Paul Beary senses player confidence as Limerick full of the joys of summer

Paul Beary lives and breathes with them several hours a week but even he is mystified by how Limerick manage to look so brilliant in summer when they have been so brittle in spring.

“We were having a laugh recently, that it might be a good final year project, to try to get to the bottom of it!” smiles their selector and coach. “It’s hard to say. Personally, I genuinely think a certain amount of players thrive off a championship setting. Maybe that’s one part of the overall jigsaw. It’s not as if we didn’t prioritise the league this year, we did set out to get promotion (from Division 1B).

“Management, though, did place such an emphasis on beating Clare in the Munster opener that a defeat could have had a devastating effect on the team.