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.

“In the lead-up to the Clare game, I know there are backdoor facilities but we took a bit of a risk, from a management perspective in terms of prioritising but we did bill it out as close to knockout championship.

“Getting to a Munster final is a huge thing, from our perspective. From a Limerick perspective, if you get over Tipperary, which is a huge ask, this team will have got to three Munster finals in a row. That doesn’t happen too often in Limerick so it gives you that platform. As a Limerick supporter over the years, you don’t get the same feeling going into a backdoor match compared to a Munster championship match. It’s a completely different setting.”

Beary senses there is a steadfastness shooting through the middle of the team that wasn’t there when he came on board with TJ Ryan in late 2013. It’s a great complement to the surprise element they have in the likes of Cian Lynch.

“I do believe a steely resolve is building up the spine of the team and then up the flanks having a guy like Cian Lynch coming in, having no sense of being in awe of the occasion, and being a freestyle hurler and just went out there. That’s the way we motivated him in the build-up: treat this match as if you were going out for a club match with Patrickswell. It worked for us on the day.”

Beary doesn’t deny there is pressure on Limerick to go one better this year and reach an All-Ireland final although he intimates there is more emphasis on Tipperary to do well having been so close to lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup for the second time in five seasons last year.

“After Tipperary losing by a matter of inches last year, there doesn’t seem to be any doubt in the wider domain that Tipperary are capable of winning the All-Ireland. More have that doubt about Limerick but we’re completely focused on our own performance. We’re genuinely not looking beyond Tipperary; we’re totally focused on this.

“There was a long lead-in for the Clare game then they were gone to the clubs and then we had this three-week preparation for the Tipperary game. At the same time, there is total acknowledgement and appreciation of how big this game is for us, in terms of hopefully opening up the summer for us. We’d see it as a major stepping stone.”

Having beaten Tipperary down the stretch the last two years in Munster, there is a school of thought that Limerick have their neighbours’ number after themselves being caught by Tipperary in the closing stages of the 2012 game. Beary nods that there is a psychological advantage but feels it’s neutralised by how well Tipperary recovered after last season’s loss.

“Possibly that element could be there but I do think that Tipperary set it to a new level as last year went on after the defeat to us.

“I do think they are a much better, improved side, even based on 2014 where they were. If you ask me, I think we’re going to have to play an awful lot better than we did in the championship game against them last year to be there or thereabouts in beating them this year.”