John Kiely calls on Limerick fans to be loud at home against Cork

BRING THE NOISE: John Kiely has called on Limerick’s support to make their presence felt at their home Munster SHC game against Cork later this month. Pic: Tom Beary/Sportsfile.

John Kiely has called on Limerick’s support to make their presence felt at their home Munster SHC game against Cork later this month.

The manager said most of his group’s key performance indicators and player availability are pointing in the right direction after picking up three points from their opening two fixtures on the road.

Following this convincing victory over Waterford in Walsh Park, Kiely sent out a rallying call to the county’s fans for the eagerly-waited Round 4 clash in TUS Gaelic Grounds on May 18.

“Our supporters here tonight were absolutely brilliant. We definitely had a huge number of them here. It's a brilliant part of the Munster championship but I can tell you, I'm sending the message out to our supporters that we're at home, it's our home ground and we want to hear them the next day and hear every single last one of them.

“We want them to take the seats and fill the seats. We look forward to seeing them in two weeks' time."

Kiely cut a satisfied figure after this victory.

“Really pleased. A block of two games, both away from home, and we have three points out of four.

“Two results. It's all about getting results in the Munster Championship so we're very, very happy with the broader picture. Energy levels were great, really happy with that.

“I think structurally, we were extremely sound. Defensively, extremely strong. Our full-back line was absolutely excellent. Our half-back line controlled the ball in the air really, really well.

“And I just thought our energy going forward was exceptional, so very, very happy. We worked hard. Our intensity throughout the game was really, really high. That's something we've noticed in the championship this year, that the intensity levels in all teams have gone way up.

"Very happy with where we're at in that regard. Efficiency wise, we'd like to be a little bit more efficient. I think we finished up around 67%. We'd like a little bit more on that. That's a work-on for us for the last couple of weeks and it's a work-on going forward for the next couple of weeks as well."

Barry Murphy and Peter Casey were not included due to small setbacks but Kiely is not overly concerned about either.

Regarding the decision to take off Diarmaid Byrnes after he picked up an early yellow and then fouled again, Kiely felt it was the pragmatic call.

“It's a tough position to be in. Diarmaid was playing exceptionally well. You'd love to have him continue that but when you've a yellow got and you've a warning got, that's it really.

“At that stage of the game, it's too early. You lose a man, you're down to 14 at that stage, you're making a big mistake. We just had to make the change.

“Listen, Colin [Coughlan] went in and was brilliant as well. Delighted for him. He got a fantastic score and worked really, really hard. Super efficient on the ball, he's in a great vein of form this year.

"He was brilliant with UL as well so really happy for him as well."