Coaching work in Limerick reaping rewards
You know what, he’s dead right. Even for the Crusheen players, I’d say this comes as a relief. The conditions in Thurles yesterday were very heavy.
It won’t bother Na Piarsaigh though, who have been fighting a fierce battle for years to keep hurling alive in Limerick city. This is vindication for all those years of hard work by the underage coaches who brought through Shane Dowling, Kevin Downes and the Breen brothers.
There have been some fantastic clubs in Limerick city down the decades. Claughaun, Old Christians, St Patrick’s and Treaty Sarsfields. Na Piarsaigh are now the sole survivor at senior level, but a fitting successor.
The thing is, if Na Piarsaigh can do it, why can’t everyone else? This must give a lift to Claughaun and South Liberties to drive on.
The city clubs produced some great players — the Cregan brothers, the Hartigans and so on. Now we have the Breens, Downes, Dowling.
The biggest factor to emerge from yesterday’s match was the way the Na Piarsaigh forwards lifted themselves. The over-reliance on Shane Dowling was no longer a factor. Kevin Downes, Kevin Kennedy and David Breen all came in, contributed two points from play each, and as for Adrian Breen, now that’s what I call an impact sub — 1-2 in 15 minutes.
For me, Adrian really stood out, and not just because of what he scored. When you’re dropped from a team, as Adrian was from last Sunday’s drawn game, you can sulk and take from the side, or you can grit your teeth and decide to take it on the chin, come back stronger and prove yourself again. Adrian certainly did that.
You have to look at the Na Piarsaigh defence also. Kieran Breen (full-back) and James O’Brien were outstanding yesterday. Alan Dempsey on the wing also impressed in a defence with four Crusheen forwards held scoreless.
The really big thing for Na Piarsaigh, however, was they obviously recovered better from the exertions of last week than Crusheen. Not surprising, given they are also the younger team.
I HAD heard on the grapevine in Clare during the week that a few Crusheen players were carrying serious knocks from last Sunday, wing-forward David Forde especially. This became most obvious in the final quarter, when you could see Crusheen just couldn’t get the lift they needed. They went three points up with 15 minutes to go, but just like last Sunday when they went four points up, they were caught again.
But look at what Crusheen have achieved this year. For such a small club, to win back-to-back county senior titles in Clare, having only won their first last year, is a fantastic achievement, given the numbers they’re picking from. They’ve already given their supporters a hugely enjoyable couple of years; they should all just enjoy that now, rather than dwelling on this loss.
They have an outstanding defence, but there was always going to come the day when their weakness up front, especially their lack of goal-scoring ability, was going to catch up with them. That lack of penetration was evident again yesterday, and again Padraic Kennedy, the Na Piarsaigh keeper, had an armchair ride.
I didn’t think this was a great Munster club championship in comparison to some of the campaigns we’ve seen over the years.
Still, Na Piarsaigh are worthy champions, worthy representatives, but the All-Ireland series is wide open.
