be assisted by Aaron Gillane, whose initial batted effort hit the crossbar.

Padraic Mannion attempted to clear the rebound, but instead he sent it right back into Gillane's path, which the Patrickswell star brutally finished by lashing a ground-stroke into the net.

Galway were in serious trouble now that they were down by four points. They were having trouble controlling the game since Limerick sucked the ball up practically every time Éanna Murphy kicked it out due of this.

Additionally, they failed to get quality passes into their ravenous inside forwards because they were under so much pressure from Limerick tacklers when they did manage to gain possession in the middle third.

By the 58th minute, Limerick had increased its lead to seven points thanks to scores from Kyle Hayes, Gearoid Hegarty, Peter Casey, and David Reidy, and a Galway comeback was highly unlikely even at that point.

The game's final two scores were scored by substitutes Graeme Mulcahy and Cathal O'Neill in injury time as Limerick had the luxury of using their entire bench to their advantage.

Limerick will continue on to the All-Ireland Final in the hopes of adding another historic chapter to an already impressive narrative.

All Ireland Hurling Semi Final 2023