Summer changes will suit Limerick to a tee
Morrissey is keen on the new format
‘It will give us a chance to get going’
‘This Limerick team is made of hard steel’
LIMERICK’S absence from hurling’s top table over the past few years has been lamented.
You only have to recall how their supporters streamed onto the Gaelic Grounds that hot July afternoon back in 2013 when they won their first Munster title in 17 years to understand that this is a county that is desperate for any bit of summer success — and who can add a splash of colour to any Championship.
The two recent All-Ireland Under-21 titles suggest that there may be golden days on the horizon, but Limerick have been burnt by that promise before — their three-in-a-row at that level back in the early noughties yielded no success at senior level.
Tom Morrissey is one of those who won two All-Ireland U21 medals in 2015 and 2017 and he feels that the Shannonsiders will be one of those teams that will benefit from the restructured Championship format that guarantees four matches.
Last year, summer ended for Morrissey and his team-mates after just two matches. ‘We have underperformed at senior level the last few years but I think the new format could suit us a lot this year,’ says the UL student, who almost brought last Saturday’s enthralling League semi-final to another period of extra-time, but for Darragh Mooney to save his last-gasp shot.
‘The more games this year will really give us a chance to get going. With the other format, if you lost your first game in Munster, it was tough going back training and not having a game for a while. But at least, you will have a week’s turnaround now and you are back into it.’
Limerick’s short summer in 2017 highlighted the problems with the old system. Their young players showed real promise in their gallant defeat to Kilkenny but there was nowhere for them to further develop. They were out of the Championship in early July.
The signals seen over the course of this spring suggest that the Treaty County should enjoy a much longer summer this year. The way they reeled in Galway — they were nine points down to the All-Ireland champions at one stage in Salthill — to claim their long-awaited promotion and the manner in which they kept fighting back in Thurles last Saturday underlines that this Limerick team is made of hard steel.
‘There is a lot of character in this team, we showed that in our last three games. Against Galway, we were a good bit behind and we showed the unreal resilience and character that is in this team. Even though we gave Tipp a couple of soft four-point leads, we stuck to our guns and always edged our way back.
‘We know that we can’t keep doing that, keep edging your way back but it does show that there is resilience within this group which is always a good characteristic to have.’
But as Treaty boss John Kiely pointed out on Saturday night, there is still plenty of work to do. There are still rough edges with this Limerick side. They spurned too many scoring opportunities against Tipperary, often because of bad decision-making. It is something they will need to improve before the big rematch with their neighbours on May 20th in the Gaelic Grounds.
But Morrissey insists that Limerick have made huge strides over the past few weeks. Finally climbing out of Division 1B, where the county had been trapped for the past eight seasons, has bolstered the confidence of the players and with the Na Piarsaigh contingent to come back into the panel, there’s a sense that this is a team to watch this summer.
‘There has been unreal competition for places all through the League, Once you got the jersey, you were doing everything you could to keep it. With the Na Piarsaigh lads to come back, we will have an unreal panel of players and there is a lot of talent in it this year. So the competition is going to be even greater come May.’
Kiely says that his players now had the belief that they could mix it with the best teams after taking Tipp to the limit — and beating Galway and Clare. Hurling has been poorer for the all-toorare sightings of Limerick over the past few years. It looks like that is about to change. The sport, and the summer, will be all the better for it.