NICKIE Quaid marked his 160th competitive senior fixture for Limerick with another masterful display of goalkeeping in the runaway win over Clare in the Munster Championship at Cusack Park, Ennis.
Since his debut, as a midfielder against Galway way back in 2010, Quaid has lined out at the highest level with the Shannonsiders in around 80 Championship and as many National League fixtures.
In the runaway win over the Banner on Bank Holiday Sunday, the three-time All-Star produced a string of superb blocks, making him the right choice for the Man of the Match accolade.
“We’re delighted. We were under no illusions coming down here to Ennis; it’s extremely tough, and we’ve been on the other side of this kind of result a couple of times, so we’re absolutely delighted,” stated Quaid in his post-match interview with RTÉ.
“Obviously, we needed the win after last weekend (away loss to Cork), and we’re delighted with the response, and to get the two points on the board gets us off the mark, and hopefully now we can push on again in two weeks’ time (home to Waterford).”
The ageless Quaid will turn 37 next month.
“I think he’s really finding a new lease of life for himself,” noted manager John Kiely. “His stop-shotting was off the charts.”
Limerick’s understudy is the capable Colin Ryan, a winner of the All-Ireland Poc Fada Championship on a couple of occasions.
Aside from Quaid, there were many other star performers for Limerick on Sunday, among them Barry Nash (0-2), Cathal O’Neill (0-3), Diarmaid Byrnes (1-2), Aidan O’Connor (1-9), Peter Casey (0-3) and Shane O’Brien (0-6), while young gun Fintan Fitzgerald of Mungret St Paul’s fired over a splendid point with his first touch in a Championship arena, and there was also a centre stage bow for Hugh Flanagan (Garryspillane).
Limerick’s next outing is against Waterford at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday week (May 17) with another home tie with Tipperary the following weekend.
There is just one Championship contest this weekend: Waterford versus Cork at Walsh Park on Saturday, 6pm.