Kiely determined to make the most of four-week training block after disappointing league
NO GOOD ENOUGH: Limerick manager John Kiely not happy with league performances. Pic: Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Limerick 1-12
Just before John Kiely made his way back out onto the Gaelic Grounds field for post-match media duties, several Limerick squad members emerged to commence a gruelling running session. The message was clear, they have work to do.
Wexford were full value for their seven-point triumph in front of a crowd of 4,800 for this dead rubber game. Keith Rossiter’s outfit were already relegated. Limerick could not make a league decider. In the end, they didn’t get what they wanted from the league at all.
“Certainly not,” said Kiely. “Did I want a performance like that? Did I want a performance like last week? No. Did I want a performance like the one against Clare? No. No is the answer to that.”
He continued: “The performances just haven’t been good enough. That is the bottom line. The performances are not good enough. When you’re performance levels are low, that is what happens. You lose three of your league matches.”
Wexford hit over 20 wides and dropped another five short. Shane Dowling was at full stretch to deny a Jack O’Connor goal effort. They were down 0-9 to 0-7 after a scrappy first half, though did draw level briefly in the second half thanks to a Shane O’Brien goal and Tom Morrissey point. The immediate response was to concede five of the next six scores, including a well-worked Kevin Foley goal.
Declan Hannon’s involvement in the Munster championship opener against Tipperary is now in doubt after he was replaced in the matchday squad before throw-in. Mike Casey was replaced in the first half due to a dead leg while David Reidy missed out with illness. There was no Kyle Hayes in the squad either.
“Kyle is returning from injury. You saw him pull up here a couple of weeks ago with a minor hamstring injury. He is nearly back into full training. He did a lot of running this week and will be in full training for next week.”
In the plus column, Darragh O’Donovan made a long-awaited start while Cian Lynch came on and took part in the post-game running.
“We are very much looking forward to a consistent block of training for the next four weeks where we can actually build towards the first round of the championship. We are going to need everyone of those days, I can tell you that.”
Despite dropping down to 1B, Wexford can be content with a number of factors from Saturday night. Cian Molloy excelled at corner-back. Simon Donohoe’s move to midfield was promising. Five of their six starting forwards scored.
“We used 33 or 24 players,” said Rossiter of their league. “Six lads made their debuts, I think we strengthened the panel. It was all about building for the championship and it is only a month away now. A lot of positives from it. Obviously the big negative is that we are relegated, we knew that coming in here. It was still a good game against Limerick which we were delighted to get.”
The group lost some experienced campaigners over the off-season yet Wexford remain the third favourites in the race for a Leinster title. Their first challenge is a formidable one, Antrim and former manager Davy Fitzgerald arrive in Wexford Park on the 19th April.
“The last three games we were really competitive and had a performance, which is good,” said Rossiter.
“The first couple we were under a bit of pressure, it took us a while to adjust to the pace with no Walsh Cup, no introductory matches into it, that was a probably factor but the way we finished up in the league, I would be happy. But, all this will be forgotten in a month’s time.”
: A. Gillane 0-4 frees; S. O’Brien 1-0, D. Byrnes (1 65, 1 free), T. Morrissey (1 free) 0-3 each; G. Hegarty, A. English 0-1 each.
: K. Foley 1-2; L. Chin 0-5 (4 frees); C. Dunbar 0-3; R. O’Connor, S. Casey 0-2 (1 free) C. Hearne 0-2 each; J. Redmond, C. Molloy, D. Reck 0-1 each.
: S. Dowling; V. Harrington, M. Casey, B. Nash; D. Byrnes, C. Coughlan, C. Scully; M. Houlihan, D. O’Donovan; G. Hegarty, A. O’Connor, T. Morrissey; S O’Brien, A. Gillane, A. English.
: S. Finn for Casey (26 – Inj), F. O’Connor for Nash (43-46, Temp), E. Stokes for Hegarty, D Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien (both 53), C. Lynch for O’Donovan (61), S. Flanagan for Gillane (64).
: M. Fanning; C. Molloy, S. Reck, C. Foley; R. Lawlor, D. Reck, C. McGuckin; S. Donohoe, C. Hearne; J. O’Connor, L. Chin, K. Foley; C. Dunbar, J. Redmond, R. O’Connor.
: E. Ryan for Lawlor (43), S. Casey for Redmond (54), C. Clancy for J. O’Connor (66), D. Codd for Dunbar (70), D. Codd for Foley (71), M Kelly for Donohoe (73).
: C. McDonald (Antrim).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
