Kilmallock off to winning start as they see off Patrickswell in Limerick SHC

Kilmallock got off to a flying start in the Limerick Senior Hurling Championship with a 0-23 to 0-18 win over Patrickswell in Newcastle West.

Limerick star Shane O’Brien excelled for Kilmallock, despite being sent off midway through the second half, with 10 points while on the field.

It was a dominant performance from James Hickeys’ side with Patrickswell overly reliant on county duo Aaron Gillane and Diarmaid Byrnes, who chipped in with 17 of their 18 points.

Kilmallock were full value for their victory and led by five at the end of a first half where O’Brien shone.

Playing at wing forward for most of the half, O’Brien fired over six points, four of which came from play.

He opened the scoring with two minutes on the clock but it was soon cancelled out by a Byrnes free.

Blood sub Stephen Quirke typified Kilmallock’s attitude with their next score, mere seconds after he came onto the field. Conor Staunton landed the next to stretch their lead to two.

Gillane hit the target to cut that gap to one and the sides eventually drew level on 20 minutes at six apiece after Byrnes landed a second free.

It was from there that Kilmallock edged ahead. O’Brien (2), Conor Hanley-Clarke, Gearoid Enright and Phelim O’Reilly all landed blows with a solitary Gillane free in response for Patrickswell. That saw the score at 0-12 to 0-7 in the lead up to half time.

O’Brien was at it again with the opening score of the second half as Patrickswell struggled to tie down the Kilmallock sharpshooter.

Kilmallock had stretched their advantage to eight points by the time O’Brien received a second yellow card, followed by a red, heading into the final quarter but Patrickswell were unable to find a goal to edge their way back in and Killmallock ran out convincing winners.

Scorers for Kilmallock: S O’Brien (0-10, 4f), O O’Reilly (0-3), C Staunton and P O’Reilly (0-2 each), S Quirke, C Hanley-Clarke (0-1, 1f), G Enright, D Woulfe, P Connery (1f) and K O’Donnell (0-1 each).

Scorers for Patrickswell: A Gillane (0-12, 10f), D Byrnes (0-5, 4f), J Higgins (0-1).

KILMALLOCK: C Hanley-Clarke; D O’Brien, M O’Loughlin, L English; R Egan, A Costello, P O’Reilly; G Enright, K Hayes; C Staunton, M Houlihan, T Savage, O O’Reilly, D Woulfe, S O’Brien.

Subs: S Quirke for D O’Brien (blood sub, 4), P Connery for Savage (50), S Quirke for Enright (50), K O’Donnell for Staunton (60).

PATRICKSWELL: J Gillane; K Lynch, N Foley, E Harmon; D Byrnes, C Carroll, E Fitzgerald; J Murray, C Fitzgerald; J Higgins, C Lynch, K O’Brien; P Kirby, A Gillane, M Carmody.

Subs: T O’Brien for K O’Brien (38), H Maher for C Fitzgerald (41), L Fitzgerald for Carmody (50), J Carrig for Foley (54).

Referee: E Stapleton (Doon).