Quane sustained by craving for Munster championship medal

JOHN QUANE craves a Munster senior football championship medal as much as any member of the current Limerick panel.

He holds a Railway Cup medal, toured Australia two years ago with the Irish squad for the international rules series and was in the US earlier this year with the Vodafone Allstars. Yet, despite this impressive CV, and the widespread respect it has earned him, he has had no real success at inter-county level.

It almost happened for him in Croke Park at the end of April, when Westmeath's stronger finish won them the Division Two League title in dramatic style. Similarly, at the age of 20, he came close to winning a provincial senior medal at the start of his career. Again on that occasion, inexperience cost Limerick victory in the 1991 decider when, under the inspired management of John O'Keeffe, they lost by a mere two points.

He was conscious of the significance of the event as much as the occasion itself. "It was great to get to the final in my first year, except that we were a bit unlucky. We could have won it," Quane recalled.

However, a natural belief that it would herald a change of fortunes for Limerick football proved unfounded. A loss to Kerry at the semi-final stage the following year was bad enough, but, to see Clare go on and win the final under John Maughan added to their frustrations.

There was to be no breakthrough for Limerick, not just then, but in any year since. "During those years, it was hard enough to stay at it. You would have thought of packing it in if you were beaten by 14 or 15 points."

What did keep him going was his love of the game (his club, Galtee Rovers, doesn't field in hurling) and the social side of the game, the friendships made.

That's an aspect of playing he has appreciated all the more recent years, primarily as a result of his involvement in the international series. But, he treasures the Railway Cup medal he won in 1999, when he partnered Darragh O Sé in the win over Connacht in the final. Likewise, he takes pride in the county SFC medal won with Glenacurrane Rovers.

The first signs of a revival came with the appointment of Liam Kearns as joint manager of the U21 and senior teams. In 2000 Limerick won the Munster U21 title for the first time ever and made it to the All-Ireland final, where they lost to Tyrone.

That game was played on a Saturday and eight days later Limerick lined up against Cork seniors in the championship in Kilmallock. With nine U21s in the side, they pushed them hard for 45 minutes before eventually falling away and losing by eight points.

"We nearly caught them. At the end it was inexperience which caught us," Quane said.

Back in 1991, Limerick's passage to the final was facilitated by the open draw which pitted champions Cork against Kerry in the first round. However, Quane points to their relative success in the qualifier competition last year as the catalyst for the development of the team to its present level.

Firstly last year, Limerick gained a lot of confidence from beating Kerry in the League, for the simple reason that a win over one of the bigger teams was so encouraging for everyone involved. It inspired a confident approach to their subsequent SFC meeting with Kerry at the Gaelic Grounds. They didn't win but a mere only four points separated them at the end and they were saved by the qualifiers.

Limerick caused a surprise by beating League finalists Cavan in a replay, followed with an even more unexpected win over Offaly and only lost to Mayo in the third round by a point.

"We gained a lot of self-belief after these games and it was carried over into this year's League campaign. It was a disappointment to lose in the final to Westmeath but fellows were tuned in straight away after. We had it in our heads all along that the championship game with Cork was the priority."

Now Limerick's sights are even higher.