Limerick’s lament for chances not taken

“IT’S all about taking your chances at this level, and we simply didn’t take ours and it cost us dearly,” said dejected Limerick coach Liam Kerins in the quietness of the losers’ dressing room.

"For the first 20 minutes or so we cut the Kerry defence wide open, but got no breaks and missed a number of excellent goal opportunities that would have put us well clear.

"It's terribly disappointing after all the preparation and hard work. Nothing seemed to go right.

"We had a goal chance almost from the throw-in which went inches wide, lost the best attacker in the game in Stephen Kelly, and then failed to get anything from two penalties. All in all, it was a disastrous day for us.

"Even though we were always chasing the game after Kerry scored their goal, we continued to create the chances, but clearly it was never going to be our day when the second penalty was awarded and both our takers had gone off injured.

"You'll have to agree that the Kerry defence hadn't been opened up like they were in the opening 20 minutes for years, but a three points to one lead for us at the end of that period was an absolute joke. You must take your chances when they are created and we didn't.

"Looking on from the sideline, deep down in the pit of my stomach, I knew we would pay for those misses and we did big time.

"Despite the defeat, our lads showed tremendous heart and battled very hard in the second half to stay in contention.

"The much-vaunted Kerry forward line, a number of whom were taken off, is as much credit to our defence as it was to their poor performance on the day.

"I know it didn't look like it today but there is tremendous character in this team and we'll meet during the week to assess the situation. We'll bounce back."

Team captain Muiris Gavin said the most frustrating thing for him was the failure of the players, including himself, to play to their potential:

"That was all we wanted to do and if we had done so, it would have been good enough in my view to have won the game for us.

"Given our early dominance, we should have been 1-6 to 0-3 in front after 20 minutes, and if we had converted the first penalty, I doubt if Kerry would have come back from being nine points down.

"While I was 100% positive we were going to win and so were the rest of the lads, there was no question of being over-confident.

"We were sure there was one big performance in us. We failed to convert possession into scores, and losing Stephen Kelly, who was on fire, through injury, was a huge blow."

For long-serving John Quane, that elusive Munster Championship medal now seems further away than ever.

"It probably won't come my way now," said Quane, who made a second-half appearance.

Looking on in the first half, the amount of possession we had was unreal. Yet we didn't show it when it mattered, on the scoreboard.

"Going in at half-time six points down was a disaster for us as we didn't deserve it, given the amount of chances we had created.

"But if we take anything from the game, it's that we must convert possession into scores if we are to win big games.

"Credit to Kerry. Despite being a man short, they were able to kick a point every time they attacked in the second half," he added.