WE CAN MIX IT WITH THE BEST – KIELY
IT TOOK both Michael Ryan and John Kiely a little time to compose themselves and their thoughts after almost 100 minutes of extraordinary and entertaining hurling in Semple Stadium on Saturday night.
The upshot of all the drama is that Tipperary will contest Sunday’s Allianz League final, mainly because of their greater efficiency in front of goal and the presence of Jason Forde, who ended up with 2-11, but Kiely’s young Limerick side left Thurles having won more admirers.
The manager believes his players can now consider themselves bona fide contenders for the Championship. ‘We have played three top teams and mixed it up with all three,’ Kiely said, referring to Galway, Clare and Tipp.
‘Those teams have ambitions to be in Croke Park in July and August so why shouldn’t we have ambitions to be there, too? The fact is we can mix it with the best now and we know that. There is massive room for improvement and we have work to do but we are going to get at it now and get ready for May 20 when Tipp have to come to the other side of the border and face us.’
This rip-roaring encounter will whet the appetite for that Munster Championship clash. The resilience and determination of the Shannonsiders, refusing to lie down even after Forde found the net twice early in extratime, suggests their supporters could enjoy a long summer.
They did get a lesson in being economical from Tipp. While Limerick hit 13 wides in normal time and dropped another halfdozen shots into Darragh Mooney’s hands, Tipp were able to score more freely, emphasised by Forde’s performance. With Noel McGrath, SeaConor mus Callanan and Bonner Maher all missing this spring, Forde has developed into one of the leading personalities of Tipp’s glittering attack. ‘Jason has been very good for us all League long,’ Ryan admitted. ‘He had a really good preseason and has been main player for UL in the Fitzgibbon. And I just saw a change in Jayo that he really wants more out of this season. Nothing is promised, you can only offer yourself up and do the work. But he has certainly done the work and that has showed in spades.’ Forde’s two goals, the first when he seized on Nickie Quaid’s errant puck-out, turned the game on its head and finally gave Tipp some breathing space against their opponents. But even a six-point deficit didn’t break Limerick’s spirit and Graeme Mulcahy’s late strike raised the possibility of another free-taking competition. Kiely reckons taking Tipperary to the limit will develop young players like Diarmuid Byrnes, outstanding in the half-back line, and Kyle Hayes even more. ‘It will give them mental and psychological strength to know that they can keep coming back and coming back,’ Kiely said. ‘You have to experience it and come through it. Our lads came through it. Okay, they didn’t win but they weren’t dominated. Tipp were just that bit more economical and efficient with the ball, bit more clinical. And they did bring three AllStars off the bench.’
While Ryan was able to spring Brendan Maher, John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer and Cathal Barrett from his bench, Forde aside, Ronan Maher and John McGrath were also the models of efficiency. Both nailed five points, Maher’s tally including two magical sideline cuts.
Their manager is pleased to be back in a League final and wants to make amends for last year’s no-show against Galway.
‘We talk about getting our performance up to an acceptable level and we didn’t arrive at anything near that in last year’s League final,’ said Ryan. ‘We are delighted to have an opportunity to play in another.’ TIPPERARY: D Mooney; A Flynn, J Barry, M Cahill; B Heffernan (D Maher 71), P Maher, T Hamill(B Maher h-t); S Kennedy (C Barrett 66), R Maher; S Curran, B McCarthy (J O’Dwyer 45), J McGrath; M Breen (C Darcy 89), J Forde, W Connors (M Russell 78) Scorers: J Forde 2-11 (0-9f), R Maher (2 s/l), J McGrath 0-5, M Breen 0-3, S Curran 0-2, J O’Dwyer, W Connors, B McCarthy, B Heffernan, C Barrett 0-1. LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Finn, S Hickey, R English; D Byrnes, D Hannon, D Morrissey; C Ryan (P Browne h-t), C Lynch; G Hegarty (D Reidy 84), K Hayes, T Morrissey; A Gillane (B Nash 60), S Flanagan (G Mulcahy 58), B Murphy (P Ryan 50). Scorers: T Morrissey 0-8 (6f), A Gillane 0-7 (4f, 2 ’65), G Mulcahy 1-1, S Flanagan, K Hayes, G Hegarty (1 s/l) 0-3, C Lynch 0-2, D Byrnes, B Murphy, P Ryan, P Browne 0-1. Referee: J Keenan (Wicklow).