Limerick victory was opportune

Brendan Larkin

Limerick hurling had been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent weeks, and with the senior championship between the same counties just 10 days away, there were fears on Shannonside that Tipperary would have it all their own way in Thurles.

The minor victory has changed all that and there is an air of optimism that better times are just around the corner. Those close to the minor team were not surprised at the victory or the manner in which it was achieved.

“We’ve had this particular group of players together for the past four years and I knew they had what it takes,” said team manager Tim O’Connor.

“We had lost at Under 15 to Cork in the Carrigdhoun tournament, and at Under 16 level we drew with Cork and lost to Kilkenny in the group stages of the Nenagh Co-Op tournament. Declan Fitzgerald who coaches the team, and I have been involved with them over the last three years, and we’ve worked very hard on instilling self believe in the players.

“I always felt that if we could get one result things would take off for us. The victory over Tipperary hasn’t surprised me. We were confident we could get a result. People outside of Limerick may not know it, but there is an amount of hard work being done by the County Youth Development Committee.

“I cannot praise those involved in that committee highly enough. What really put this minor team together was the decision to enter two teams in the Under 16 inter-divisional competition. The South East divisional team won the competition two years ago beating North Tipperary in the final, and the bulk of that team form the nucleus of this year’s minor side.

On Wednesday we opted to play with the strong wind in the first half and build up a good lead. It worked out well for us and in the second half we pulled Gavin O’Mahony back as an extra midfielder and also worked.

“Overall it was a tremendous result as the county has been starved of any success in recent years, but we have nothing won yet, and Cork will pose an entirely different obstacle for us.”