Richie McCarthy happy with Limerick momentum after Waterford Crystal Cup win

Richie McCarthy believes Saturday’s Waterford Crystal Cup triumph over Cork was crucial in maintaining the positivity surrounding Limerick hurling.

In his post-match assessment at Mallow, Treaty County manager TJ Ryan said it was important “to keep the good news coming”, a sentiment echoed by the Limerick full-back.

“It is a nice way to end January. It is nice to end a month which isn’t massively conducive to hurling with a couple of wins and some silverware,” he said.

“It is good also to be heading into the league in a winning frame of mind. All around, while we won’t be getting carried away with this win and won’t be reading too much into it, it is a good result for Limerick hurling.

“Obviously when it comes to the league and the championship, it will be a lot tighter and space will be at a premium. Irrespective, it is still encouraging to post 3-20, all of which came from play.”

Limerick entertain Waterford in the opening round of Division 1B on Saturday week, an important game but not a decisive one in McCarthy’s view.

“The Waterford game is not the be all and end all. It is a big league campaign, there are fives tough games ahead, not just one.

“We will prepare well for the game on February 14 and it is important we do get off to a good start.

“It was great to see Cian Lynch doing so brilliantly here. He is still very young and he still has a lot to learn, but this is the company you learn in.

“It was great also to see Adrian Begley doing so well and Pat Begley came on and impressed. All these lads are putting pressure on the lads who are already there.”

Meanwhile, Cork’s Mark Ellis says last year’s championship preparations were hindered by their participation in Division 1B of the league.

“I don’t think, looking back on it, that Division 1B was great for championship,” he said.

“There were a couple of games where we were going through the motions. This year there is no easy game.

“Last year Division 1A was basically decided on the last day, several teams were in contention for a knockout place and at the same time in danger of entering the relegation play-off. We want to make sure we get points on the board early on so we are in a good position on the last weekend.

“We have Kilkenny and Clare at home in the opening two rounds. We will know where we really stand after those two games and where we need to improve.

“We will be treating the Kilkenny fixture like the biggest game of the year, which it will be for us at this stage of year.”