Allen keeping lid on hype as Limerick expectation grows

Limerick boss John Allen admits that managing expectations on Shannonside will be one of his biggest challenges after Sunday’s sensational victory over 2012 champions Tipperary.

Allen’s men upset the form book with a 1-18 to 1-15 win at the Gaelic Grounds which sets up a first provincial final appearance since 2007 against either Cork and Clare.

But Allen is now attempting to keep his squad composed ahead of the showpiece on July 14.

“It’s only a Munster semi-final win and well I know it. In Cork and in Clare they’ll now be thinking, if we can get to that final we have a better-than-even chance of winning.

“We’ll have to keep everyone focused. We’re going to have to keep a tight lid on the expectation, the publicity, all that stuff that can get into fella’s heads.

Allen also hopes that the win will be the first step on the road to restoring confidence in the county’s hurlers.

The former All-Ireland winning Cork boss understands the feelings of supporters desperately hoping to see Liam MacCarthy return to their ranks for the first time since 1973.

“It’s a natural thing, comes from years of seeing the opposition winning everything – it’s a mindset that builds up over time, a mindset we’re trying to change. We’ve been getting a few pointers that it’s working.”

However he has worked hard to insulate himself and his squad from any negativity. “I’ve stopped talking to anyone with overly-pessimistic views anyway, I try to stay away from that.”

Allen and his management team made a number of shrewd sideline moves on Sunday with full-forward Declan Hannon dropping back to the half-forward line and centre-forward James Ryan drifting around midfield and the half-back line.

He explained: “we felt that if we allowed the Tipperary half-back line and midfield time on the ball they would kill us with their clearances, picking out the forwards with accurate passes. We picked what we knew would be a very hard-working half-forward line to put that line under pressure and in the first half it worked. Then, for a period at the start of the second half their half-back line took over and given the ball they got, their forwards took advantage and showed what they can do.

“Tipp came back into the game, took the lead, and when a team starts to dominate they also start to get very confident. It was vital for us that we then broke that foundation again, which we did.”

And this was where the substitutions came in. “We were able to pick a strong starting 15 but we also had very good options on the line, and when we started to lose the battle against their half-back line we needed to counter that. We had Conor Allis, Shane Dowling, Niall Moran, Cathal King, Kevin Downes all held in reserve but there wasn’t much point having them unless you were going to use them. We brought them in one by one and they all made a contribution.”