Dublin impress to ease past Limerick into semi-final

Dublin 1-25 Limerick 0-16

Mark Schutte led the line superbly again for Dublin with 1-5 as the 2011 champions secured an Allianz hurling league semi-final spot.

The Cuala club man was the difference when Dublin beat Galway six days ago to ensure they wouldn’t be plunged into a relegation scrap.

His latest tour de force was enough to scoop the Man of the Match award and, more importantly, a semi-final clash with Cork or Wexford on April 19th.

Free-taker David Treacy also shot 0-9 as the 2011 champions moved within touching distance of another league decider.

Limerick were rocked by the loss of captain Donal O’Grady. He limped off after just 11 minutes with a lower leg injury.

He was replaced by rising star Cian Lynch and the teenager struck a fine point within minutes of his arrival.

But Limerick still lacked O'Grady's leadership around the half-forward line and they then lost Seamus Hickey to a 34th minute injury.

Dublin switched their side around early on with a number of personnel switches. John McCaffrey, making his first start of the campaign and wearing number five, lined out in his customary midfield position. Shane Durkin reverted to right half-back.

Interestingly, Liam Rushe was moved out of full-forward for the first time this season and started at centre-forward with Schutte on the edge of the square.

Schutte was excellent against Galway six days ago, scoring five points from play, and maintained that form. He scored three first-half points, losing his marker Richie McCarthy on each occasion.

His third moved Dublin into a double scores 0-10 to 0-5 lead after 24 minutes.

Shane Dowling kept Limerick in touch with five frees in the half but three Dublin points in a row at one stage before the break left them comfortably ahead, 0-14 to 0-8.

They effectively sealed victory after the restart when they shot 1-1 inside three minutes.

David O’Callaghan, who’d earlier won a penalty that Treacy pointed from, firstly split the posts.

And in the 37th minute Schutte escaped McCarthy again with a speedy run and low shot that ended up in the bottom left corner of Limerick’s net.

Dublin now led by 10 with a 1-15 to 0-8 advantage and had Limerick at their mercy.

There was a brief rally from the Shannonsiders mid way through the second-half when they hit Dublin for four points without reply.

That reduced the gap to six points but Dublin’s response was emphatic. They hit six points on the spin themselves to ensure Limerick wouldn’t be let off the hook.

Dublin: G Maguire, C O'Callaghan, P Kelly, P Schutte, S Durkin, C Crummey (0-1), C Keaney, J McCaffrey (0-2), N McMorrow (0-2), R O'Dwyer, L Rushe (0-1), D Sutcliffe (0-2), D O'Callaghan (0-2), M Schutte (1-5), D Treacy (0-9, 0-7f, 0-1pen).

Subs: P Ryan for O’Callaghan (45), C Cronin for McCaffrey (56), C Boland (0-1) for M Schutte (67), blood, D Plunkett for O’Dwyer (67), C McBride for Sutcliffe (71).

Limerick: N Quaid, S Walsh, R McCarthy, S Hickey, P O'Brien (0-1), W McNamara, D Morrissey, P Browne, J Ryan (0-1), D Breen, D Hannon, D O'Grady, G Mulcahy (0-4), S Dowling (0-8, 0-7f, 0-1 656), S Tobin.

Subs: C Lynch (0-1) for O’Grady (11), S O’Brien for Hickey (34), D Reidy for Tobin (54), C King for Ryan (65), T Morrissey (0-1) for Mulcahy (65).

Referee: D Kirwan (Cork).