It was déjà vu for Limerick at Páirc Esler on Saturday afternoon, with Down once again claiming a comfortable victory as they did when the sides met in Division 3 of the Allianz League.
Conor Laverty's side bounced back from the disappointment of losing to Armagh in the Ulster Championship semi-final a couple of weeks ago and threw themselves wholeheartedly into the first round of theTailteann Cup.
They were heavy favourites coming into this game and there were no surprises with a resounding victory against a team that spent long spells behind the ball and hit a huge amount of short balls from a long way out..
For Limerick this defeat made it eight in a row and having also been relegated to Division 4 in the league things don’t bode well for Jimmy Lee’s side.
All of their scores, apart from the goal, came from frees and Down looked comfortable throughout.
It took eight minutes before the first point of the game was scored, with Limerick keeping possession for the most part in the early stages, but Down bided their time and once they got going it was one-way traffic.
Odhran Murdock opened the scoring from a free and good scores from play by Liam Kerr and Ryan Johnston gave them a three-point advantage before Peter Nash converted a free with 15 minutes on the clock.
Conor Laverty’s men were only getting going however, and they notched up six more points before James Naughton converted Limerick’s second from the dead ball and the Mournemen led 0-10 to 0-4 at the break.
Eamon Brown increased that lead to seven straight after the restart with a point and it looked like it was all over for Limerick when Shealan Johnston set up Daniel Guinness for a goal with 38 minutes on the clock.
Limerick weren’t ready to give up yet though, as they went down the other end three minutes later and Nash cut inside from the left and hit a maximum to keep his side in the game 1-12 to 1-05.
Limerick’s hopes were short-lived however, as while Down were temporarily a man short when Brown was black carded, Jamie Baynham, who was only on as a sub was dealt a straight red card for a foul on Johnston and with that Down romped home in style.
The subs played their part as the Down players queued up to score, with John McGovern making it 1-14 to 1-05. The same player sent another low over the bar minutes later while another Down sub, Jamie McKibben hit a brace in quick succession with Limerick giving up the ghost long before the final whistle blew.
It ended up a 14-point victory for the home side with the modest crowd already on their way home following an underwhelming contest.
Down: J O’Hare; F McElroy, R McEvoy (0-01), P Fegan (0-01); R Magill (0-01), P Laverty, S Johnston; D Guinness (1-00), O Murdock (0-02,2f); G McKibben (0-02), B McConville, L Kerr (0-01), E Brown (0-03); D Magill (0-01), P Havern (0-03,1f, 1m), R Johnston (0-01)
Subs: S Annett for McConville 44, J McGovern (0-02) for Kerr 45, G McKibben (0-02) 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 (0-02,2f), C Downes; B Ahern, R Childs, P Nash (1-04,4f)
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)
