Limerick Juggernaut shows no sign of stopping anytime soon.
By Noel Dundon (Tipperary Media)
History made in Munster then with Limerick hitting six titles in succession – a remarkable achievement for a team of juggernauts which seems to be slowly rolling into gear once again with the intention of adding to their history making feats.
Who can stop John Kiely’s men now? That is the big question. Most would have placed Clare as the firm favourites to give the champions a bloodied nose. Truth was, they barely laid a glove on them. Dress this final up any way you like, but the reality is, Limerick won it comfortably and could have been much further in front when the final whistle was sounded.
Granted, Nickie Quaid made a few saves and Clare struck the upright as well, but these were reminders to Limerick of what could happen rather than real affronts to their title. In fact, many of those chances resulted in errors in the Limerick defence rather than anything Clare really created – perhaps the same could be said of the goal before half time which gave the Bannermen a real shot in the arm, just when the Limerick men had punched them in the stomach with a flurry of points.
Clare needed everything to go right for them in this game, and a lot to go wrong for Limerick. But, a lot went wrong for the challengers instead and the missed opportunities from open play and from placed balls, will just not cut it at the top level. When you are encountering a side as good as Limerick, you have to be firing on all cylinders – Clare were not.
The early threat of Shane O’Donnell was snuffed out- why? Because Clare were simply unable to get the ball in to him. Limerick claimed their customary grip on the middle third and just suffocated the Clare men as they milled and thrashed about, crashing into players, horsing fellas over and seemed over intent on engaging in physicalities rather than actually playing ball – Peter Duggan a case in point. So trying to bully Limerick will work then? Eh no.
Think of that period when Limerick were struggling in the first half – who were the ones who got them firing? Kyle Hayes, Declan Hannon and Diarmuid Byrnes – the half back line. Gearoid Hegarty extended his big paw twice – two scores. David Reidy and Cathal O’Neill were all over the field with legs to burn – and Clare tried to bully them?
No, tactically, Clare got this one wrong and that will surely irk them because in truth they could have mixed it with Clare had they adopted a more conventional approach.
John Kiely will be happy with the outcome of this game, not just because Limerick won a history-making sixth title in succession, but because there is still much for him to work on in the weeks to come. They still have gears left to explore and as they drive towards five they will leave nothing to chance. Only an off-day of pretty dramatic proportions will deny them the Liam MacCarthy Cup now.
For Footballs Sake
Another defeat for the Tipperary senior footballers in the Tailteann Cup brought the curtain down on a pretty dismal season it has to be said. And, it has also signalled the end of the Paul Kelly era as the search for a new manager begins – a second in twelve months.
Tipperary would not be an attractive proposition right now – there were problems enough for the Football Board twelve months ago as they scoured the country trying to get somebody to take on the team. And, events on-field since will not have helped the reputation of the squad.
The pity is that Kelly and his management team had introduced a decent smattering of new blood and were this work to be dismissed over the winter months, it would be a great shame. Hopefully that will not be the case.
On a more positive note, any potential new manager coming into the set-up would know that things cannot get any worse. So, perhaps there is an element of somebody taking a chance and embarking upon a journey which could lead to somewhere. The priority has to be to get out of division 4 of the Allianz National Football League – let’s be honest, provincial and All-Ireland honours will not be on the agenda, nor should they be. After the season just completed, they don’t deserve to be.
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