Another morale boosting result for Waterford football.
Paddy McCarthy and Joe Brennan scored 2-9 between them, on a breezy and bitterly cold night in Lemybrien, as the Déise beat Limerick 3-10 to 0-13 and delivered their first Munster minor championship win since 2019.
"You can see the excitement among the boys, the families and the supporters," a proud Déise boss Paul Power said afterwards. "I think this group are after earning that bit of respect."
Power's men led by fifteen points after 33 minutes but had to withstand a second half rally from Limerick. The Shannonsiders, led by Shane Dolan and Rory Mullins, got the last nine points of the match but couldn't find a goal. Injury time interceptions from McCarthy and Dylan Broxson saw the home team hold on.
McCarthy and Brennan are ones to watch. McCarthy's right boot produced 1-5 (1-4 from play) in the first half while Brennan was lethal off the left (1-4). Both counties will enter the new tier three All Ireland series next month.
The Déise led by eleven at the break (2-9 to 0-4) after choosing to play with the strong breeze blowing towards the dressing room goal. Power's charges worked the ball quickly into their danger men. McCarthy pulled the strings at centre forward. Brennan put over three points, including an eye catching effort off the outside of his left. Tom Lynch also raised a white flag.
On 21 minutes, Limerick number one Aaron Deane misplaced a free in front of his own goal and McCarthy crashed the ball to the roof of the empty net. Eight minutes later, McCarthy, Brennan and Ciaran Cotter created a second goal for David Nyhan. Shane Dolan shot three point points for Limerick while Rory Mullins converted an advanced mark.
Three minutes into the second period, a blast from Luke Hennessy was brilliantly saved by Deane but Brennan buried the rebound (3-10 to 0-4). Waterford wouldn't score again.
Five wind assisted Limerick points in four minutes via Dolan, Cian Costelloe, Evan O'Connor, Shane O'Dea and Rory Mullins brought the gap down to ten with 39 on the stopwatch. The last nine singles belonged to the visitors. Dolan added three more to his tally while Mullins nailed a monster effort from 45 metres. The leaders endured a nervy finale before they could celebrate a first championship win in five years.
