Limerick building up speed
The first of those was against hapless Laois last Saturday, a canter as Limerick romped home on a 6-21 to 1-11 scoreline. Then Antrim this afternoon, again in the familiar confines of the Gaelic Grounds.
Not much of a test last week, admitted manager John Allen, but it did have its advantages.
“We got to use all five subs, including Declan Hannon for half an hour.
“We weren’t able to do that against Tipperary, we have a lot of lads who are young and inexperienced and you’re slow enough to take a chance on them in the white heat of a championship battle. From that sense it was positive.”
The return of the talented Hannon is timely, a boost to the attack, but Limerick are similarly boosted at the back for this weekend with the availability of defensive star Seamus Hickey.
“Declan was injured again after the Tipp match which set him back all over again. He wasn’t able to play or train which was very frustrating for him.
“He had only a week’s training done before last week and in fact we weren’t going to risk him at all but the way the game went we were able to put him on. He’s available now, uninjured, and there’s no doubt he’s a top-class forward.
“Such a good player, such a great striker, a great asset to us. Seamus is back in our 26 so he’s available but again, he’s short of match practice. Then again Seamus came back from America after three months out and you’d swear he was never away; he was fitter than most, slotted straight back in. He’s a top player, takes great care of himself, very dedicated.”
Against that however, there remain a few casualties.
“Conor Allis will be out for another month. His shoulder is strapped up, getting physio, but there isn’t a lot they can do for him until it settles down. Probably the end of July before he’s ready. Kevin Downes is out too, unfortunately. He has a concussion, had a scan which showed up on the mild side but we’re not taking any chances.
“We’re following medical advice and he won’t be available, which is a loss. Niall Moran, his former teacher, slotted in at full-forward the last day and scored 3-1 so it wasn’t a bad substitution!
“But that’s the way things are now, you’re only as good as your substitutes and we saw that again last week with the subs Tipp brought on against Cork. Kilkenny too, they introduced three new players in their win over Dublin and they were all very good. You have to have at least 20 top-class players if you’re to have any hope of winning the championship, and preferably more.”
Limerick are fast approaching that happy stage, says John. “We were missing two of the 15 that started against Tipperary when we played Laois, had to start two others and were able to bring on five more.
“We’re starting to put all the pieces together, narrowing down our panel so that we’re coming closer and closer to knowing our best 20. If we can get past this Saturday night we should be closer again.”
That’s the challenge, however, get past Antrim, though already there are those among the Limerick supporters who are looking further down the road.
“Well if they are, the team certainly is not. Before Laois we never even mentioned Antrim. I know that what they hear from us and what they hear in the public domain can be very different but this is now straight knockout and if we lose on Saturday we’re out, gone, finished. There’s no talk of anything other than Saturday.
“Limerick were fortunate to get a win against Antrim in Parnell Park. Antrim had a man sent off but apart from that there wasn’t a huge amount between the teams. We played them in the league up there this year, got two goals before half-time from Shane Dowling 20m frees and that gave us a big cushion for the second-half. They didn’t have Liam Watson that night, a game-winner in his own right and they also have Shane McNaughton.
“Those are two extremely dangerous forwards, will take watching. I wouldn’t underestimate them in the least. But if you prepare properly, fellas doing what you ask them to do in training, resting and eating properly, there’s no more you can do, it’s all on the day then. There’s a very good work ethic, a very good atmosphere in the camp.
“I believe that Limerick hurlers are in a good place in terms of preparation, application and dedication and that’s beginning to show. We have prepared extremely well, everything being repeated this week as it was last week for the Laois game and hopefully we get the same outcome, get through to the next round and back in with the big fish.”
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