LIMERICK made light work of Clare in the end as they defeated the Banner 0-36 to 1-23 behind closed doors in Semple Stadium in the Munster hurling championship quarter-final. That win secures a semi-final clash with Tipperary this Sunday in a repeat of the 2019 Munster decider.
The sides were level at 0-15 apiece at the short whistle before John Kiely’s side flexed their muscles to outscore their opponents 0-21 to 1-8 in the final half hour. It would be a run of five scores to open the second half that would prove the difference according to Kiely who reflected on the big win that doubled as a League final with Limerick retaining their title.
“At half time I would have been a bit concerned about that but we said ‘listen, first game back, maybe we just need to give a little bit more time to see if we can get up to the rhythm of it.’ And we went out and we addressed those concerns we had, we got the first five scores after the break and that gave us a good platform.
“Our hurling was a lot crisper and sharper at that stage, our support runners were coming, we were putting balls through the hands very crisply and we were finding our men in the forwards with the ball in a bit of space. I am glad that we actually saw out the deal and took that league title. We spent nine years in 1B, languishing and blaming everything and anything bar the fact that we just couldn’t get out of there.
“We’ve always put a lot of stead on the league since we came together as a group and for us to win back-to-back titles is a significant achievement nonetheless regardless of the manner in which it finished. It’s still going to be Limerick 2019, Limerick 2020 and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”
While it will be a season debut for Liam Sheedy’s men, they will not be wanting for motivation after falling to a 12-point drubbing to Limerick in last year’s Munster final. In spite of that, Sheedy would guide his side to the Liam MacCarthy as they overwhelmed Kilkenny in the final after the Cats overcame Limerick in the semi-finals.
It will be a concern to Limerick that it took so long to put the game to bed with Clare entering the game without All Stars John Conlon, Peter Duggan, Podge Collins and Colm Galvin for varying reasons. Limerick did have their own injury concerns with Barry Nash and Dan Morrissey coming into the full back line in the place of injured duo Richie English and Mike Casey.
Both did well out of position but will come up against a different animal in Tipp’s full forward line which could include the likes of Seamie Callanan, John McGrath, John O’Dwyer, Jason Forde or Jake Morris to name a few.
Jerome Boylan did make his championship debut from the bench last Sunday but Nash and Morrissey will be favoured to continue in the full back line. The winners on Sunday will move into the Munster Final while the losers will enter the qualifiers.
It promises to be a cracker in the Pairc with the winner to face either Cork or Waterford in the final a fortnight from Sunday. Limerick play Tipperary in the 2020 Munster hurling championship semi-final this Sunday in Pairc Ui Chaoimh at 4pm.
