UPDATE: Limerick 0-20 Laois 1-14
Justin McCarthy’s was somewhat relieved that his Limerick hurling side secured a three point win against a resilient Laois team that battled hard and forced the men in green to stumble into the last eight and an All Ireland quarter final against Dublin.
Despite the opening encounters that had Laois 1-5 to the good against Limerick’s no score, McCarthy’s men rallied and returned to the dressing room with a 0-9 to 1-9 deficit at half time.
Limerick applied the pressure needed to see out the game and thus their route to the quarter final berth against Dublin was secured.
McCarthy was quoted as saying: “We didn’t panic, which was the main thing. I always felt that we were going to win the game but having said that, we got one hell of a fright.”
THERE are moments in games when you know you are going to win them. The moment in last weekend’s All Ireland qualifier against Wexford came when Stephen Lucey won a vital ball which stopped Wexford from scoring what would have been an equalising point. Sport is weird that way. A week earlier Lucey was lying prone on the ground after a crushing defeat with the footballers. At the final whistle last weekend he celebrated as if he had finally won that elusive All Ireland medal.
What went before that joyous moment was a match to be remembered for sometime by Limerick fans who attended. The 8,000 strong crowd witnessed a game of high intensity and passion in conditions fit for water polo. The 1-13 to 0-14 point win was secured with heart, passion and finally some hard guts. Commenting after the win, which sets up a final qualifier this weekend in Thurles against Laois, Limerick manager Justin Mc Carthy was quoted as saying, “The players knew they had to respond. We said we were not going back on that bus journey as losers. We want to move on and it was that bit of spirit that won it for us in the end. There is still life left in Limerick, when push came to shove, we stood up that little bit more”
Stand up they most certainly did. The performances from Lucey, Geary and Hickey were outstanding. Mark Foley was many peoples man of the match and you cannot go against that. The Adare man was once more a pressure reliever for his backs. The win was secured without Niall Moran who broke a finger after 20 minutes. This put pressure on those forwards who had not yet shone in the championship sop far, but this time Limerick stood up and took their scores. Full forward Paudie Mc Namara scored four superb points from play. Andrew O Shaughnessy showed a glimpse of his old self when he roasted his marker for a goal. Donal O Grady was stretched off, but once more Limerick’s strength from the bench was shown as none other than Ollie Moran was his replacement.
One win, Limerick’s first since 2007 in the championship, does not make a summer, but the win looks like being a watershed moment for the hurlers. Limerick’s win against Wexford and Galway’s win over Clare means that Cork have to face Galway. Galway having already played Laois cannot play them again. Cork and Galway’s loss is Limerick’s gain. I know that Laois will be looking to cause an upset, but Limerick should progress to the last eight with a win on Saturday in Thurles. Once you are in the last eight anything is possible. At that level you are three games from glory.
We will not be getting carried away just yet though, but a comment from one Limerick player last weekend, post match, just shows what Limerick is about. I won’t name him, but he quote was this. “We saw the footballers last weekend and we realised that we did not have enough passion in ourselves, but more importantly in the jersey. We needed this win to prove to people that we love Limerick as much as them. The hurlers and footballers should be something that Limerick people are proud of. Up until now, we, the hurlers have left them down”.
With passion like that about to come to the surface, I’d recommend keeping a few Sunday’s free in August and early September. Limerick take on Laois this Saturday at Thurles. Throw in is at 5pm.
