John Kiely: Sunday's clash with Tipp a 'Munster semi-final' for Limerick hurlers - Ireland News Beep

LIMERICK are aiming to reach an eighth Munster final in a row when they host Tipperary on Sunday at the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

John Kiely’s men were nine-point winners after shaking off a dogged Waterford outfit yesterday at the Ennis Road venue.

Two goals just 59 seconds apart were the catalyst for the win. The efforts from Peter Casey and Gearoid Hegarty started a 2-9 to no score run for Limerick in the last 10 minutes of the game.

Regardless of the outcome of the clash against the All-Ireland champions, this win over the ‘Deise’ has guaranteed a top-three finish for the Shannonsiders in the provincial championship.

“To get out of Munster is an achievement,” said Kiely after the game. “There’s no doubt whatsoever in that. For us, next weekend is in reality a Munster semi-final for us.

“We have to go back, reset this week, the review will be tough in some respects, we did leave Waterford get a run at us at times,” he added.

“We have to acknowledge the character shown by the lads. The calmness, the willingness to grind it out, stay patient, stay calm, stay focussed and get the job done in the end.”

They face a Tipp side who were stunned on Saturday evening, losing to Clare by 11 points at FBD Semple Stadium.

The result means the All-Ireland champions’ season will conclude on Sunday as they cannot break into top three after a campaign to forget for Liam Cahill’s side.

“For the minute, I’m very focussed on ourselves, we’ve a lot to take from today’s game. ‘(There were) a lot of positives, but an awful lot of areas that we know that won’t be happy with.

“We allowed Waterford to dominate a number of sections of that game, to outfight us on a number of occasions, and that quite simply won’t do next week.”

The strength of Limerick’s panel was evident in the closing stages of the game. Cian Lynch and Tom Morrissey struck 0-3 each while David Reidy and Colin Coughlan added impetus.

It all culminated in the men in green scoring 2-9 without reply in the concluding stages of the match – a last-gasp Shane Bennett penalty meaning Waterford got the last score of the afternoon.

“I felt very confident that we had a bench coming into today’s game that would make a big impact and as it turns out, our bench was absolutely critical to getting the result today,” outlined Kiely. “Our subs made a really big impact.”

This impact was needed as Limerick were very much second best in large parts of the first half. In a 15-minute period in the first half, the ‘Deise’ outscored their hosts 0-10 to 0-1.

“We were struggling to get on breaking ball, struggling to win puck outs, we lost a few battles that we wouldn’t be happy with – it was a poor spell for us,” Kiely said.

“When we sit down to review on Tuesday night, it will be uncomfortable viewing.

This spell came when it looked like Limerick had this game under control, having started brightly.

“We started well, it was a good first 10 or 15 minutes.

“We were playing against a very strong breeze and Waterford got to the tempo of it, they had a very good 10 or 12 minutes. We were down 0-15 to 0-10, Cian [Lynch] came on and gives great life for the following eight minutes before half-time.”

Lynch was instrumental as the ‘Treaty’ struck five points in a row to ensure they only trailed by one at the break. This preceded a low-scoring third quarter where it was nip and tuck.

However, the two goals in quick succession meant that Limerick booked their place in the All-Ireland series – with hopes of another Munster final firmly in focus ahead of Sunday’s clash.

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John Kiely: Sunday’s clash with Tipp a ‘Munster semi-final’ for Limerick hurlers

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