{"id":382064,"date":"2026-04-04T19:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T19:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382064\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T19:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T19:08:08","slug":"three-key-battles-in-the-division-1-hurling-league-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/382064\/","title":{"rendered":"Three key battles in the Division 1 Hurling League final"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>John Kiely handed the free-taking duties to Aidan O&#8217;Connor this spring but that hasn&#8217;t diminished the importance of Aaron Gillane as their attacking spearhead.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Turning 30 this year, he&#8217;s been a consistent thorn in Cork&#8217;s side and earned the penalty that swung the league meeting last month, like he did in championship meetings in 2023 and &#8217;25.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5026952_11_articleinlinemobile_EOHCorkLim39.jpg\" alt=\"Aaron Gillane celebrates his penalty against Cork last May. Picture: Eddie O'Hare\" title=\"Aaron Gillane celebrates his penalty against Cork last May. Picture: Eddie O'Hare\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Aaron Gillane celebrates his penalty against Cork last May. Picture: Eddie O&#8217;Hare<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">While Shane O&#8217;Brien has blasted in 2-11 up top, Limerick still lean heavily on Gillane. In fact, there&#8217;s a case they should feed him with a steadier supply given his power and accuracy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Joyce won his first All-Star last year at wing-back but with Eoin Downey now on the flank, the Castlemartyr man was redeployed for the last league game against Offaly. Daire O&#8217;Leary made five appearances at full-back before that but Joyce is set for the role on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Gillane will test how long-term the switch will be&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">English-Lynch v O&#8217;Connell-O&#8217;Mahony:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Adam English has been one of Limerick&#8217;s most consistent performers in the league and assumed greater leadership as Limerick look to the players in their early 20s to set the tone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cian Lynch remains a hurling highlight reel in the middle third, one of the best creators the game has ever seen. He ran the show in the last meeting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">With Darragh Fitzgibbon, an All-Star midfielder in 2024 and &#8217;25, now at wing-forward, Tommy O&#8217;Connell and Tim O&#8217;Mahony have formed a strong partnership for Cork.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">O&#8217;Mahony man-marked Lynch effectively in the &#8217;24 All-Ireland semi-final and Cork could do with him repeating the feat here. O&#8217;Connell started all bar one of the league games under Ben O&#8217;Connor, who coached him at club level and clearly has full faith in the Midleton man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"contextmenu caption\">William O&#8217;Donoghue v Shane Barrett:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">O&#8217;Donoghue earned the nickname &#8216;The Terminator&#8217; as a midfield enforcer at the height of Limerick&#8217;s dominance but also filled in without any fuss at centre-back in the 2023 All-Ireland final when Declan Hannon was injured.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">With Kyle Hayes on the wing, the Na Piarsaigh man has clocked the fourth-highest number of minutes for Limerick across the league in the pivotal number six berth.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/5026955_11_articleinlinemobile_3134695.jpg\" alt=\"Shane Barrett is tackled by Kyle Hayes. Picture: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile\" title=\"Shane Barrett is tackled by Kyle Hayes. Picture: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile\" class=\"card-img\"\/>Shane Barrett is tackled by Kyle Hayes. Picture: Brendan Moran\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Barrett was an All-Star at centre-forward in 2024 and clipped 1-3 in last year&#8217;s Munster final and 1-4 as Cork&#8217;s best forward in the All-Ireland final. The Blarney man&#8217;s movement and shooting have caused Limerick problems before.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Limerick will attempt to curb his enthusiasm without O&#8217;Donoghue moving out of the pocket.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Kiely handed the free-taking duties to Aidan O&#8217;Connor this spring but that hasn&#8217;t diminished the importance of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1965,1964,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-382064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-hurling","tag-cork-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}