KIELY RATED SUMMER

THIS time last year, Limerick were long since out of the Championship have exited at the earliest possible juncture.

It was on July 1 that they were beaten by three points in Kilkenny in the qualifiers, having lost to Clare in the Munster semi-final.

Two games and their season was done. Tomorrow’s All-ireland semi-final against Cork is their sixth game in this campaign, which started two weeks earlier than last year’s and will run at least four weeks later. Yet, it’s flown by much quicker for manager John Kiely (right).

He said: “It feels shorter even though there is more games. It is shorter, in effect, anyway because the season has been condensed.

“You are so busy and you have that momentum, everything is far more enjoyable and far more busy.

“We are enjoying being involved, enjoying it, we are very happy as a group together, players and the backroom staff.

“We’re just going to make sure we go out and put our best foot forward the next day.” Kiely insists he hasn’t got too bogged down about Cork ahead of the semi-final. “I think most teams now at this level, they’re very aware of the opposition and a lot of information is there. “We have our own systems in place in terms of monitoring all the teams that we play. We probably operate a 90-10 balance. “You get obsessed with opposition and you take your eye off yourself and next thing you find out the biggest problem wasn’t the opposition, it was yourselves.”