Kiely insists Limerick must build into early season momentum
Limerick boss John Kiely. Pic: James Lawlor/Inpho
John Kiely says Limerick are looking to rectify last year’s below-par National League campaign ahead of a second meeting against Waterford in a fortnight’s time.
The Treaty picked up Munster Hurling League silverware on Saturday with an eight-point victory over the Déise to close out their pre-season schedule.
Having finished fifth in last year’s National League, Kiely is hoping to carry their early momentum into improved 2026 performances.
“We have a lot to do to make sure we have our own ship in order going down to Walsh Park. It will be a big challenge,” said Kiely.
“We’ve definitely a bit of confidence built into the group after the Munster League. We have to tap into that now.
“We didn't have a good league last year and it was very disappointing, particularly the latter stages of it. It's very important to us and that game is really important to us.”
Limerick are currently carrying a 41-man squad, which will be reviewed ahead of the league. They have a first-round bye before that trip to Waterford. In between, the Déise will travel to Cork next Sunday for their opener.
Kiely gave a positive injury update as Barry Nash is making “great progress”. Barry Murphy’s withdrawal was precautionary due to muscle tightness.
Meanwhile, Kyle Hayes is working his way back from a serious neck injury suffered while playing with his club last August.
“Kyle is doing a bit of work. He has more to do. We're monitoring that,” said Kiely.
“Obviously, it was a very serious injury and we want to make sure that when we do get him back, he's absolutely 100% right. That's the most important thing.” In terms of the performance in front of 1,957 fans at Mallow, Kiely was delighted to see their wide count reduced from 15 against Cork to five here. He also highlighted their work rate and bench impact, with his 11 substitutes contributing 0-4 and creating a couple of goal chances.
“We were very efficient in front of goals, which is something that we've been really going after the last couple of weeks, so that was great to see. We still have work to do on it,” he said.
“Great impact off the bench in the second half was another factor which I was delighted with. It's something we will be going after during the course of the league. It's very important to us.
“Overall, the synergy between the group on the pitch was very good. They worked hard together. They hunted together. They moved the ball well when they got the chance to. When Waterford had the ball, they worked very, very hard to get it back. So happy all told.” The Galbally native noted they “struggled” on their puck-outs in the first half, although those restarts have received little focus so far in training drills.
Aidan O’Connor produced a starring performance at centre-forward, with his 0-11 haul including three from play.
There was a proud moment for the Fitzgerald family as Monaleen brothers Joe and Matthew were selected to start together. Joe robbed the sliotar to point within 30 seconds of the throw-in.
Waterford twice nudged ahead through a long-range free from captain Billy Nolan and Seán Mackey.
Limerick began to get on top by overpowering the Déise in that middle sector to reel off four unanswered points. Shane O’Brien was enjoying the better of his match-up with Conor Prunty, raising three white flags in the space of seven minutes. Fintan Fitzgerald added a terrific point after fine fielding by Matthew Fitzgerald.
From there, Waterford got to grips with the Treaty puck-out. They steadied with a Reuben Halloran free and Jamie Barron point to narrow the gap to two, 0-8 to 0-6, after 15 minutes of hurling.
Fintan Fitzgerald and Gearóid Hegarty then created a goal chance for Shane O’Brien, but the full-forward lost his hurley and his kicked attempt was blocked by PJ Fanning.
While Limerick had 10 wides after 26 minutes against Cork, it took until the 26th minute for their first wide here. Waterford had eight in the first half.
Still, Halloran’s fifth point closed the gap to the minimum, 0-11 to 0-10, at half-time. The free-taker then levelled on the resumption.
Fuelled by five half-time changes, including a first outing of the year for Nickie Quaid, Limerick kicked on with six points on the spin. O’Connor accounted for five of those, with four frees and one from play.
The game lost all sense of competitiveness from there. Waterford didn’t record back-to-back points in the entire second half. Apart from Halloran and Nolan frees, wing-back Shane Bennett was the only man to score from play, landing 0-2.
Limerick had further points from subs Ethan Hurley, Cathal O’Neill, and Adam English. The Young Hurler of the Year nominee also drew a save from Nolan and was hooked with another goal chance.
A O’Connor (0-11, 7 frees, 1 65); S O’Brien (0-3); G Hegarty, E Hurley (0-2 each); J Fitzgerald, D Ó Dálaigh, F Fitzgerald, A English, C O’Neill (0-1 each).
R Halloran (0-7, 6 frees); B Nolan (2 frees), S Bennett (0-2 each); J Fagan, J Twomey, J Barron, S Mackey (0-1 each).
C Ryan; E Stokes, V Harrington, B Murphy; D Langan, W O’Donoghue, M Fitzgerald; J Fitzgerald, D O’Donovan; G Hegarty, A O’Connor, J English; F Fitzgerald, S O’Brien, D Ó Dálaigh.
S Finn for Murphy (17, inj), N Quaid for Ryan (h-t), C Coughlan for Langan (h-t), E Hurley for J Fitzgerald (h-t), T Morrissey for English (h-t), C O’Neill for F Fitzgerald (h-t), H Flanagan for Ó Dálaigh (42), O O’Farrell for O’Brien (42), A English for O’Donovan (49), D O’Shea for M Fitzgerald (49), C Thomas for Harrington (49).
B Nolan; M Power, C Prunty, PJ Fanning; J Fagan, M Fitzgerald, Shane Bennett; D Lyons, T Barron; S Fitzgerald, R Halloran, J Twomey; J Barron, C Treen, S Mackey.
J Power for Twomey (43), B Lynch for M Fitzgerald (49), M Mahony for Treen (50), M Mullaney for S Fitzgerald (55), J Lacey for Lyons (57), E Spellman for Bennett (59).
J Bugler (Clare).
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