Why it’s time to get on Limerick bandwagon fast

THE case for Limerick going on to win their first All-Ireland title since 1973 seems to grow stronger with every passing week. The Shannonsiders have shortened from 14/1 at the end of the National League in to 9/2 now. And with good reason. Limerick are the only unbeaten team in the country this year (apart from Division 3A champions Warwickshire). Of their nine games played in League and Championship, John Kiely’s team have won seven and drawn two — with a points differential of a whopping +77. They have beaten the All-Ireland champions (2-18 to 1-19 in the League) and they sit on top of the Munster table with a points difference of +19. Yet they are joint second with Cork in the market to win the Liam MacCarthy. They look to be going from strength to strength, hitting close to full stride in hammering Waterford last Sunday – led by the returning Shane Dowling, who scored 15 points in his first game back after a long winter hurling with Na Piarsaigh, a campaign that saw them reach a second All-Ireland club final in three years. And the Treaty County will enjoy yet another boost tomorrow when they head to Ennis to face Clare in what is effectively a Munster semi-final, with ace marksman Aaron Gillane coming back in from suspension. The permutations are simple for Limerick now too — win their next four matches and they will be both Munster and All-Ireland champions. Who is to stop them? The two teams above them in the betting have both failed to beat them this year. Galway, the defending champions and considered by many as the in-form team in the land right now, were beaten by Limerick at Pearse Stadium in March. And today’s opposition Clare needed a free-taking competition to get past them in the League quarter-final after a thrilling draw. The only the other game they failed to win — their draw with Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh — will have felt like a victory having come back from the dead with 14 men. Everything seems to be falling Limerick’s way at long last — and their current 9/2 may not be available come Monday should they beat Clare.