First half goals from Brian Fanning, Peter Casey and Peter Duggan helping LIT to a nine point interval lead despite playing against the wind.

The hosts didn’t let up in the second half and the game was long over as a contest by the time substitute Oisin O’Reilly buried their fourth goal.

“We were happy with the win,” said LIT boss Jimmy Browne. "It was all about the performance for us. We created a lot of turnovers and that’s an important part of our game. We were able to do that, get the ball through the lines to create scoring opportunities and the lads executed that very well.” LIT were actually down a point when Fanning powered them into the lead with thundering effort into the top corner for their first goal.

Rian Doody and Duggan points followed before Casey pounced on a mistake in the Garda defence for the second goal.

Duggan kept the score ticking over from placed balls with David Dempsey and David Reidy also excelling for Browne’s side. Mark Heffernan and Ray Barry efforts kept Garda in the contest but that was only for a short period as a glorious one handed finish accounted for LIT’s third goal of the half and that put them 3-10 to 0-8 up at the break.

The trend continued into the second half with two Duggan points and fine efforts by Doody and Rob Byrnes emphasising LIT’s control. Kevin Slattery got Garda on the board in the second half but points from Reidy, Duggan and a second long range strike by Byrnes helped end the Garda challenge.

O’Reilly finished things off in the closing stages with LIT’s fourth goal – a fine individual effort that sealed a 21 point victory.

Scorers for LIT: P Duggan 1-11 (8f), P Casey and O O’Reilly 1-1, B Fanning 1-0, R Doody 0-3, O Kelly and R Byrnes 0-2 each, D Dempsey, D Reidy, R Murphy and J Conway 0-1 each.

Scorers for Garda: R Barry 0-3 (3f), M Heffernan, K Slattery (1f) and E Sheahan 0-2 each, C Russell, B Murphy and C O’Connor 0-1 each.

LIMERICK IT: K Nugent; J McCarthy, D Moran, P Delaney; D Byrnes, S Ryan, R Byrnes; E Boyce, D Dempsey; P Duggan, B Fanning, R Doody; P Casey, O Kelly, D Reidy.

Subs: R Murphy for Byrnes (h-t), J Conway for Casey (h-t), C Cooney for McCarthy (h-t), O O’Reilly for Fanning (36).

GARDA: S Murphy; J Finnerty, A Ryan, J O’Keeffe; D Sheahan, B Murphy, R Doyle; M Heffernan, J Corry; S Keane, R Barry, A Harnett; E Sheahan, K Slattery, C Russell.

Subs: M Brislane for Keane (45), C O’Connor for Slattery (48.)

Referee: D Kirwan (Cork)