Lavin’s school of hard knocks

HE’S one of the final survivors from Limerick’s breakthrough in the early part of the decade.

As Stephen Lavin looked around at his teammates before last Saturday’s All-Ireland qualifier against Waterford in the Gaelic Grounds, only Tommy Stack, Johnny McCarthy and Stephen Kelly had been with him for those Munster deciders in 2003 and 2004.

The face of football in the county has changed. Yet those newcomers, like the Fr Casey’s duo John Riordan and Mike Sheehan, have helped propel Limerick forward and their displays have not gone unnoticed by Lavin.