The nine most important matches in John Kiely's 90-game Limerick reign
KINGPIN: Limerick manager John Kiely. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
The game clock turns 90 for John Kiely on Saturday evening.
A 42nd senior championship game in charge of Limerick, the 28th in Munster, his win percentage is 75.6% (W31 D3 L7) and 70.4% (W19 D3 L5) respectively.
Throw in his 48 league games over these last eight seasons and his win rate in total is 71.1%. That’s identical to Brian Cody’s record across the 337 league and championship matches he was in charge of Kilkenny.
Kiely might demur at such a comparison especially when he has managed Limerick only a third of what Cody did yet the numbers holds up.
As he hits 90, what were the nine most important games of his reign?
When Kiely spoke of the restless nights he had in late 2017 looking at the stars, this game would have been at the forefront of his mind. Limerick had been good but didn’t really lay a paw on Kilkenny in Nowlan Park and afterwards Kiely bemoaned the season ending after just two championship outings. When they faced Tipperary in the Munster opener the following season, Kiely changed over a third of the team.
A victory that made everything seem possible. Sure, they need to summon everything and all of Nickie Quaid’s dexterity to prevent Cork in the subsequent game but it was in this game that they discovered the belief in themselves to achieve it. Richie Hogan’s 65th minute goal to put Kilkenny two points up would have ended previous Limerick teams but their flourishing finish, scoring five of the game’s last six points, gave them a defining win.
Only when Tom Condon emerged with the ball could Limerick breathe. As Joe Canning’s last-gasp free dropped short, the concern that a replay would be required had been replaced by fear that it was going to be 1994 all over again. Limerick, after all, had been nine points clear and eight after Shane Dowling’s goal going into stoppage time. The first of Kiely’s finals, it didn’t have to be perfect; it just had to be won.
But for losing, but for Cillian Buckley’s touch on Darragh O’Donovan’s sideline cut not being noticed… it’s a game that has and will continue to intrigue hurling followers seeing as it may be the only thing that stopped Kiely’s Limerick already completing the five-in-a-row. In time, Kiely may be able to reveal that without it these past four seasons, possibly this campaign too, wouldn’t have been possible without that reset.
In the scorching heat in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Limerick looked a wilted team at half-time. Jake Morris and John O’Dwyer goals helped Tipperary into a 10-point lead on the turnaround. Limerick returned to the sun freshened and ferocious.
Incredible run up the field finished in an unstoppable GOAL from Kyle Hayes for @LimerickCLG v @TipperaryGAA in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship Final #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/fDLewPxCVK
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 18, 2021
In the third quarter, they outscored Tipperary by 12 points and Kyle Hayes’ solo goal capped a remarkable turnaround, one probably not seen in a final since 1991 when it was Tipperary came back from nine points down to beat Cork by four.
A provincial decider that rivalled, if not bettered the 2004 Waterford-Cork classic, never was Kiely’s 100% final record, which now stands at an incredible 13 games between league and championship, put under more pressure. It may have needed a bit of Tony Kelly magic to send the game into extra-time in Thurles but the sides had been level 14 times before that. Seamus Flanagan gave an exhibition of hurling in the inside line and was sparkling in the additional periods with Aaron Gillane.
With one win three games previous, Limerick’s championship existence never mind hopes of reaching a fifth straight Munster final were teetering. Cheered on by voracious home support, those fears appeared to be allayed when they climbed seven points ahead in the final quarter. However, Patrick Horgan’s goal cut the difference to four. The margin was the minimum three times in additional time but Limerick held on and combined with Tipperary’s defeat to Waterford the result was good enough to make the final.
If the 2008 All-Ireland final was the zenith of the great Kilkenny team’s reign, how Limerick destroyed Cork in the ’21 equivalent would have, for a time, been considered the peak of their powers. That was until they did something like this, claiming the second half 0-21 to 1-6. To win an All-Ireland final without Cian Lynch in ’22 was impressive; to do it without captain Declan Hannon and Seán Finn the following year was the greatest victory for their collective.
Ennis had been the only Munster venue where Kiely had not engineered a championship win and it certainly appeared Limerick were going to be unable to sack it at the third attempt last month when they went nine points down with 17 minutes of normal time remaining. For drama, this bettered the 2021 provincial final riposte. There was an element fortune about one, if not two of the three goals that paved the way to success but Limerick’s fortitude endured. Again.
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