PAUL FLYNN: Over the campaign it was the small things that made the big difference
Waterford's Tadhg de Burca can only look on as Limerick’s Shane O'Brien scores a point in their Munster SHC clash in the Gaelic Grounds. Photo: Inpho/James Crombie.
Limerick top the round robin Munster senior hurling championship for the first time in five years despite a defeat to Cork in round three. John Kiely and his team needed at least a point against Waterford to secure passage to the All-Ireland series, and over the course of the 72 minutes we saw exactly why they are going for five Liam MacCarthys in a row.
Limerick are chasing a sixth Munster championship in a row and this current senior team is the backbone of their minor team of 2013 that beat Waterford in a replay in the Munster minor final of that year.
A heavy shower just before throw in did very little to dampen the electric atmosphere inside the Gaelic Grounds. Aided by a strong breeze Limerick started very strongly and inside the opening 15 minutes had scored four points but the feature was the nine wides they had in this period. Lucky for Waterford the goalposts seemed to be on wheels as astonishingly ball after ball sailed wide.
Limerick were in total control but the scoreboard somehow had Waterford ahead after a super goal from Shane Bennett. We were struggling to keep position and when we had possession for some reason the tactic of carrying the ball into tackles backfired with huge consequences as those turnovers were returned with interest.
Our strategy from the restarts was also baffling. Cork had enjoyed so much success a few weeks back by isolating players one on one carrying the ball over the middle third and when they went short it cost them two goals. The short puck outs we did execute ended up broken down in the midfield as Limerick hunted in packs and the intensity was there to for all to see and the short routines that we got in trouble with should have cost us two goals. Folks are saying that Waterford were lucky to escape a black card but for me Ian Kenny and Hegarty got their feet in a tangle.
The options to launch were not exactly appetising to Shaun O’Brien. Our match ups on the Limerick wing backs were off on the day. Kyle Hayes and Diarmuid Byrnes were awesome for Limerick both as defenders but also as attack builders, they are very much back on form. Paddy Leavy had a good championship debut, fighting hard, but space was really at a minimum and driving forward was difficult. In all truth Limerick should have been out of sight at half time with 16 wides. 10 of Limericks 14 points in the first-half came from turnovers!!!
Starting the second half with the strong elements at their backs Waterford started very well. Calum Lyons slotted over a super score and after 12 minutes of the second period two points was the difference.
Limerick responded with four, Reidy, Hegarty, Gillane and O’Neill all raising white flags - what a response from the champions. The Limerick forward line had more space to operate in during the second-half and the clever move of course was to sit off Tadgh at centre back and make him take the decision to sit or step up.
Shane Bennett finished from close range and we were back in touch. In fact we were right there again going into the last quarter. Under pressure Quaid launched the puck out down on top of Gearoid Hegarty, his catch and off load was simply superb. The ball was then moved quickly to Lynch who moved it wide to Reidy who slotted over in space, the score of the game.
Our next three scoring chances where high percentage shots and unfortunately for us we had no joy. Limerick had weathered the storm and in the closing quarter they scored nine points to pull away and enjoy a comfortable win.
Cian Lynch in midfield was class on the day and his closing point showcased his class nicely.
It amazed me on the day that ref Michael Kennedy didn’t see one Limerick player throw a ball, but in the middle of the second-half he decided that Waterford fouled the ball while on attack. So there was only one fouled hand pass in the 72 minutes of this game?
Heading to the Gaelic Grounds needing to get a result was a hard way to book qualification to the All-Ireland series.
The extra point for the victory over Tipperary was realistically the one that got away. Holding a four-point margin into injury-time had us in a great position. The trip to Ennis was also a huge opportunity as Clare were not motoring on all cylinders on the day but in fairness to the players, they hung in all the way to the end and on Sunday again in Limerick, there was no quit.
Stephen Bennett was again replaced when the game was in the melting point. One thing you are guaranteed with Stephen is effort and showing for the ball. I thought a few other forwards were not showing as much and remained in place.
Limerick have built their success on a plan that gives them the best chance of winning games. They show supreme patience in knowing they will wear opponents down. Having seen them live twice this year their movement is top notch. Players have enough on their hands to mind their direct opponent so it is really hard then to enforce any strategy upon them, but playing into their wheel house of trying to run the ball through them just didn’t wash.
At the end of the campaign, it was the small things that made the big difference!!
