All but one of Limerick’s scores came from frees – that being their goal, while the Down players were queuing up to register, with 12 different scorers in total.
It took quite a while for the board to get moving, with Limerick having much of the ball in the early stages, but once the Mournemen scored their first point from an Odhran Murdock free in the eighth minute, there was no stopping them.
Down led by three points before Peter Nash converted Limerick’s first free on 15 minutes. Six more points followed for Conor Laverty’s side who had grown comfortably into the game, while Jimmy Lee’s men struggled to get within scoring range and kicked a number of efforts short.
They did convert three more from the dead ball but Down held a 0-10 to 0-4 lead at half-time.
It looked like it was over as a contest when Daniel Guinness hit a maximum for Down on 38 minutes and Danny Magill tagged on a free to widen the margin to 10 points, but Limerick replied with a goal of their own from Nash.
But things got worse for Limerick when Jamie Baynham, who was only on as a sub, was dealt a straight red card for a foul on Johnston and it was plain sailing for the home side who romped home with seven more points to Limerick’s one.
Scorers – Down: D Guinness 1-0, P Havern 0-3 (1f, 1m), E Brown 0-3, O Murdock 0-2 (2f), D Magill 0-2, G McKribben 0-2, J McGovern 0-2, L Kerr 0-1, R Johnston 0-1, R Magill 0-1, R McEvoy 0-1, P Fegan 0-1, C McCrickard 0-1
Limerick: P Nash 1-4 (4f), J Naughton 0-2 (2f)
Down: J O’Hare; F McElroy, R McEvoy, P Fegan; R Magill, P Laverty, S Johnston; D Guinness, O Murdock; E Brown, L Kerr, B McConville; D Magill, P Havern, R Johnston
Subs: S Annett for McConville 44, J McGovern for Kerr 45, G McKibben for D Magill 48, P McCarthy for Johnston 57, C McCrickard for Brown 59
Limerick: J Ryan; S Doherty, S O’Dea, C Woolfe; B Coleman, C Fahy, P Maher; T Childs, D Siachru; S Costelloe, J Naughton, C Downes; B Ahern, R Childs, P Nash
Subs: J Sweeney for Griffin 33, D Siachru for Ahern 48, J Baynham for McCarthy 51, D O’Doherty for Naughton 55, E Hurley for Maher 64
Referee: Conor Dourmeen (Cavan)
