Second-half surge see Limerick overcome Antrim
With two wins from two now, the winners are guaranteed at worst a home tie in the preliminary quarter-final ahead of their table-topping clash with Westmeath in their final Groups 3 outing.
The Glensmen, on the other hand, have it all to do to extend their season, needing not only a win against London to avoid elimination but also need to boost their score difference if they're not to be the unlucky third-placed side not to to qualify.
Antrim tried to take some advantage from the blustery breeze behind them at the throw-in but failed to find the openings through Limerick's defensive formation and then fell behind when limerick's first two attacks yielded scores for James Naughton and Iain Corbett.
The hosts were still doing well on the kickouts and, despite missing a golden chance when Ryan McQuillan's fisted pass across the small square failed to find an inrushing target, they got off the mark with Conor Hand's pot on the run.
Antrim were back on level terms when James McAuley came up from deep at the end of an extended movement to shoot over from a tight angle and were then denied a second goal chance when Josh Ryan broke from his line to smother Ruairí McCann's finish after pouncing on a Limerick turnover.
The visitors responded immediately with Naughton's free but, despite sorting out their early difficulties with primary possession, failed to build on their lead and were caught again when a Saffron breakaway ended with full-back Eunan Walsh floating a two-pointer over.
However, conceding their hard-won lead concentrated Limerick minds and, as they pressed their opponents on the defensive, they equalised with a Peter Nash free, took the lead with a Danny Neville pot-shot under pressure and extended it when Nash collected out wide before jinking into space to tap over.
Naughton then found his third score off a pass and return before Dominic McEnhill halted the sequence with a point from a tight angle but, just as the watch was ticking into added time, Tony McCarthy fired the Shannonsiders into a lead of 0-8 to 0-5 at half-time.
The gap had moved out to five two minutes after the restart when Danny Neville floated over a two-pointer but his side then missed a run of opportunities before Dominic McEnhill gave the hosts some hope by twice finishing off breakaway attacks.
That rally focused Limerick's mind which led to Tadhg Ó Siochrú and Iain Corbett's two-pointer finding the target and, after McEnhill found a reply from a free, Nash and Naughton moved the gap out to seven.
A that point, a quarter hour into the second half, the Antrim afternoon caved in. Fionn Nagle's black card opened up more space for Limerick to pour into which they immediately exploited when Emmett Rigter was pulled down on the run and Corbett blasted the penalty into the far corner.
The Glensmen did harvest a point from the resulting kickout but, after that was overtaken by Ó Siochrú and a Naughton free, the subs piled on and the game ended as a contest with fifteen minutes to go.
Through the protracted stoppages McEnhill picked off his fourth score of the day, Naughton replied with a free, an Antrim goal after a rugby scramble in the small square was disallowed but, four minutes into injury, the Saffrons finally found some consolation when Marc Jordan's hand pass across the square found the leaping fist of Patrick McBride to whack over the line.
Antrim: Michael Byrne; Eoghan McCabe, Eunan Walsh 0-2 (1 2pf), Kevin Keenan; James McAuley 0-1, Dermot McAleese, Patrick Finnegan; Conor Hand 0-2, Marc Jordan; Ronan Boyle, Adam Loughran, Patrick McBride 1-0; Ryan McQuillan, Ruairí McCann, Dominic McEnhill 0-5 (1f).
Subs: Conor Stewart for Patrick Finnegan (half-time), Fionn Nagle for Ruairí McCann (half-time), John Morgan for James McAuley (68 minutes), Niall Burns for Adam Loughran (68 minutes).
Limerick: Josh Ryan; Jason Hassett, Darren O'Doherty, Cormac Woulfe; Mark McCarthy, Iain Corbett 1-3 (1-0 pen, 1 2pf), Tony McCarthy 0-1; Tommie Childs, Darragh O'Hagan; Paul Maher, Emmett Rigter, Cillian Fahy; Danny Neville 0-3 (1 2pf), James Naughton 0-6 (3f), Peter Nash 0-3 (1f).
Subs: Tadhg Ó Siochrú 0-2 for Cormac Woulfe (39 minutes), Darragh Murray for Tommie Childs (47 minutes), Killian Ryan for Iain Corbett (59 minutes), Bob Childs for Emmett Rigter (59 minutes), Diarmuid Buckley for Tadhg Ó Siochrú (hia, 64 minutes), Rory O'Brien for Paul Maher (68 minutes).
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