Kiely hails players' ability to 'seize the moment' 

Limerick produced a sensational final quarter to the game to begin their campaign with a victory.

Limerick’s manager John Kiely and Gearoid Hegarty celebrate. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

Limerick manager John Kiely hailed the composure of his players after their stunning Munster Championship comeback win over Clare at Cusack Park, Ennis.

The Munster and All-Ireland champions were down by nine points at one stage but produced a sensational final quarter to the game to begin their campaign with a victory.

“At that point you have to say that momentum wasn’t with us,” said the five-time All-Ireland winning manager after the full time whistle.

“But I was also taking note that Clare weren’t pulling away from us and we were still creating scoring chances. We just weren’t creating that bit of momentum by getting a couple of scores in a row.

“Then we got the three points in a row and the whole momentum shifted. Then we got the goal and at that point you could saw that there is a chance and just need to seize the moment and I think the players felt that as well.

“They grabbed it. Really delighted with the impact of the boys off the bench as well. That was pivotal in the last quarter.” 

Limerick were five down at the break after a lacklustre opening half and looked in deep trouble leading into the final quarter of the contest.

However, they managed to pull it back and head into their second championship tie with Tipperary next weekend with a win to their name.

Despite trailing by that margin at half time, Kiely felt that the scoreline didn’t truly reflect what was happening on the pitch.

“I think the first quarters we were working very hard, which is one of our hallmarks,” added the Limerick manager.

“We didn’t execute our chances. We had 18 scoring chances in the first half to Clare’s 16 and went in five points down. That doesn’t happen very often.

“For a number of our players, they haven’t had a huge amount of game time. We have had a number of injuries. They are just coming back into it. It was always going to be a case today, to be expected, that some of our execution would need sharpening.

“We did as much as we could in the last month but there is only so much you can do if you have got injuries on board."

Limerick drew on all their experience to bring Clare to within reach in the final stages. They outscored their hosts by 3-6 to 0-3 in the final quarter.

“Sometimes you just have to wait for it. Today, we just had to wait for it. When it came, we got into a nice flow in that last 15 minutes.

“We felt quite comfortable in the end to be honest defending that last 10 minutes. I thought we defended really, really well. "