Let there be no doubt: The hurling world is now emphatically ruled and dominated by Limerick
BENCHSETTERS: Supporters, in the Hogan Stand, during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Kilkenny and Limerick at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
When Richie Hogan levelled the match in the 63rd minute with a brilliant point, Limerick suddenly found themselves in a position this team had never been in before during normal time of their three previous All-Ireland finals - under pressure as the clock entered the red zone in normal time, and with the opposition having built up what looked like an irresistible level of momentum.
Limerick never panicked. They won the puckout and Kyle Hayes pushed Limerick back in front again. Kilkenny came up the field and had half a goal chance but TJ Reid’s pass across the goal never found its intended target and the ball was turned over, which ended in a Cathal O’Neill point. Adrian Mullen had a chance to reduce the deficit to one but his shot dropped short, Seán Finn held off his man to set up the counter-attack, which resulted in a Conor Boylan point.
After another Mullen wide, Hayes won the subsequent puckout and was fouled for a free. For the first time all year, Limerick had hit 31 scores. boomed around the stadium. Gearóid Hegarty then pushed the margin out to five for Limerick’s final score. The game was still alive. Limerick still had to see it out but that devastating late scoring burst let Kilkenny – and everyone else – know that this hurling terrain is now emphatically ruled and dominated by Limerick.
Just before half-time, Nickie Quaid spent more time than normal over a puckout. Limerick were trying to engineer a clear pocket of space across their half-forward line. Paddy Deegan was only looking at Gearóid Hegarty as he tried to get separation, but when he couldn’t get it, he drifted across the line and Quaid hit the space, anticipating Hegarty to get there. The ball was dropping by the time Hegarty turned and looked up but he just got his hurley up and knocked it back to Seamus Flanagan, who picked it up and drove it over the bar. From just six possessions in that half, Hegarty had scored 1-3 from six shots. Three of those possessions were secured from puckouts while he also had that late assist.
Hegarty picked up where he left off just after half-time. He won the first puckout and set up another score before landing another point. Hegarty dropped back the field to become even more creative from deeper, and to continue to maintain an iron grip on the match. From 22 plays, Hegarty scored 1-5 from ten shots while he had four assists and was fouled for a converted free. As well as making a raft of tackles, Hegarty won an incredible nine puckouts. Kilkenny made a huge miscalculation in not man-marking him, as Clare and Galway did, but Hegarty would have been hard to handle when his form was so boiling hot. It was also another reminder of how Hegarty has saved his best display of the season for the All-Ireland final over the last three seasons. In those three games, Hegarty has hit an incredible 3-14 from play.
Some player.
In the first play of the game, Darragh O’Donovan hit in a long ball to Aaron Gillane but his touch was coarse and the ball was turned over, which resulted in a Padraig Walsh wide. In that first half, Limerick hit in nine balls into that full-forward line and won just four, which resulted in two points. Hegarty’s goal did come off a long Quaid free but Limerick never got that same return from that long ball into Gillane and Seamus Flanagan as in previous games.
Their pattern recognition and how Limerick build the play through their platform before delivering that long ball into Gillane and Flanagan either side of the D is normally defined by crossfield deliveries. Yet most of those balls yesterday were straight-line balls to a straight runner, which makes it easier for the defender to defend. In total, Limerick only won seven of the 20 long balls played into their full-forward line, and mined just 0-3 off that possession, numbers way down than their normal return.
In their last two games, Gillane and Flanagan had been Limerick’s go-to guys, especially when Hegarty and Morrissey had been man-marked to decent effect. Against Galway, Hegarty and Morrissey were taken off after having a combined 25 possessions and five shots, which amounted to just two points and four assists.
Yesterday though, Morrissey and Hegarty had a combined 32 possessions, and 15 shots, which amounted to a colossal 1-9, along with a combined six assists. Kyle Hayes also stepped up big-time with four points from four shots, as well as being fouled for a free. As well as scoring 1-13 from play, all three won a colossal 17 puckouts.
The Kilkenny full-back line did well. But the Kilkenny half-back line was blown away by the Limerick half-forward line.
When Limerick were blowing away teams last year, the firmest proof of their dominance was reflected in the numbers – they were averaging 12 more shots than the opposition. Yet those numbers had come way down this year after their opening two games. In Round 1, Limerick had 48 shots, 18 more than Cork. They had more shots than Waterford too but in in their next four games, the opposition had more shots (in normal time). Limerick were compensating for those reduced numbers through their shooting efficiency and the metronomic accuracy of Diarmaid Byrnes.
Byrnes nailed five points from six shots yesterday, (four from placed balls) but Limerick got their shooting numbers back up again, having six more shots (45-39) than Kilkenny. Crucially, their conversion rate was 71%, with that number coming in at 63% from play.
By the 45th minute, Limerick had created 27 chances from play. By the end, they mined 38 from that source. And, like they had all year – apart from the Tipperary game – Limerick’s accuracy was on the money.
One of the greatest tributes that can be given to Brian Cody’s Kilkenny yesterday is, not just how much they contributed to one of the greatest All-Ireland finals of the modern era, but in how they pushed Limerick so hard and got to within two points of the champions at the end.
Despite being engulfed in the tackle and turned back so often by the ferocity of Limerick’s swarm, Kilkenny only turned over the ball just marginally less than Limerick (29-28). A lot of those turnovers was long ball hit into their full-forward late on – which was eaten up by Limerick – but Kilkenny were scrambling by then.
After getting hammered on their own puckout early on, and conceding 1-4 from that source in the first half, Kilkenny had turned that statistic on its head by the end, mining 1-13 off their own restarts.
They had some costly missed chances late on, especially when they needed to break the momentum of Limerick’s late scoring burst, but Kilkenny’s conversion rate was an impressive 72%.
Once again, TJ Reid’s placed ball striking was immaculate, with nine points scored from nine shots. Reid didn’t score from play but his performance in the first half was out of this world when he effectively kept Kilkenny in the match. As well as being fouled for two converted frees, Reid had five assists in that half. He had an assist too after half-time while he was the chief architect of Mossy Keoghan’s goal.
Since he won his last All-Ireland in 2015 – when he was Hurler-of-the-Year – Reid has done a massive amount of hurling, without adding to his All-Ireland haul. Yet Reid has really cemented his greatness during that period.
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