LETHAL LIMERICK EYE HISTORY
Treaty take huge step on march to emulate 1973 heroes
NO doubt the football fraternity will be miffed. On a weekend when the Super 8s was unveiled as part of the game’s brave new world, its small ball relation delivered another heart-stopper to grab the back pages. Even the World Cup barely got a mention amidst the drama of Thurles yesterday.
Kilkenny are gone. Beaten by Limerick in the Championship for the first time since the 1973 AllIreland final, the echoes of the past being felt all around Semple Stadium.
That day 45 years ago has a significance that Limerick fans can’t escape, being the last time the county brought home the Liam MacCarthy Cup. And as the supporters invaded the pitch afterwards, there was a distinct mood that maybe, just maybe, this could be their year.
An All-Ireland semi-final with Cork awaits in a fortnight’s time and John Kiely’s team will go into it on a high after a performance of serious character and spirit.
As the rain came down in the second half, interrupting this sunsplashed summer, the contest took on the same epic, blood-andthunder feel as the memorable semi-final at Croke Park four years ago when the game seemed to be raised to a separate dimension.
When John Donnelly played in Richie Hogan who produced a handbrake turn and swivel to smuggle the ball low to the net and put Kilkenny ahead with five minutes to go, 1-21 to 0-22, it looked like a Brian Cody team was about to fashion another escape to victory.
Despite Limerick hurling up a storm and dominating from the half-hour mark — the half-back line of Diamuid Byrnes, Declan Hannon and Dan Morrissey turning the tide with some inspired fielding and front-foot play — this looked like Kilkenny somehow finding it within themselves to find a way.
Instead, younger brother Tom Morrissey was the one who summed up the belief of this Limerick generation, hitting an unbelievable solo score, Peter Casey and Shane Dowling striking further inspirational scores and then Morrissey repeating the trick after Richie Leahy hit his fourth point from the bench. Aaron Gillane popped over a late free and that was that: for the first time in his 20 seasons, Cody has gone three consecutive summers without delivering hurling’s greatest prize.
Instead, the semi-final pairings will see Munster champions Cork take on Limerick and Leinster champions Galway face Clare.
Welcome to the game’s new order.
‘A test like that, to beat a team like Kilkenny, one of the traditional power houses of hurling will give us huge confidence going up to Croke Park to face Cork,’ said Morrissey afterwards.
‘Forty-five years is a long time in Championship hurling. When they got the goal, there was five minutes on the clock and every Limerick supporter was thinking “we can’t beat Kilkenny”, but it was a different feel on the pitch. It just shows the character in this team, we never panicked.’
Kilkenny deserve such credit for their part in this expanded Championship that already has strong claims for the greatest ever, stealing into a 0-7 to 0-3 lead.
Cody threw a curveball when he started TJ Reid top of the right where he was tailed by Sean Finn, Reid moved from centre-forward to accommodate the return of Hogan to the starting line-up. And Hogan rolled back the years with his impact, dropping off Declan Hannon and picking off three top-class scores.
The pick of them came when he leapt to catch a puck-out and then drilled it between the posts over his shoulder.
Hannon recovered from those body blows to come storming into the game along with Byrnes and Dan Morrissey and Kilkenny needed goalkeeper Eoin Murphy — surely an All-Star even at this stage — to pull off a number of quality saves to keep them in it.
Seamus Flanagan raced through on goal with 25 minutes gone and as Paddy Deegan ran across to cut off the danger, leaving Aaron Gillane screaming for the pass, the Limerick full-forward completely overcooked it, allowing Murphy to bat it away.
He then showed incredible reflexes to tip over a Gearoid Hegarty shot but nine different scorers compared to Kilkenny’s five saw Limerick lead 0-15 to 012. A third of Kilkenny’s total stemmed from the rampaging James Maher at midfield.
On 47 minutes, Murphy pulled off another jaw-dropping tip over the bar, this time from Gillane.
When Seamus Flanagan fumbled another goal chance 10 minutes later, the ball sliding off his stick when he was straight in on goal, there was a sense Limerick might rue all the missed chances.
And, with Richie Leahy on fire after coming on, there was even a Hawk-Eye decision to add to the drama, John Donnelly getting the ‘tá’ before setting up Hogan for the goal. Instead of that being the decisive moment, Limerick broke free from the shackles of history with a grandstand finish to book their All-Ireland semi-final spot.