Justin McCarthy: ‘Overall it was worthwhile excercise’

“OVERALL it was a worthwhile exercise.”
That was the summation of Justin McCarthy as Limerick’s National Hurling League campaign came to a close.
McCarthy was speaking beneath the stand in Semple Stadium.
In eight weeks time will come the real test when Justin McCarthy leads his Limerick side back into Semple Stadium to battle with his former charges in the Munster championship semi-final.


“It was a two-fold thing,” said McCarthy of Limerick’s NHL which yielded three home wins (Clare, Dublin and Waterford) and four away defeats (Kilkenny, Cork, Galway and Tipperary).
“We wanted to give fellas a chance while at the same time we were trying to develop a team for going forward into the championship,” said McCarthy.
The new manager and his selectors, Brian Ryan and Liam Garvey, gave league action to 29 players, with experienced duo Mark Foley and Ollie Moran not among those to see game-time.
“The league is gone now and we are into summer hurling and the championship,” explained Justin McCarthy.
He added: “It’s a different mindset from now”.
“We have a few games lined up for the next few weeks,” he explained.
“Overall we have a bit of work to do, there’s no doubt.”
Many of the old failings were evident in this final league game.
“Wides are a funny thing - you play as well as you are let play and you score as well as you are let score.
“We were under pressure for some of the shots and were hitting balls without looking up or taking time to create space, but that’s something that we can work on for the championship,” responded McCarthy when quizzed on Limerick’s tally of 16 wides.
“It was an unusual game from our point of view - we didn’t have a full team coming into it and had a few injuries during the game.
“Tipp were sharper - there is no doubt about that, but they are coming into a league final and would want to be sharp.
“From our point of view, we took the game as it was but it didn’t have any consequences.”
Not overly concerned with the defeat, McCarthy “saw a few things and we learned from the game”.
“We played quite well - we fought back well in the second half,” said a satisfied Justin McCarthy.

Jerome O’Connell