Leaders rally Limerick to drive past Kilkenny for four in a row

Limerick produced the perfect second half to overhaul Kilkenny and take their place in the record books with a fourth consecutive All-Ireland hurling championship victory.

Trailing by five points after Paddy Deegan scored Kilkenny's second goal in the 42nd minute, the Green Machine outscored their opponents 19-5 in the final half hour, Peter Casey hitting five from play as they ran out comfortable nine-point winners.

Limerick’s fifth title in six years was won the hard way. Without Sean Finn or captain Declan Hannon, it was the first of those finals in which they had to fight back from a half-time deficit – Eoin Cody’s goal giving the ferociously tackling Cats a 1-09 to 0-09 advantage at the break.

Deegan's goal looked to have halted their momentum but John Kiely’s men were flawless after that, Diarmuid Byrnes immense as they pinned a tiring Kilkenny into their own half and fired point after point from, with only one second-half wide until injury-time.

The Treaty’s 12th All-Ireland win sees them join Cork (1941-44) and Kilkenny (2006-09) as the only counties to complete four in a row and they will be hot favourites to become the undisputed greatest hurling team of all time next year.

It's a less welcome four-in-a-row for Kilkenny, of final defeats, and their wait for Liam MacCarthy will extend to at least nine years, their joint-longest drought since 1947-57.

More to follow…