Foley likely to miss Limerick’s big clash with Tipperary

Foley likely to miss Limerick’s big clash with Tipperary

By Jim O’Sullivan

MARK FOLEY’S availability for Limerick for Sunday week’s opening game in the Guinness Munster SHC against Tipperary in Thurles is in doubt.

One of the survivors from the team which won the county’s last hurling league title in 1997 (against Galway, when he played at centre forward), he was forced off near the end of Sunday’s final after injuring his groin 10 minutes into the second half.

“I pulled something in my groin, it just went,” he explained yesterday. “I would be hopeful enough of playing against Tipperary, but it all depends on the extent of the injury. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.”

Foley was typically wholehearted and effective at left-corner back, coming into his own in the second quarter and remaining consistent until he went off. It’s no secret that he would much prefer to be playing in the half-back line, but operating in the corner has been his lot for the last few seasons and it’s where he accepts he is destined to operate. As one of the senior members of the side, along with the likes of TJ Ryan and Ollie Moran, he is ideally placed to gauge recent progress.

“I suppose you could say we were happy enough with our display on Sunday,” he commented.

“We gave it everything we had. The goals scored by Kilkenny were probably the difference between the teams on the day and they came at crucial stages. But we had a good league campaign and we learned a lot. The hope now is that we can take them into the championship.”

If there is a significant difference in the squad from last year, it’s the confidence that’s now there in the panel, says Foley: “Getting into a winning habit is important for any team and it has been good for our confidence. But other than the fact that we have the couple of dual players back, there isn’t a whole lot of change from last year.”

One of the returning players is Brian Begley, who had been unavailable for the past two seasons and who found himself promoted to the team rather more quickly than he might have anticipated after resuming training.

“It’s a boost definitely and it’s great to see him back, but he still has a long way to go. Really he has not played any hurling of any description for club or county for the past two-and-a-half years. It’s a long way back, but as the summer goes on, I have no doubt he will get better and better,” said Foley.

While many expect Limerick to maintain their progress by winning an overdue championship match on May 14 against Tipperary, Foley is cautious.

“You can never write them off. People talk about Eoin Kelly and he will be a big threat. He’s one of the top forwards in the game and if he had a day where everything went right for him, he could make it very difficult. And they have a number of other forwards, who, if given a bit of latitude, could do a lot of damage as well.”

Limerick’s last major success was in 2001 against Waterford in the Munster semi final. After that they lost by two points to Tipperary in the Munster final and by a single point to Wexford in the All-Ireland quarter final.

“There was very little between ourselves and Tipperary last year. Yet we were being written off before that game because Tipperary had hammered us in the league.”

* Kilkenny forward Richie Power, who was also forced off in Sunday’s league final has no worries about his fitness. His injury, to a calf muscle, was minor and he is confident of being fit to play for his club Carrickshock against Dunnamaggin next Sunday.