‘I hope we can re-group and pick ourselves up’

THE heartbreak was written all over the faces of the Limerick senior footballers as they stood disconsolate on the field in Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday watching Cork lift the Munster title - another case of ‘what might have been’ as Limerick’s famine now stretches to 114 years.
A blistering first half display saw Limerick race into a 0-8 to 1-2 interval lead in the Munster final, with just a hotly-disputed penalty saving Cork’s blushes. With 15 minutes to play the sides were level, but Cork were to deny a gallant Limerick a first title since 1896.


“One hundred and 13 years doesn’t bother me - all I know is that I am playing for 11 years and I haven’t won one,” said Limerick’s midfield master John Galvin.
“This is the third year now - in 2004 we should have taken Kerry and now there is 2009 and I personally think we should have taken Cork today.”
Another moral victory was not good enough for Galvin.
“I have been in nearly teams for years,” he sighed.
“The problem with nearly teams is that they die. How many nearly teams are there, look at Fermanagh, Wexford...”
Galvin now wants his side to re-group for the qualifiers on the weekend of July 25-26.
“You need to win something to keep up the spirit. We are just after losing the match and I am a bit down, but I hope we can re-group.”
Two rounds of the qualifiers remain before Limerick will find out their opposition in the round four draw on Sunday evening, July 19.
The big name possibilities are Kerry, Derry, Monaghan and Donegal along with Down, Laois, Longford, Wexford, Roscommon, Tipperary, Sligo, Clare, Westmeath, Meath, Wicklow and Cavan.
“It is going to be hard to pick ourselves up,” said a clearly disappointed John Galvin.
“It would be terrible to leave the season like that and not put in a good fight for the qualifiers. I hope we can re-group and pick ourselves up. We deserve to be in the last 12 in the qualifiers. We believed if we went out there today and performed and stuck with Cork we could take them,” the Croom man said with another rueful shake of his head.
“It didn’t turn out the way we had expected - we were total underdogs going in there today, but we knew that if we went out and performed we would be there at the end of the match with a chance of taking them.
“We performed to a certain extent, but I still think we could have done better - there were a lot of chances missed that we should have taken.
“We dominated the first half and could have put up more scores and had a bigger lead,” he recalled.
“It’s a cruel game - Cork got the small bit of the rub of the green that is needed. It’s very hard to maintain the intensity high for 70 minutes, but when you are dominating we should have put up a bigger lead.
“Unfortunately we didn’t take advantage of our time on top and Cork got a goal from the penalty against the run of play.”
Stephen Lucey and Mark O’Riordan were two of the Limerick heroes in defence yesterday.
The Croom colleagues now face just a six-day turn around as they prepare for next Saturday’s All-Ireland hurling qualifiers. The two dual players will be part of Justin McCarthy’s plans for the trip to Wexford Park to face Colm Bonner’s home side. The Limerick v Wexford hurling game is now likely to form a double-header with Wexford’s football qualifier against Roscommon.

Jerome O'Connell

Stephen Kelly will start Sunday’s Munster final

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan has selected the starting side that is entrusted with ending Limerick’s 113-year wait for a second Munster senior football championship title.
For Sunday’s final against Cork in Pairc Ui Chaoimh Stephen Kelly is selected for his first championship appearance of the season.


The speedy attacker will be looking to add a historic Munster SFC medal to the AIL title he won in Thomond Park in May with Shannon.
Kelly suffered a broken bone in his hand in that final win over Clontarf and the sporting all-rounder was forced to miss Limerick’s Munster championship wins over Tipperary and Clare. The Newcastle West man is now fully-recovered and has been named at full-forward in a direct swap with Jason Stokes in the only personal change.
Kelly is joined in attack by three under-21 players - Ian Ryan, Ger Collins and Cormac Joyce Power.
Mickey Ned O’Sullivan and his backroom team selected from a full panel and it was always expected that Kelly would push for inclusion.
Na Piarsaigh’s Eoin Hogan has missed a number of training sessions with a broken metatarsal bone, but he is named among the substitutes and could be a vital replacement as he was in the semi-final win over Clare.
Cork manager Conor Counihan has selected Kieran O’Connor to come into the Cork team at left half-back in place of the suspended Noel O’Leary.
If Limerick are to spring the shock of the championship much will depend on the midfield pairing of John Galvin and Jim O’Donovan.
John Galvin is convinced that Limerick can be a match for red-hot favourites Cork.
“We are going into the lions den as they say and Cork are playing really well down there - the truth is when we do perform we can compete with most teams in the country,” said Galvin.
“I want to enjoy getting to a Munster final, but I don’t want to get overwhelmed by the whole thing. Win, lose or draw we will know where we stand and so will the rest of the country.”
The bookies make Limerick firm outsiders, but Galvin insists that just slight improvements are needed.
“The problem with us is our lack of consistency - we played well against Tipperary for 30 minutes and then switched off for 30 minutes and we let them back into it.
“If we go out and give a 70 minutes performance, who knows.”
Tickets for Sunday’s provincial final are available from the clubs throughout the county and are also available to purchase from all Ticketmaster outlets. A public sale of tickets will take place tonight in the Gaelic Grounds between 5.00-8.00pm.
Tickets will cost €35 for adults to the uncovered stand, €30 for adults to the covered stand and €20 to the terrace.
Juveniles can purchase tickets for €5 to either of the stands. Student terrace tickets are available through the participating county boards for €15.
Senior Citizens can obtain a refund of €10 on full priced stand tickets at designated turnstiles on production of valid ID prior to entering the stadium.
Sunday’s final has a 2.00pm start in Pairc Ui Chaoimh and will be televised live on TV3. The curtain-raiser will be the Munster minor football final at 12 noon which will involve Tipperary and Kerry.

Limerick: Sean Kiely; Johnny McCarthy, Shane Gallagher, Mark O’Riordan; Stephen Lavin, Stephen Lucey, Pa Ranahan; John Galvin, Jim O’Donovan; Padraig Browne, Cormac Joyce-Power, Seanie Buckley (capt); Ger Collins, Stephen Kelly, Ian Ryan.

Cork: Alan Quirke; Ray Carey, Michael Shields, Anthony Lynch; John Miskella, Graham Canty, Kieran O’Connor; Alan O’Connor, Nicholas Murphy; Paddy Kelly, Pierce O’Neill, Paul Kerrigan; Daniel Goulding, James Masters, Donnacha O’Connor.

Jerome O'Connell

Minor team named for Cork clash

LIMERICK minor football manager John Colbert (Fr. Casey’s) has named his starting XV for tonight’s clash with Cork in the first round of the Munster minor football championship - that game takes place this evening at 6.30pm in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Cork.
Colbert is joined on the management team by Oola’s John Ryan, Newcastle West’s Joe Lee and Bruff’s Paul Moloney.
The panel for tonight’s game came together for the first time on October 4 last when Colbert hosted a series of under-17 trials. A grand total of 83 players were put through the hands of management before a final squad, from 18 different clubs, was selected to represent Limerick. Eleven members of the current squad were also involved at inter-county minor level last season.
If Limerick defeat Cork they will progress directly to the semi-finals on May 13, but if defeated Limerick will enter the back-door system where the losers of the Clare-Waterford game await.
The Limerick minor football team which faces Cork in tonight’s Munster minor football championship first round clash at Pairc Ui Chaoimh (6.30pm): Jack O’Donohoe (Ballysteen), Sean Nicholas (Monaleen), Tom McCarthy (Mountcollins), Aidan Morrissey (Croom), Paul Martin (Ballybricken), Aidan O’Sullivan (Bruff), Michael Sheehan (Fr. Casey’s), Cormac Behan (Croom), Jack Walsh (Mungret), Padraig Quinn (Monaleen), Mark Ranahan (Ballysteen), Paul Doona (captain, Kilmallock), Jake Mulcahy (Kilmallock), James Kelly (Newcastle West), Darragh Bonfil (Monaleen). Subs: Donal O’Sullivan (Monaleen), Patrick O’Sullivan (Monagea), Paul Hannan (Newcastle West), Robert Egan (Kilmallock), Thomas Quilligan (Newcastle West), Eoghan Kelly (Fr. Casey’s), Michael Cussen (Mungret), Jamie Lee (Newcastle West), Brian Crowley (St. Kieran’s). Extended panel members: Jason Brouder (Monagea), Eoin Cahill (Mungret), Jack Fitzgerald (Glin), Shane Fitzgerald (Glin), Shane Kilcoyne (South Liberties), Donnacha Woods (Newcastle West), Eoin O’Connor (St. Mary’s-Sean Finn’s) & Robert Henehan (Crecora).

Brian McDonnell

‘We want to get a settled team’

THE biggest attendance of the 2009 National Hurling League is expected in Pairc Ui Chaoimh this Sunday (2.30pm) for the ‘homecoming of Cork’s 2008 hurlers’.
Setanta Sports are to televise the round five game live as Justin McCarthy takes his Limerick hurlers to his native city. As is now the norm the Limerick team won’t be released until later this week. However there have been some changes to the extended squad which McCarthy, Brian Ryan and Liam Garvey have in training at present in Martinstown.
Leader Sport understands that Murroe-Boher’s Kevin Tobin and Kilmallock pair Paudi O’Brien and Eoin Ryan are no longer part of the plans while Garryspillane’s James Ryan is now officially part of the squad. Ollie Moran and Mike Fitzgerald are due to join up with the squad next week.
Tobin and O’Brien both saw action in league games to date with Tobin surprisingly tried in defence.
“The door remains open to everyone until the end of the league and then we will look at things in terms of the championship,” Justin McCarthy told Limerick Sport this Wednesday.


“We want to get a settled team and a settled squad and I think we are close to establishing that. Every player is given a chance and we keep about 30 at training with players coming in and out and we are casting the net a bit further all the time.”
McCarthy said that Sunday’s game will bring a new challenge.
“Cork will have a big home following because of recent events and that is something that we have to face - there could be 10,000 in Cork and the players need that; it will give them big game experience and some added pressure,” McCarthy added.
A win for Limerick on Sunday could propel them into contention for a league final place while defeat could have supporters looking over their shoulder at the league table in terms of relegation.
“The league is competitive for everyone and we have two wins and two losses and we could have had four wins - last weekend things just went away from us in Galway in the end. Naturally we would have liked to have won all four games, but we have to give players a chance while also trying to win games.
“It is a two-way thing.”
McCarthy added: “A lot of these players would not have tasted inter-county or league action before”.
After this weekend Limerick face a championship dress rehearsal on April 5 against Waterford in the Gaelic Grounds.
Before that McCarthy is looking forward to the change in time.
“I always think that there is a difference when the clocks change.
“We will be able to up our outdoor sessions. That said, I must say how pleased we have been with the facilities in Martinstown, with the pitch and the lights.”
Bryan O’Sullivan and Tom Condon were absent for the Galway game last weekend and could be back in contention for Limerick, who had Donncha Sheehan and Denis Moloney among the subs last Sunday for the first time.
Cork managed by interim boss John Considine will be without Niall McCarthy who was red carded in their win over Clare. The only ‘regulars’ absent from their line-up in Ennis were Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Brian Murphy, Sean Og O hAilpin, Jerry O’Connor and Joe Deane.

Jerome O’Connell