O'Grady pays tribute to O'Shaughnessy

Limerick manager Donal O'Grady has paid tribute to Andrew O'Shaughnessy, following the 26-year-old's decision to retire from inter-county hurling.

Taking time out from preparing his players for Saturday's Allianz Hurling League Division 2 final against Clare, O'Grady said that O'Shaughnessy's retirement comes as a major blow.

"He is a big loss to Limerick hurling because he was a top level forward and he has been since he was 17 years of age," said O'Grady.

"Forwards like him don't grow on trees and invariably he took the option at the correct time. That makes a difference to a team.

"But due to travel and work commitments he just wasn't able to give the commitment."

The Kilmallock clubman lined out for Limerick in the early stages of this year's league, playing against Clare, Westmeath and Laois.

O'Grady had asked the Irish Army Lieutenant, who is based in Cork and currently building a house in Kilmallock, to keep plugging away with the team to see if he could regain his form with Limerick.

"I spoke to him a number of times during the campaign and I probably put pressure on him to stay on when maybe time wise he felt that he couldn't (commit).

"He came to the decision last week that he wasn't able to give the commitment that was needed and he felt that it was the best time to go - before we played the final of the league and then heading into the summer campaign as well."

The absence of such a high calibre player will certainly be felt by the Shannonsiders, but O'Grady agrees that the loss of one player can open the door for another.

"I said at the launch of the Hurling League that I wasn't sure what the depth was (in Limerick) and I'm still not sure what the depth is," he admitted.

"We will have a much better idea what the depth is after Saturday night. I know a lot of people have made the comment that Clare are possibly a Division 1 team. We'll have to see what we can do on Saturday night."