Christy O'Connor: Limerick choke Galway to put Kiely and Kinnerk in pantheon of influence
Limerick coach Paul Kinnerk with his son Paul and daughter Enya after the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Galway and Limerick at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
Just on the half-hour mark, the game finally seemed to hit a groove and find a flow. Limerick necklaced a neat passing move together, with Gearóid Hegarty and Cian Lynch creating the opening for Peter Casey. His goal shot was blocked by Cillian Trayers before Casey’s follow-up shot for a point was also nicked and fell into the paw of Daithí Burke.
Within seconds the ball was making its way towards Jason Rabbitte but the Limerick defence spoiled that possession and Adam English scored a point off the turnover. Already, it felt like the game was turning in Limerick’s direction. And it had.
In a bitty and fractured first half, Limerick already had their grip on Galway’s throats and were squeezing their windpipe hard. In that opening half, Limerick sourced 0-9 of their 0-13 off turnovers, but 0-5 of those scores stemmed from Limerick turning over Galway players in the tackle.
Limerick had expectedly turned the middle third into a warzone. And as soon as the second half began, Limerick dug the trenches even deeper, continuing to bury Galway beneath the mud and bullets.
Two minutes into the second half, Aaron Gillane turned over Padraic Mannion in the tackle and engineered a point for Cathal O’Neill. After sourcing their next two scores off the Galway puckout, Limerick pressed their hands even tighter around Galway’s throat.
Kyle Hayes turned over Darren Morrissey and set up an Aidan O’Connor point before Darragh Neary was gunned down in a sniper’s alley. After Neary was hustled out of possession, Hayes played the ball to Aaron Gillane and Cathal O’Neill finished the move by blasting the sliotar to the net. Moments later, Cathal Mannion was hunted down in possession and Peter Casey pointed.
And on it went. In total, Limerick mined a colossal 1-17 off turnovers but 1-11 of that was sourced from hunting Galway players down in the tackle or dispossessing them through either a block or flick when they had the sliotar in their hand. Of Galway’s 42 turnovers, 28 were lost in the middle third.
Once Limerick got Galway pinned down in a body lock, there was no way out of it. After Galway loosened that grip briefly in the middle of the second half, Limerick just grappled harder in the control position. Aidan O’Connor flicked the ball off Tiernan Killeen’s hurley to manufacture another point for Casey. Diarmaid Byrnes and Cian Lynch’s late points also stemmed from Limerick players stripping the ball from their opponents.
A slow death from asphyxiation.
On the evening that Galway and Limerick met in the league back in late March, in what was effectively a semi-final, Limerick had never experienced a second half like it; Galway got off 25 shots in that period, 10 more than Limerick, at a staggering conversion rate of 88 per cent.
It was unusual for Limerick to become so overwhelmed by metrics they usually dominate but the numbers Galway clocked in the second half that evening had been a pattern all year; in their previous 11 league and championship games prior to yesterday, Galway had outscored the opposition by 14-164 to 8-66 after the break.
In more basic terms, Galway had been winning the second half by an average of 1-15 to 0-8. In the second halves of their previous two matches against Dublin and Cork, Galway averaged 15 more shots and outscored their opponents by an average of 0-11.
Limerick had a similar relationship with second halves, but their numbers were still vastly different from Galway; Limerick had won the second half of their previous six championship games by 7-74 to 6-46, an average of 1-12 to 1-8.
Yet while Galway had been cruising after the break, Limerick had primarily been grinding and wearing teams down like never before; in their previous two matches against Cork and Clare, Limerick conceded just 12 shots from play in total, coughing up just 1-1. They were staggering numbers in two games that went to the wire, but Limerick made sure that wasn’t happening yesterday.
Limerick won the second half by 1-16 to 1-10, with Galway’s goal coming with the last play. Limerick outscored Galway by 1-14 to 0-6 from play after the break. Limerick had a mammoth 24 shots from play in the second half.
Emphatic. Absolutely emphatic.
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At the time of his death in March 2015 at the age of 92, Fr Tommy Maher was regarded as the most influential coach the game had ever known. Brian Cody went on to lead Kilkenny to an 11th All-Ireland under his watch later that year but Fr Maher was still the coach associated with Kilkenny's emergence as the pre-eminent power in modern hurling.
Fr Maher led the county to seven All-Irelands in 19 seasons, the first in 1957, the last in 1975, which was the year of Cody's first senior All-Ireland as a player. The cleric’s feats were made all the more remarkable by the presence in those same years of the great Tipperary team of the 1960s, the Cork three-in-a-row side of the 1970s, as well as a Wexford side always dangerous in Leinster during those two decades.
However, Fr Maher’s greatest legacy was how he passed on the baton after 1975; every All-Ireland Kilkenny won in the following four decades were all conducted by his apprentices; every single successful manager, including Cody, had played for Fr Maher in the 1950s, ‘60s or ‘70s.
Cody and Maher have always been at the top of the manager/coaching pyramid when it comes to All-Irelands but John Kiely is firmly in the pantheon now after leading the county to a sixth All-Ireland on his watch. Since 1975, Kiely is the only other manager alongside Cody to have won four or more All-Irelands.
One of Kiely’s greatest assets though, is Paul Kinnerk, who has rightly been regarded as hurling’s most innovative, creative and skilful coach. Galway had been hard to play against all year but implementing tactics and strategy is never black and white against a Limerick side built for reinvention and Kinnerk's capacity to exploit plans and schemes to Limerick’s advantage. Moreover, Limerick have now delivered their best performance of the season in five of their six All-Ireland final wins.
In his speech afterwards, Cian Lynch referred to Kinnerk as “a genius”.
He's right.
Eleven minutes into the match, Jason Rabbitte had already grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. As well as winning three converted frees, Mike Casey had also been yellow-carded, which necessitated him being taken off Rabbitte. By half-time, Rabbitte had been fouled for four points and had scored a point.
Once Limerick grabbed control of the game before half-time though, Galway were no longer able to get Rabbitte on the ball, or engineer enough space around him, or get runners off him. After playing eight long balls into him in the opening 35 minutes, Galway only hit four long balls in total into their full-forward line in the second half, all of which were in Rabbitte’s direction, from which he won a free and set up a goal chance for Darragh Neary.
Rabbitte showcased his class and potential. He will be Young Hurler of the Year but he’ll have also surely taken lots of notes over the winter of his opposite number at the other end. As well as scoring 0-4, Aaron Gillane had assists for 1-2, and had a role in two more scores. Gillane also manufactured two goalscoring chances for Gearóid Hegarty, as well as creating two other scoring chances.
Outstanding.
