THERE was something very weird about watching Limerick hammer Antrim last weekend. The manner in which the 8-26 was scored showed that this Limerick team are ruthless. Yes, I know, Antrim were poor, but the second half performance from Limerick, particularly their young forwards, was a joy to behold. The score taking and movement was something supporters have not seen in many years.
After the win, I asked Seamus Hickey and Shane Dowling, just how far can this Limerick team go?
“We can go all the way” said Hickey. “I’ve said it since the start of the year. I really believe we can go all the way to an All Ireland final and then on the day it’s 50-50.” added the Murroe Boher star who is just back from an elbow injury.
Limerick’s goal king Shane Dowling feels that if Limerick get the luck, who knows what they can do.
“It’s hard to know how far we can go. You need luck in everything, you know. Last year the lads could have beaten Dublin, they could have beaten Waterford but they didn’t and maybe that’s because we just didn’t have that extra inch in terms of luck, maybe if we have it this year, who knows what we can do”
Limerick’s wins over the past two weekends have seen them move away from the lower Division Two teams and hopefully onto another level. With the potential to be facing Clare, Dublin, Cork or Offaly in two weeks time, Limerick know that they need to improve. Seamus Hickey knows that Limerick can compete at the top tier. Indeed, the idea of “tiers” within in the game does not sit well with the defender.
“These ‘tiers’ that people talk about, you’re only in a tier by choice. If you’re happy where you are at, you shouldn’t be playing the game. I believe Limerick should be a top-tier team, I believe we belong up there. We’ve contested All Ireland finals, you know, we’ve come out the wrong end of them but we’ve been there, thereabouts, we deserve to be up there. I think this management team has really brought out the best of us and, building on last year, it’s about your attitude, your preparation and your approach to a game. If you approach a game believing you can win it, you’ll win it. We should have beaten Tipperary, but, you know, give us another chance and see what we do.”
The new ruthless look to Limerick is something the younger players on the panel have a lot to be thanked for. Success at underage and schools levels had allowed Limerick to have a winning mentality and to be more expectant of their talents. Shane Dowling explains,
“Growing up and looking at teams, I think there’s probably very few games where with 20 minutes to go, you know, Limerick have this home and hosed. Hopefully the mentality has changed now. It’d be very easy for us just to kind of rest back on ourselves and go out in the motion of the second half and just go through it but I hope now that Limerick’s mentality has changed. I hope everyone sees it, and I hope the young lads coming up see it. You know, just to compete nowadays is not what we want, we want to win and we want to win an All Ireland. Whether it’s ambitious or not, that’s our goal. Whether it’s this year or not, I don’t know, but I hope. Like, we’re not bursting our heads, or whatever you call it, to go out and to compete, you know, now we really want to drive on”
With results like last week and attitudes like that, driving on should not be a problem for youthful Limerick
