Who’s capable of knocking Cats from their lofty perch?

I FEARED a little for Limerick when I opened the Irish Examiner on Saturday morning and saw two Limerick players pictured at the opening of a shop, surrounded by autograph hunters and well-wishers.

I wrote last week that the lead-up to the All-Ireland final is difficult to manage and that I felt that all public appearances should be well finished by the weekend before the game.

I also wrote that clogging up the space was a prerequisite for Limerick when going into battle with the All-Ireland champions. They had a plan against Waterford which I felt would not be good enough for Kilkenny and Limerick had nothing new yesterday. Their failure to impose themselves physically on Kilkenny — a big physical team themselves — allowed the Cats to play an open game, much to the delight of their forwards.

Early on, Kilkenny’s half-back line reigned supreme. They adopted the tactics I felt they would and pulled their half-forward line deep into midfield, with the midfielders also dropping back for Limerick’s puck-outs. Sitting high up in the stand overlooking the whole field, all I could see was the huge amount of space in front of the Kilkenny full-forward line.

Limerick needed to strike short puck-outs and to condense the area in front of their half-back line, but obviously they felt confident in their ability to match Kilkenny with these tactics, however, they were never going to work. The Limerick management may have been a little naive here, and even if they wanted to change things, the match was almost over after 10 minutes, as Kilkenny’s Eddie Brennan — giving a man-of-the-match performance — struck an early goal, followed shortly thereafter by another from Henry Shefflin, who showed all his power and wristwork to knock the ball home under severe pressure.

When you play Kilkenny, the cardinal rule is to deny them early goals. Once they got the goals yesterday they were able to settle into a rhythm and Limerick were then forced to chase the game. They didn’t have enough nous and downright craft to open up the Kilkenny defence, who were then content to sit in their traditional placings and fasten onto loose ball. Limerick were a little caught in the headlights and reverted to long, hopeful balls forward which were eagerly gobbled up by the Kilkenny full-back line, where both Jackie Tyrrell and Michael Kavanagh were superb.in covering and driving the ball forward.

All year long, the Limerick management have got it right but they erred yesterday by not switching their defenders around early in the first half. Seamus Hickey was in trouble against Eddie Brennan — who, it must be said, was provided with some quality ball. Why didn’t Limerick move captain Damien Reale across to mark Brennan? Maybe Hickey has more pace than Reale and Limerick felt they needed pace for Brennan, but Reale is a tough, abrasive player who gives nothing a way. He might have been the better option.

Peter Lawlor’s man, Eoin Larkin, had a great first-half and Limerick should also have done something here. Withdrawing someone to play in front of Lawlor as Offaly did with Michael Duignan in 1998 might have been an option. In fairness to Lawlor he covered well and picked up a fair amount of ball, but he also gave ball away at times by striking directly to his opponents.

Kilkenny scored 2-3 in the first 10 minutes, and Limerick then outscored them for the rest of the half. Kilkenny got nine points in the second half, while Limerick got 1-7. However, Kilkenny’s experience and hurling ability all over the field was the difference. They know how to win games — and how to play for each other.

Kilkenny took down their Wexford league semi-final tactics from the shelf and applied them with aplomb. Their substitutions, particularly John Tennyson and Richie Power, were highly effective, whereas on this occasion, in contrast to other games, Limerick’s subs, apart from Niall Moran, didn’t have the same impact.