It’s dawning on Limerick that their day has come
Belief is rising in talented Treaty squad that they can dethrone the champions
IN THE build-up to the All-Ireland final, the experience of Galway is already being talked up as a major factor. Without a doubt, they are a seasoned group of players who already know what it takes to win one. But that doesn’t mean the champions are nailed on to retain the Liam MacCarthy Cup. I see plenty of parallels between Limerick now and Clare in 1995 when they turned over the Offaly team I played on, just when we were looking to put titles back to back.
Back then, we were the seasoned team. We had served our time before getting to the summit. In the summer of ’95 we gave our bestever team performance in the Leinster final against Kilkenny. So we had the greater experience, a settled team – all the things Galway have right now – yet Clare found a way to beat us. If Limerick are looking at a team to give them inspiration then they just have to look across the border.
I remember the noise of the Clare crowd that day. I expect Limerick to bring the same colour and excitement. If the players can feed off the hype, the build-up, then it has the capacity to inspire.
We’ve seen both sides of the hurling coin in modern All-Ireland finals. Kilkenny were hugely dominant, beating Limerick the last time they appeared in the decider in 2007, and hammering Waterford in 2008. But that wasn’t so much down to a lack of experience from two counties desperate to win a senior title, it was attributable to a phenomenal Kilkenny team. They simply had superior players.
Tipperary came along then with five Under 21 titles in the team in 2010 to spoil the five-in-a-row and Clare’s breakthrough in 2013 was built around a core of brilliantly talented young players.
So the template is there for Limerick, especially given the winning pedigree so many of them have from underage level. Add into the mix players like Cian Lynch and Declan Hannon, who have plenty of hurling done.
It’s all about the belief. Ger Loughnane’s Clare team certainly had that and the resilience of Limerick this year has really impressed me. That was obvious from the Munster round robin against Cork in how they responded when Aaron Gillane was sent off, fighting until the end when Kyle Hayes got the point to earn a draw.
It was again apparent when Kilkenny pinched a late goal to go ahead in the All-Ireland quarterfinal. A lot of teams have folded when the Cats get a killer goal like that. Tom Morrissey though caught the puck-out, Limerick kicked on, and that victory gave them a big psychological lift.
From being six down late on against Cork, they had the belief and the hurling ability to stick to their gameplan and pull it out of the fire. Peter Casey and Shane Dowling made huge contributions off the bench and Pat Ryan added a new dimension with his pace. We saw in the Kilkenny game how manager John Kiely is going to run his bench with Seamus Flanagan and Gearóid Hegarty both going off despite playing very well. They had one blip against Clare in the last round in Munster but they knew they had already qualified for the All-Ireland series.
When Galway have been hurling well, they have been so dominant. Take the first 20 minutes of the Leinster final replay against Kilkenny. They were equally impressive in the first 20 minutes both days against Clare.
They can put eight to 10 points on a team in a flash – they just haven’t shown that ruthless streak to finish off a game. Limerick will be aware that they might have a bad 15 minutes, but they will get their own chances. Based on all that, Limerick have a serious chance.
One of the most encouraging factors for Galway is that their key players – Daithí Burke, David Burke and Joe Canning – are all playing at the top of their games. In the last couple of matches, Joe Canning has been phenomenal and, as far as I’m concerned, he is playing better this season than he did in 2017 when he won Hurler of the Year. I thought he was excellent in the drawn game against Clare and his leadership was massive in the replay. That line ball he put over near the end was sensational. The only question mark remains over Gearóid McInerney who wasn’t fit enough to start the last day.
This Limerick team has been built via the development squads from Under 15 up. Now, I’m not a big fan of these squads in general – in Offaly, we’re not a big enough county to be in a position to take players away from their clubs – but a culture has been built up with this bunch of Limerick players from underage right through to third level. They have won U21 All-Irelands and Fitzgibbon Cups. Through Limerick Institute of Technology, University of Limerick and Mary Immaculate College, the players have been exposed to top level managers. Many of them different, too – from the intense style of Davy Fitzgerald and Brian Lohan to the traditional style of Éamonn Cregan to Jamie Wall.
So a golden generation of talent has been exposed to top level coaching which has to have helped in their development. The realisation must have dawned within the group that they have the talent to win an All-Ireland.
When that hits you – I felt the same with Offaly around 1993 – it can inspire and drive you on to the next level.
If Limerick need inspiration, they should look across the border to Clare