Joining long term absentee John Galvin will be Jim O’Donovan, Eoghan Joy, James Kelly and John Cooke. Add the unavailable dual pairing of Stephen Lucey and Mark O’Riordan to that list and you can see the task facing Limerick this weekend.
When Limerick met Offaly in the league this season, the ‘Faithful County’ won out in a tight battle. Speaking to Postsport this week, Limerick manager Maurice Horan, (pictured) feels that this weekend’s game will be no different.
“The game this weekend will be a real battle. Limerick and Offaly are similar in the number of wins they have had in the qualifiers over the years. Offaly defeated Monaghan in the first round of qualifiers and the team they played that day showed seven or eight changes from the team we played in the league. We will be missing seven players who played in the Munster final last year. So, this is essentially a new Limerick team”
Indeed, Limerick have struggled in recent years in the qualifiers. The Shannonsiders have beaten Meath and Carlow in recent memory, but losses to Kildare and Meath have also shown how hard it is to get up for these games after a provincial defeat. A feat Limerick must once again strive to achieve.
“We have not done too much since the Kerry game in terms of on the field training. We have been trying to limit the number of injuries we have and also we have been trying to get lads back to full fitness” added Horan.
The Limerick panel has been added to since the Kerry game. Tommy Stack is back on board with Limerick, as is Donal O’Sullivan from Monaleen. Limerick know that a win on Saturday night would exercise the demons of the Kerry defeat. Can this happen? We will leave the last words with the manager.
“We know we left people down against Kerry. We are trying to play a more attacking style of play and we know that we did not do that against Kerry. We have four or five key elements which we need to achieve and produce on Saturday. If we can do that we will be there or thereabouts”.
