Limerick look to the future
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All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship titles won by Limerick; their first since the three-in-a-row side of 2000-2002 came after a convincing victory over Wexford on Saturday in Thurles
LIMERICK captain Diarmaid Byrnes stood on the field at Thurles, still s warmed by supporters long after the final whistle, the Cross of Cashel Cup guarded at his feet.
The scenes that greeted the county’s fifth All-Ireland title at Under-21 level, and a first since the mould-breaking three-in-a-row of 2000-2002, said everything about how this was valued, the supporters spilling onto the sidelines of the pitch in the final moments before Limerick’s emphatic 16- point victory was confirmed.
‘ Words can’t describe how I’m feeling,’ said Byrnes. ‘How Limerick people are feeling, how the panel of 40 and the 24 who togged out are feeli ng. It’s absolutely amazing. You can see the scenes, what it means. We’re not blessed in glory or silverware. When we do get i t, it means a lot to us.’
The county’s previous hat-trick of titles stands as a cautionary tale at this grade of how there are no guarantees of a follow-on success at senior level, not even in terms of provincial silverware, never mind All-Ireland. As one-third of a physically-imposing half-back line, along with Barry O’Connell and Gearóid Hegarty, who created a platform for a free-running midfield and attack to run riot against Wexford, Byrnes is well aware of the bigger picture.
‘You’re not in it to play U21 Championship and go away to Australia. You’re in it for the long run. Hopefully we can develop into senior hurlers.’
While he acknowledges t hat ‘it mightn’t work out for us,’ his assessment that ‘the future does look bright’ is based on the strong showing at underage level in recent years.
On Saturday night i n Semple Stadium, they had stars all over the field. Pat Ryan chipped in with three points from play from midfield, Tom Morrissey, Cian Lynch and Ronan Lynch were outstanding up front, whil e Leaving Cert s t udent Barry Nash earned the man-of-thematch award with five points from p lay from wing-forward. Wexford trailed 0-11 to 0-4 at half-time and were simply blown away by the pace and slick i nterplay of Limerick, responding to Conor McDonald’s quality goal in the second half to round off the game with a remarkable nine unanswered points.
Byrnes became the last man to receive the Cross of Cashel Cup before a new trophy is made at this grade. ‘It’s an honour. That’s down to John Kiely, who gave me the opportunity to lead my team. Here we are, All-Ireland champions, thank God.’
Manager Kiely stressed the need for patience before demanding senior success on the back of this.
‘There is a long way between a U21 All-Ireland and a senior. People need to get real, people need to give these guys and the people who will be over them time to manage them, develop them, allow them to get into the gym for two to three to four years to put on the necessary condition that you need to take on Kilkenny and Galway.’
For three-in-a-row Leinster champions Wexford, it was a tough blow to take. Captain Eoin Conroy spoke honestly about what a gut-check the defeat was.
‘We got the fright of our lives when Limerick brought that intensity to the game — we hadn’t seen anything l i ke i t. Maybe the standard in Leinster and the standard of Antrim wasn’t enough for us to prepare,’ said Conroy.
‘The one thing we said going out was that we didn’t want to have any regrets. But the dressing room there is full of them.’
LIMERICK: D McCarthy; S Finn (M O’Callaghan 58), R English, M Casey; D Byrnes, B O’Connell, G Hegarty; D O’Donovan (J Hannon 58), P Ryan (A La Touche-Cosgrave 52); R Lynch (J Kelliher 55), C Lynch, D Dempsey; C Ryan ( P Casey 50), T Morrissey, B Nash. Scorers: R Lynch 0-6 (5f), B Nash 0-5, T Morrissey 0-4; P Ryan, C Lynch, P Casey (0-1 pen) 0-3; D Byrne 0-2 (f).
Yellow card: C Lynch 39 Wides: 6 (6). Frees: 7 (8).
WEXFORD: O O’Leary; S Donohoe, L Ryan, E Conroy; J White, P Foley, J O’Connor; C Devitt (S Kenny 41), T French (S Murphy 35); A Kenny, K Foley (S Kelly 46), J Cash (J Firman 47); C Dunbar, C McDonald, P Sutton.
Scorers: C McDonald 1-4 (3fs, 1 s-l), A Kenny, C Dunbar, P Foley 0-1.
Yellow card: J O’Connor 38 Wides: 4 (1). Frees: 5 (6).
Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary).