Limerick spurred on by club success, says skipper Buckley

LIMERICK’S football championship record against Cork has been peppered with defeats in recent seasons.

2006 and 2008 brought the anguish of narrow losses after spirited displays, in between was the crashing low of a 13-points beating of 2007.

But captain Sean Buckley has had some recent success over a Rebel side to savour.

Last November in the Gaelic Grounds, Buckley was at the core of a supreme Drom-Broadford effort that upset a fancied Nemo Rangers.

That Munster club success is helping to fuel his confidence that the county senior outfit can repeat the trick in Sunday’s provincial showdown.

“You look back on that day and it helps to give you confidence. Nemo were hot favourites that day and we were unexpected to them. They probably didn’t expect us to stay as close as we did. That experience might stand to the few of us.

“Cork are strong favourites but I don’t think any of the talk beforehand or afterwards matters. It’s what happens on the field for 70 minutes that counts. You look at last year when we should have beaten them.

“But that’s no good heading into Sunday, we need to repeat that display.”

Limerick’s season has already experienced a turn for the better. Their NFL Division 3 campaign ended in ignominy as a catastrophic chain of last day results ensures they will be plying their trade in Division 4 next spring.

A pair of championship wins over Tipperary and Clare has refreshed their setup, with the latter victory a satisfying experience for the Ennistymon-based Garda.

“It’s a great football area where I work in Clare. There’s a lot of lads with big football interest around there and it was the talk of the place for the couple of weeks when we were to play Clare after beating Tipperary.

“It was the same last year when we played Kilmurry-Ibrickane in the Munster club final, there was plenty of banter around and I’d know a good few fellas on both sides. It was great to come out on the winning side on both occasions.”

Like the rest of the football world, Cork’s peak physical condition in recent games has left an indelible impression on Buckley.

Stamina and athleticism are two boxes Limerick have to tick if they are to pull off a famous coup. But Buckley believes that are in prime health.

“Their power and pace is unbelievable, and they’ve great fitness levels. We’ll have to look at that and try to match that. They’re very physical and have serious pace so that’s the perfect formula. The win over Kerry was one of the best performances I’ve seen in recent years. We spoke about the size of their midfield and half-back line.

“But we’ve a lot of size as well with two big lads in John Galvin and Jim O’Donovan. So I wouldn’t fear for us wanting there.

“Our game is a running game as well and we hope on the day that our fitness levels will be as good as Cork. Tipperary were a very fit team and they got a serious run on us, but we held on. Then in the Clare game, maybe our fitness showed a bit more where we outstayed Clare at the finish of the game. We’ve worked hard on our fitness under Donie Buckley and hopefully it will stand to us.”