LIMERICK OUT TO SET NEW TREND
“We are not happy with just one All-Ireland”
KYLE Hayes wasn’t born the last time a Limerick side defeated Kilkenny in Nowlan Park, so the significance of what the All-Ireland champions managed to do last Sunday afternoon wasn’t lost on the young Kildimo man.
Limerick’s clinical display against the Cats felt like a statement of intent. Another milestone achieved by John Kiely’s impressive young side. But Hayes, man of the match in last year’s All-Ireland final when the county ended 45 years of hurt, insists that it wasn’t like that. They simply saw it as another exam to pass.
‘Winning in Nowlan Park doesn’t happen every day,’ he said. ‘We knew it was going to be a big test, playing Kilkenny in their back garden. But we didn’t say at the start of the League, “We have to play Kilkenny in Nowlan Park and we have to win at that ground”. We never look at any game like that and we don’t set targets like that. We are just going to take every game as it is and keep improving.’
With relegation from Division 1A shelved as the hurling league faces another restructure for 2020, it is difficult to know what to take from the opening three games. Liam Sheedy didn’t seem too bothered by losing in Wexford Park on Sunday and Davy Fitzgerald didn’t seem too excited with his side’s success.
However, it certainly seems like Limerick still have wind in their sails from last summer. That’s not unusual for All-Ireland champions. Excluding Galway, who were in 1B last year, three of the four most recent champions topped Division 1A the following spring. The odd one out was Kilkenny in 2015, when they were ravaged by injuries and Ballyhale’s club commitments and ended up in a relegation play-off with Clare.
But perhaps, the most telling analogy can be drawn with Fitzgerald’s Clare in the 2014 Allianz League campaign. They also hit the ground running, despite the manager tipping them for relegation. With the momentum of their All-Ireland title the previous September at their backs, they beat Kilkenny in Ennis, put four goals past Tipperary and five goals past Waterford. They were flying.
It all came unstuck later that year. The momentum was halted when Tipp beat them in the Allianz League semi-final and their reign as All-Ireland champions ended in a dramatic qualifier replay against Wexford. Clare’s disappointing defence of the Liam MacCarthy that summer might be a lesson on the perils of investing too heavily in the spring campaign.
But Kiely has used the League in the same way as his counterparts over the past few weeks. He has experimented and used 25 players over three games. Hayes only started his first game of the spring in Nowlan Park. They trounced Kilkenny without three of their most important players — captain Declan Hannon, hurler of the year Cian Lynch and Gearóid Hegarty, such a vital cog in their half-forward line.
‘Winning is a habit and that’s what you want to keep doing,’ Hayes said of the team’s recent record. ‘Just keep on this path and keep on an upward trajectory performance-wise. We are moving around the squad but, thankfully, we have a massive squad and any person that comes in is putting everyone’s place under pressure.’
Seamus Flanagan, such an industrious presence at full-forward last summer but yet to be seen in 2019, suggested a few weeks ago that the Limerick players feel no team can match their work-rate. And that was the case in Kilkenny. Even though they ended county’s All-Ireland famine, there has been no easing off.
‘Yeah, we are moving well but we definitely won’t be getting carried away,’ Hayes insisted. ‘We have Cork next week. They will be really gunning for it, especially after beating Clare and they will be looking forward to coming to the Gaelic Grounds, especially as we have them there in the Championship as well.’
The age profile of this Treaty side indicates there will be more titles in their future. Tom Condon, so impressive in the full-back line, and goalkeeper Nickie Quaid were the only players in their 30s who lined out against Kilkenny. Of course, the youthful Banner side that won the All-Ireland in 2013 thought the same thing, but they have flattered to deceive.
‘Everyone on that team bus and everyone at home, we are not happy with just one All-Ireland,’ Hayes said. ‘We wanted to get back into hurling as soon as we could and just drive on with it. Any team playing with confidence is going to play well. Everyone is just training hard and what you do in training is going to happen out there on the field. ’
Perhaps, nothing exemplified Limerick’s confidence more than the way Shane Dowling and Conor Boylan stooped for two goals before half-time in Nowlan Park.
That used to be an old Kilkenny trick. But this is a Limerick side who feel comfortable wearing the Cats’ old crown.
Recent history suggests it is possible for defending All-Ireland champions to be going too well in February. That it may all come crashing down later on in the year. But it feels like this Limerick side are rewriting the rules.