THERE is no more fitting a captain of Limerick than two-time Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch.
On Sunday, he followed in the footsteps of fellow Patrickswell greats Seán Foley (1974 and ‘80), Gary Kirby (‘94) and his uncle Ciarán Carey in accepting the Cup (now named in honour of Mick Mackey, Ahane) presented to the winners of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship, earned on this occasion with a sweet win over Cork on Leeside.
To a green-clad pitch audience – who bettered an army of stewards for such prime positions – Lynch declared: “I mean it when I say it, you’re the best fans in the world and we’re looking forward to seeing you in Croke Park in a few weeks’ time.”
Lynch debuted for Limerick as a teenager way back in 2015 and has represented this flagship team in almost 120 competitive fixtures, split almost evenly between League and Championship.
His scoring contribution 12 standout seasons has been a jaw-dropping 3-116.
Lynch’s heartbeat is Limerick.
“Enjoying the sport you grew up loving, watching, loving to play, and seeing the enjoyment it brings to the family, to supporters, to Limerick people,” he said.
Lynch is only too keenly aware that no player within this tight-knit group owns a starting jersey.
He previously said: “It is so competitive. The way training goes, we’ve 36 lads putting their hands up. Any man that goes out onto that pitch in a league game is worthy of his jersey. That’s the ethos of our group.”
“You see the lads coming on…Anyone that has come on has impacted as well, which is huge.”
He added: “There’s so much transition since last year. We have a lot of new panel members, young fellas in here this year, and a lot of lads putting their hands up.”
Sunday’s win be slenderist of margins brought the provincial title haul of Limerick to 26, still adrift of both Cork (55) and Tipperary (42).