Eimear Ryan: Powder kept dry but Limerick still a joy
Tom Morrissey of Limerick during the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League Group 2 match between Cork and Limerick at Páirc Ui Rinn. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
John Kiely would make a great politician. Interviewed after Limerick’s not quite comfortable, but still inevitable win over Galway last Sunday, he was poker-faced and even-handed as he was questioned about the Kyle Hayes incident. I’ll have to watch it back later, he said (I’m paraphrasing), but Kyle may have only been signalling the sideline Limerick’s way. Later, he added that there may have been a ‘context’ to Hayes’s strike to Brian Concannon’s faceguard, a perfect hurling euphemism in the vein of ‘the money was only resting in my account’. As for Aaron Gillane? That would be an ecumenical – sorry, an internal matter.
It was good TV. The TG4 post-match interviews are a little bit spicier than the cosy RTÉ ones, and Kiely, to his credit, didn’t get rattled or shirty. This is all part and parcel of being the most successful manager in modern hurling, being the leader of the team that every other county has in their crosshairs. You back your lads to the hilt, even when it strains credibility. Maybe especially then.
