Only a point separated these two sides when they met in round 2 at O'Connor Park, Tullamore back in February.

Maurice Horan's Limerick side prevailed on that occasion - 0-12 to 1-8 - and the Shannonsiders won their first four games in the Division.

They fell to a first defeat at home to Munster neighbours Tipperary in round 5 before just scraping over the line against London in the following round. A round 7 win away to Clare booked their final ticket.

Captain Ian Ryan has helped himself to 1-27 during the course of the Division 4 campaign and currently lies fourth in the Division 4 leading scorer charts.

In the opposite corner, Niall McNamee would no doubt also have featured prominently in that list were his participation not curtailed by injury.

The Faithful County finished second in the table with five wins from seven outings. They suffered back-to-back defeats in round 2 and 3, the latter coming at the hands of Mick O'Dwyer's Clare.

Manager Emmett McDonnell is content that the primary objective of promotion has already been achieved and said this week that the result doesn't matter. He's looking for a performance from his team with one eye on the Leinster SFC against Kildare on June 1.

McDonnell has a full deck to deal with apart from Clara's Matthew Mitchell (hamstring) and Peter Cunningham and David Hanlon who are making their way back from injury.

Meanwhile, the return to action of talismanic midfielder John Galvin from a cruciate ligament injury has been one of the main pluses of the campaign to date for Limerick.

The Croom clubman featured as a substitute in their final two outings and his presence could give the Shannonsiders the edge around the crucial middle third of the field.

Verdict: Limerick

Limerick - Donal O'Sullivan, Andy Lane, Johnny McCarthy, Mark O'Riordan, Stephen Lavin, Paudie Browne, Pa Ranahan, Bobby O'Brien, John Galvin, John Riordan, Thomas Lee, Seanie Buckley, Eoghan O'Connor, Ger Collins, Ian Ryan.

Offaly - A Mulhall; P McConway, S Sullivan, B Darby; E Carroll, S Pender, M Brazil; A McNamee, R Dalton; G Guilfoyle, B Connor, A Sullivan; N Darby, N McNamee, K Casey.

Odds: Limerick 4/5, Draw 15/2, Offaly 5/4

Match Details: Croke Park, 5pm Saturday 27April

Paths to the final

Limerick

Round 1: Limerick 0-11, Leitrim 0-9
Round 2: Offaly 1-8, Limerick 0-12
Round 3: Waterford 0-6, Limerick 0-8
Round 4: Limerick 0-10, Carlow 0-9
Round 5: Limerick 0-9, Tipperary 0-15
Round 6: London 1-8, Limerick 1-9
Round 7: Clare 0-10, Limerick 1-13

Offaly

Round 1: London 1-5, Offaly 1-13
Round 2: Offaly 1-8, Limerick 0-12
Round 3: Offaly 2-5, Clare 0-13
Round 4: Leitrim 0-8, Offaly 0-9
Round 5: Offaly 2-11, Carlow 1-11
Round 6: Waterford 1-11, Offaly 2-15
Round 7: Offaly 2-10, Tipperary 1-8 Tweet

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