TREATY ON FINAL FLIGHT
Quaid stop proves crucial as Limerick find extra gear to book place in decider for first time in 11 years
LIMERICK captain and centreback Séamus Hannon tipped his hat to goalkeeper Nickie Quaid who produced a summerdefining save from Séamus Harnedy to help Limerick clinch a place in the All-Ireland final for the first time since 2007.
His critical intervention — flicking the ball away as the Cork captain turned to fire on goal deep in injury time — was arguably the pivotal moment in an unforgettable affair that broke all sort of scoring records, the teams combining for a mind-boggling five goals and 63 points. While a twogoal burst in the second period of extra time saw Limerick home and within touching distance of a first All-Ireland since 1973, Hannon admitted it could all have been so different. ‘Séamus Harnedy, it looked as if he was going to bury it. He just came out of nowhere. If that went in it was over for us,’ said Hannon (left). ‘They are just the fine margins and there
is so little between the teams. You’d say if there had been a goal at that stage it was game over for either side.’ It was the save of the season in the game of the season. In response, Aaron Gillane went down the other end and pushed Limerick ahead, completing a rousing comeback from six down with six minutes of regulation time to go, before Patrick Horgan pushed the game to extra time with a nerveless free. It was Limerick who finished stronger though, their bench finishing the day with 2-6 combined, Shane Dowling, Pat Ryan, David Reidy and Barry Nash all weighing in. Hannon is one of the survivors from Limerick’s previous semifinal defeats in 2013 and 2014 and he insisted this bunch of players is different. ‘There is always heartbreak in losses but I don’t think we were ready in those years for the occasions and the semifinals. We were a different group mentally and physically to this 2018 squad. Going [six points] down, we kept going and ground it out until the final whistle. ‘It is just from past experience of Limerick teams and management that we kind of roll on a wave of emotion after winning a Munster title or an All-Ireland quarter-final and then coming up to Croke Park for a semi-final and not being ready — and just expecting it to happen. Obviously it doesn’t.’ And this current generation are determined to leave their own mark and reverse a run of five All-Ireland final defeats after coming up short in 1974 (against Kilkenny), 1980 (Galway), 1994 (Offaly), 1996 (Wexford) and 2007 (Kilkenny). ‘None of the boys in that dressing room talk about that or think about that. ‘It is a new group of lads, a new era. As Tom Morrissey said before “trying to create their own history” and we’ve got to the All-Ireland final but we want to win it because we really want to make history.’