John Kiely: 'It will take us a few days to digest it'

It was a first Championship loss for the All-Ireland champions since July 2019 but the taste is the same for Limerick boss John Kiely

Mon, 01 May, 2023 - 07:10

John Fogarty

It was a first Championship loss for the All-Ireland champions since July 2019 but the taste is the same for Limerick boss John Kiely.

Kiely, who will now welcome back U20 starlets Adam English and Shane O’Brien to the panel, expected the Munster SHC would be fiercely fought and so it has transpired.

“It is going to be a really, really tight Munster championship just like we all expected from the very outside, as I said at the (Munster SHC) launch.

“We knew this year’s Munster championship was going to go down to the wire and it has every sign of doing so. We just hope we will be on the wire when it is all going to be decided.”

They may be thankful now for the three-week break before facing Tipperary. “It has been a while since we lost a championship match. Still tastes the same as it did the last time. It is not good. And it will take us a few days to digest it. I have full faith in this group in the way they are going to respond to it.

“There is an incredible togetherness in the group in there. There is a tremendous bond and honesty in the group and I think when you have that you know we can depend on them to respond in the right way and the right manner over the next number of weeks.”

Meanwhile, reminding themselves of the things they did well in their opening defeat to Tipp helped Clare's bouncebackability, reckoned full-back Conor Cleary. They conceded an aggregate total of almost 40 points at home to the Premier but still posted 3-23 themselves. For Cleary and his defenders, there was an onus on becoming meaner.

“I know the Tipperary game was poor but you still try to look at what you’re doing right and what you can improve on from it.

“It was poor, the Tipperary game, but we still felt at times we’d done good things. It was just trying to get them better and really go after the game. That’s what we did.

“It was just at the other end we needed to tighten up big time. You can’t give a team three or four goals like we did last weekend either.”

It was never a case of going back to the drawing board. Under Brian Lohan, they continue to trade on graft.

“The template is really hard work all the time more so than anything,” said Cleary. “Last week, it probably didn’t come off at times. We got into good positions for goals too last week that another pass, we probably could have more goals.

“The work-rate of the forwards (against Limerick) was unbelievable. The quality of ball coming in (from) the other side of the field, there was real pressure put on the ball which is a credit to our forwards.”

While acknowledging Clare would have been in a tight spot had they lost again, Lohan wasn’t underlining the significance of this victory, a first for the Banner in championship against Limerick since 2018.

“It’s just a win. It gets us in a better position, it keeps us in the competition and it’s in our own hands. It was just so important for us to do it and so important for the supporters as well.

“The Munster championship is just such a massive competition for us and historically it’s such a big competition for us as well, so it’s crucial that we are in the competition.”