Munster SHC: Waterford aim to end last perfect record and deny Limerick
Stephen Bennett of Waterford is tackled by Kyle Hayes of Limerick during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 5 match between Limerick and Waterford at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick last year. Picture: Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Since the creation of the round robin format in 2018, only one team have made it through from Munster to the All-Ireland series in each of the five seasons. Only one Munster side are yet to make it through at least once during that time.
Those two teams are Limerick and Waterford. You can probably guess which one is which.
Coincidentally, across those five seasons – whenever the two have met in the Munster championship, the results have only gone one way.
Limerick have five wins and zero defeats against the Déise. Clare were the only other team to have held a perfect record against Waterford, though that was dramatically ended last weekend in Walsh Park.
Every other county have won and lost against one other at least once.
The Déise have the chance to end Limerick’s 100% and go top of Munster – regardless of the result between Clare and Tipperary in the other round three contest.
But it won’t be easy.
Just about the only thing in the Munster championship that has remained a constant is a Limerick win over Waterford. With the exception of two seasons, Limerick have won convincingly, too.
Last year, the pressure was on the Treaty County. They faced Waterford in the final round, where a win would be enough to see them top Munster and qualify for yet another final.
They won by an impressive ten points, putting up the usual 30-point tally on the scoreboard.
In 2023, it was a vastly different story.
It was the first round of championship, not the last. Limerick were huge favourites heading into the contest, but Geároid Hegarty’s 47th minute red card changed the game. Billy Nolan’s penalty save to deny Limerick didn’t help their cause either.
Miraculously they escaped. Only just. The score was 1-18 to 0-19 by conclusion, Limerick extending their Munster championship unbeaten run and proving once again to be the unbeatable force.
2022 marks the only other time Waterford looked like they might get the better of Limerick. Coming into the championship as league winners, they beat Tipperary by four in the opening round. Limerick thumped Cork. All to play for in their second-round meeting.
It was the chance for Waterford to truly test themselves. They did exactly that. There was a lot to be pleased with at the time – though their collapse in the final two rounds against Cork and Clare meant they drowned in Munster, again.
Waterford pushed Limerick to the edge that day. They trailed by just a single point at halftime, and with two late goals, they dramatically cut the gap to one in the dying minutes. But at full-time, the gap would be three.
In the end, as always, Limerick proved unbreakable.
Prior to the COVID-interrupted seasons, Limerick’s results against Waterford were embarrassing from a Déise perspective.
In 2019, all Waterford could manage was 0-10 to Limerick’s 2-24. The performance in 2018 was marginally better, though 13 points still separated the teams at the end.
If history repeats itself, Limerick will win and make it out of Munster, while Waterford will be left to ponder what could have been.
But they’ve already shattered one 100% record – who’s to say they won’t do it again?
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