*Limerick GAA news/discussion thread*

TheSpecialOne

U21 Footballer's Beaten 2-07 to 0-10 by Clare...Backs and forward line terrible and management unable to make swift changes. Poor result for a team that had bust a gut this year with regards to traning etc...let down by shoddy Management

Fireball07

Poor loss for the footballers against Wicklow. I know Aughrim is a tough place to go, and Wicklow are a good team but it effectively kills our promotion hopes for the year. And that's not good enough. I really hope we make improvements come the Championship.

A good win for the hurlers against Wexford though. But Wexford sounded as if they were very poor, once Limerick got the 1st goal, they were never going to lose. Considering we were missing our 3 best forwards, I'm pretty happy with that. Niall Moran had one of his good days, scored 1-4 from play, Breen also did well, got 1-2, I think. And Graeme Mulcahy sounded lively throughout. There will be sterner tests ahead though.

washman3

Ya, football result very disappointing. Jmac and Buckley huge loss. Mac in particular cos the whole backline revolves around him,always snuffs out the oppositions' dangerman.
delighted with hurling, always so hard to win away to Wexford. have lost down there with great teams,but to do it minus Hannon,Downes,Dowling, Hickey is heartening. omens bad for Wexford though at that rate.

Fireball07

So we've had plenty of bad news since the last post.


Last-minute draw to Offaly which was pretty poor. Apparently the penalty was pretty dodgy too... I didn't see it, I was in England for the weekend. But conceding that many goals is a worry, we should be putting away teams when we're up.

We got lucky in the end, Clare beating Offaly with a late goal to put us into the final. We did dispose of Antrim fairly comfortably, Dowling got 2 goals from frees but missed a penalty and another free too. Seanie Tobin seems to be making a big impact off the bench, and the forwards in general seem to be doing well. When Hannon and Downes are back, I think we'll have a very potent forward line, ball-winning is the only issue.

That said, the backline seems to have a few question marks over it. Plenty of individually talented players, but as a unit, they seem to remain questionable. Richie McCarthy is one of the only natural full-backs in the county but there could be a case for Condon moving there. I wonder why David Moloney hasn't been getting a chance, he impressed me last year? Hickey coming back should be a big boost. Pity James O'Brien or Alan Dempsey didn't get a run-out in the league, they were 2 of the U-21s most impressive players last year and with Dowling, Allis, O'Brien, Mulcahy, Carmody, Ryan all being included, you'd think they might get a go.

Clare will be strong favourites for the final, but it should be a lot closer than the last game.

My preferred team for the Championship, as of now would be:

Quaid; Moloney, McCarthy, Condon; Hickey, O'Grady, O'Mahony; Browne, Allis; Hannon, Breen, Dowling; Mulcahy, Moran, Downes

DOG as a centre-back seems to be working, I just worry that it may weaken us in midfield. Wayne Mac and James Ryan are other options. Some people still advocate Nicky Quaid moving out the field, and Murphy going in goals. I'd be in favour of that, Quaid is a great hurler and Murphy is arguably a better keeper but since it wasn't even tested once in the league, it seems unlikely. We have Tommy Quaid, Tommy O'Brien and Seanie O'Brien as other options in the forwards and Allis or Ryan can move up there too so there are a few options but those 6 would be the strongest imo.


As for the footballers, it's been disastrous. A terrible, gutless loss to Waterford and then not holding on against Fermanagh after leading for the entire game. And to make things worse, John Galvin picked up another bad injury and had to be stretchered off. No results from the scan yet but if he misses another season, we're in big trouble.

Lax marking, wayward shooting, no ball-winning in midfield, things look bad for the footballers. Again, we do have talented players around the park but without a functioning midfield, we're going to find it hard to win games. Generally we have faith that they'll up their performance for the Championship, they usually do, but I'm not sure about this year. Could be a tough year.

My favoured team for the Championship (assuming Galvin and Donovan are fit)

Scanlon; Lavin, McCarthy, O'Meara; Riordan, Lucey, Ranahan; Donovan, Galvin; O'Connor, Kelly, Buckley; Collins, O'Carroll, Ryan


I'm not even sure if people like Browne or O'Riordan are available. Tom Lee is a big loss too, another ball-winner could be vital. James Ryan is a better footballer than hurler imo.

Fireball07

So what do we think???


Threw it away imo. Up by 7/8 points in the 2nd half, you have to hold on. The injury to Breen seemed to damage our chances and Mulcahy moved out the field when he was doing very well inside. Dowling and him both faded after a brilliant start. It was a good, exciting game, plenty of passion- a real hurling game but it's very disappointing to come out on the losing side.

Line-by-line review:
I thought Quaid did well. Made one fantastic save. Puckouts were okay. Murphy would give us extra distance with them though.

I thought they coped fairly well in general but McCarthy was sloppy in possession at times and cost us a score or two. I have no idea what Condon was doing at the end, not trying to catch the ball and ended up swinginig his hurley and we conceded a free. Clare had about 2 goal chances, one bad miss and one great save.

DOG did really well at centre-back, looks certain to stay there for the Championship. Wayne Mac was decent in the air but he does cause trouble for himself and wastes the ball. O'Mahoney was strong too, he's an excellent player. When Hickey comes back, this should be our strongest line. But they did have trouble marking Cunningham when he came on.

Browne and Ryan were okay. Both very busy, work hard but you'd wonder whether you want a bit more... They did their job but Ryan was another one who cost us scores with sloppy passing.

The half-forward line started well, particularly Dowling. He was on fire in the first half, he is a class act. Allis was quiet. Breen is always a good option but didn't win enough clean ball. But when he went off injured, we won even less so he was obviously doing something right. They faded very badly and started getting cleaned out. Seanie O'Brien took his scores well when he came on alright but we need Hannon back. Once they started marking Dowling with about 3 men, he became less effective and we needed another option which Hannon will give. I think it will be a very potent threat when we have the two of them.

Moran was poor, bar one score. Deserved to come off at half-time for Downes who did a bit better. Quaid was very isolated, and Seanie Tobin made a big impact when he came on, winning the penalty with his first touch. Hit a bad wide at the end which would have levelled it but he's made a big impact in all of his games so far, probably deserves a start. As said earlier, Mulcahy was very lively early on but came deeper and deeper and became less effective. Disappointing as he definitely had the beating of his man inside.

Mountainlad

Saw the highlights there, think James Ryan deserves a lengthy ban for what he did to Fitzgerald. It's just not acceptable.

washman3

Would'nt be surprised if he gets a few weeks.
Davy is also cruising for trouble with his antics on the sideline, dont be surprised if there's more trouble come the championship involving Clare.
Sad really, because he's actually a fine manager and doing a mighty job with the Banner.

Mountainlad

washman3 wrote: »

Would'nt be surprised if he gets a few weeks.
Davy is also cruising for trouble with his antics on the sideline, dont be surprised if there's more trouble come the championship involving Clare.
Sad really, because he's actually a fine manager and doing a mighty job with the Banner.

What did he do? Sure I know what he's like, but I think a few weeks would be letting Ryan off lightly. Assaulting a manager is similar to doing it to a referee. If he did that to a player and I was reffing I would have sent him off, I think he should certainly miss the championship. Hard luck yesterday by the way, sounds like ye should have won it but at least ye're in a far better position then ye were at the start of the league and Hannon and Downes still have to come back. Shane Dowling is a serious hurler.

chatjunkie

Mountainlad wrote: »

Saw the highlights there, think James Ryan deserves a lengthy ban for what he did to Fitzgerald. It's just not acceptable.

Where did you see the highlights Mountainlad? Googled it there but can't get the James Ryan incident anywhere.

Fireball07

Mountainlad wrote: »

Saw the highlights there, think James Ryan deserves a lengthy ban for what he did to Fitzgerald. It's just not acceptable.

I didn't actually see it happen but I saw Davy go down and if he did hit him, then he deserves to be banned. And he will be banned if he did.

I think Gavin gave him a yellow as a red would have ruined the game, even if it did deserve a red.

Mountainlad wrote: »

What did he do? Sure I know what he's like, but I think a few weeks would be letting Ryan off lightly. Assaulting a manager is similar to doing it to a referee. If he did that to a player and I was reffing I would have sent him off, I think he should certainly miss the championship. Hard luck yesterday by the way, sounds like ye should have won it but at least ye're in a far better position then ye were at the start of the league and Hannon and Downes still have to come back. Shane Dowling is a serious hurler.

Yeah with Hannon, Dowling, Downes & Mulcahy, we have four forwards who are all well able to score, and well able to take on a man and go past him. All U-21 last year too.

Mountainlad

chatjunkie wrote: »

Where did you see the highlights Mountainlad? Googled it there but can't get the James Ryan incident anywhere.

I guess highlights mightn't be the right term to use to describe RTE's coverage, but they showed some clips on League Sunday. It'll be available on RTE Player tomorrow or indeed on GAA 2012 on TG4, though they may not show that incident.

Fireball07 wrote: »

I didn't actually see it happen but I saw Davy go down and if he did hit him, then he deserves to be banned. And he will be banned if he did.

I think Gavin gave him a yellow as a red would have ruined the game, even if it did deserve a red.




Yeah with Hannon, Dowling, Downes & Mulcahy, we have four forwards who are all well able to score, and well able to take on a man and go past him. All U-21 last year too.

Yeah he did, can't understand how he only gave him a yellow having seen it.


Are they all still u21 this year as well? Or is Mulcahy overage?

Fireball07

Mountainlad wrote: »

I guess highlights mightn't be the right term to use to describe RTE's coverage, but they showed some clips on League Sunday. It'll be available on RTE Player tomorrow or indeed on GAA 2012 on TG4, though they may not show that incident.

Yeah he did, can't understand how he only gave him a yellow having seen it.


Are they all still u21 this year as well? Or is Mulcahy overage?

I'll watch the highlights on TG4 tomorrow... I'd say they will show it, it could be fairly controversial.


Mulcahy is overage. The others are all underage. Should be another strong team this year.

shawnee

If the linesman saw it and he must have to speak to the ref , his decision was a yellow card. Don't see how he can change that afterwards. Think player just collided with manager who shouldn't have been interfering with play in the first place

Mountainlad

shawnee wrote: »

If the linesman saw it and he must have to speak to the ref , his decision was a yellow card. Don't see how he can change that afterwards. Think player just collided with manager who shouldn't have been interfering with play in the first place

Collided with his hurley intentionally into his chest having been standing at least 5 yards away, while Fitzgerald wasn't on the field. I think once the linesman said he struck the opposing teams manager he should have sent him off.

shawnee

But surely if that is what he said to the ref, yet the ref made his decision ... y:D:Dellow card.

chatjunkie

shawnee wrote: »

But surely if that is what he said to the ref, yet the ref made his decision ... y:D:Dellow card.

Yeah and maybe Davy deserved it with all his mouthing, James Ryan saved me the bother of coming down from the stand to do it!!!!!;-)

shawnee

Davy continually interfered with play during the game, trying to distract Limerick players and he really should not be on the sideline. Not sure if the camera caught the incident , did anyone see the tg 4 coverage.

grenache

The current situation with this Limerick team is quite ironic - for years we've had solid backs and no forwards. Now we have a decent set of forwards but no defence. McCarthy isn't up to it at full back, i personally wouldn't have Wayne Mac at half back either, backs were much too lose at times, even if Dodge did ok.

We had the forwards to do more damage, they just didn't get enough quality ball, and the likes of Mulcahy and Tobin ended up coming further out the field in search of possession, which is no good to us. We don't seem to have a fluid plan like we did last year under O'Grady. The quality is there, we just need to arrange the pieces of the jigsaw.

I actually believe this team to be good enough to not only put it up to Tipp, but maybe even shock them. But only if the preparation goes well and we go in with a proper game plan and stick to it.


I wouldn't normally condone what James Ryan did, but seeing as Davy Fitz has a mouth the size of Shannon Estuary, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy And i've never heard such cheering from the home support.

washman3

Mountainlad wrote: »

What did he do? Sure I know what he's like, but I think a few weeks would be letting Ryan off lightly. Assaulting a manager is similar to doing it to a referee. If he did that to a player and I was reffing I would have sent him off, I think he should certainly miss the championship. Hard luck yesterday by the way, sounds like ye should have won it but at least ye're in a far better position then ye were at the start of the league and Hannon and Downes still have to come back. Shane Dowling is a serious hurler.

Ryan ran straight into Davy with a very strong shoulder,think what saved him was he didnt actually "strike" and the fact that it was early in the game,also all hell would have broke loose in the stand if he was sent off.
Yellow card good decision (at the time) if the CCC decide to pursue it theres no complaints.
to Ryans credit, i have never seen him booked before in either code(was also a fine footballer with Limk)
think he was reacting to the Breen incident a minute earlier when Davy was insisting on a red card for what was just a mistimed chop. Davy must be very irritating on the sideline for opposing players.
Remember his comments to ref Barry Kelly a few years ago that were caught by the sideline mic.:)

Mountainlad

washman3 wrote: »

Ryan ran straight into Davy with a very strong shoulder,think what saved him was he didnt actually "strike" and the fact that it was early in the game,also all hell would have broke loose in the stand if he was sent off.
Yellow card good decision (at the time) if the CCC decide to pursue it theres no complaints.
to Ryans credit, i have never seen him booked before in either code(was also a fine footballer with Limk)
think he was reacting to the Breen incident a minute earlier when Davy was insisting on a red card for what was just a mistimed chop. Davy must be very irritating on the sideline for opposing players.
Remember his comments to ref Barry Kelly a few years ago that were caught by the sideline mic.:)

Didn't even notice Breen's one last night, on second viewing he should have gone too. It was a one handed pull when he was never going to get the ball, and when you chop you chop down, not across so I have to be honest I don't think he was too disappointed he caught the man.

Ryan didn't catch him initially with the hurley, you're right, think he may have caught on the follow through. Regardless, if Paul Galvin got 3 months for slapping the notebook out of a refs hand I think this should similar punishment. Otherwise, we'd be setting a dangerous precedent.

I don't like Davy, and I wasn't able to go to Thurles last year so I heard first hand what he said to Kelly (though to be fair he didn't give him any personal abuse he just the decision was 'f*ckn bulls*it'). But that doesn't excuse what Ryan did, you can't react to it.

Ye're not a dirty team, I'm not saying ye are. We're not a dirty team either but I remember during the league last year when we played Tipp, two players got sent off and looking at the manner they got sent off in you'd think we were. I could understand the Breen one being left off seen as it was let go by the ref, retrospective banning in this case wouldn't do an awful lot of good.

Ryan, however, has to be in my opinion. Otherwise we'd be encouraging really unacceptable behaviour towards managers, who don't have the benefit of having a hurley in hand to defend themselves (as well as not being in the physical condition the players are in). I don't think there is anything in the rulebook about not sending a player off for fear it might upset the crowd.

Skip to 54 minutes for anyone that wants to make their own mind up on it http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1144144

shawnee

Would love to hear the conversation between the linesman and the ref. ... Limerick player hit Davy ...... ref ... ah Davy was acting the pr... all day and deserved it ... yellow card ! Now while I do not condone the act , the interference by Davy on the sideline should also be punished and not allowed to continue

The Lopper

grenache wrote: »

The current situation with this Limerick team is quite ironic - for years we've had solid backs and no forwards. Now we have a decent set of forwards but no defence. McCarthy isn't up to it at full back, i personally wouldn't have Wayne Mac at half back either, backs were much too lose at times, even if Dodge did ok.

We had the forwards to do more damage, they just didn't get enough quality ball, and the likes of Mulcahy and Tobin ended up coming further out the field in search of possession, which is no good to us. We don't seem to have a fluid plan like we did last year under O'Grady. The quality is there, we just need to arrange the pieces of the jigsaw.

I actually believe this team to be good enough to not only put it up to Tipp, but maybe even shock them. But only if the preparation goes well and we go in with a proper game plan and stick to it.


I wouldn't normally condone what James Ryan did, but seeing as Davy Fitz has a mouth the size of Shannon Estuary, it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy And i've never heard such cheering from the home support.

It's been developing that way over the last two years alright anyways, we're beginning to look like the new Waterford with some tasty forwards coming through but major headaches in the full-back line, and to a lesser extent at times the half-back line. What's worrying is that to my eyes the half-back line has gone backwards a bit since last year, GO'M and Wayne Mac not looking quite as sharp as they were last year. The full-back issue hasn't been resolved this spring - My thinking these days is that you essentially need three-corner backs back there these days so I'd have Condon at 3, but Allen has persisted so much with McCarthy you'd wonder will he be there come May. Someone who I would have liked to have seen tried out in the half-back line again would have been Mark O'Riordan who is still on the panel and looked to be still fit and pacy last year but is coming back from injury and like Geary, may not feature. Another interesting dilemma is as to where Hickey will slot in on his return - at 4 or at 6 are surely the two obvious options.

For all the complaints about the backs where the losing of the match was on Saturday came from a familiar sight - a Limerick team failing to win possession in the half-forward line. I know the fitness of this team is not quite there yet, with Allen supposedly aiming completely for May, and that the absence of Hannon and the departure of Breen did not help, but the complete no show in the last 20 mins was worrying. On the plus side, whereas Kevin Downes' first touch was poor enough, he looked encouragingly strong in the air and his point was well-taken. He's suffered a lot with injuries in the last year, so if he can overcome those then he could come very good come championship.

If we reach the quarter-finals this year I would be happy. I think there has to be a good bit of patience with this team. We've a tendency to roar for wholesale changes but you are looking at some very young but very promising players coming through and a bit of work to be done on the defense in general. Hopefully after a good year last year the underage can continue to improve. After that, stability with the senior set up would go a long way to avoiding some of the disappointments of the 2000s.

Fireball07

The Lopper wrote: »

It's been developing that way over the last two years alright anyways, we're beginning to look like the new Waterford with some tasty forwards coming through but major headaches in the full-back line, and to a lesser extent at times the half-back line. What's worrying is that to my eyes the half-back line has gone backwards a bit since last year, GO'M and Wayne Mac not looking quite as sharp as they were last year. The full-back issue hasn't been resolved this spring - My thinking these days is that you essentially need three-corner backs back there these days so I'd have Condon at 3, but Allen has persisted so much with McCarthy you'd wonder will he be there come May. Someone who I would have liked to have seen tried out in the half-back line again would have been Mark O'Riordan who is still on the panel and looked to be still fit and pacy last year but is coming back from injury and like Geary, may not feature. Another interesting dilemma is as to where Hickey will slot in on his return - at 4 or at 6 are surely the two obvious options.

For all the complaints about the backs where the losing of the match was on Saturday came from a familiar sight - a Limerick team failing to win possession in the half-forward line. I know the fitness of this team is not quite there yet, with Allen supposedly aiming completely for May, and that the absence of Hannon and the departure of Breen did not help, but the complete no show in the last 20 mins was worrying. On the plus side, whereas Kevin Downes' first touch was poor enough, he looked encouragingly strong in the air and his point was well-taken. He's suffered a lot with injuries in the last year, so if he can overcome those then he could come very good come championship.

If we reach the quarter-finals this year I would be happy. I think there has to be a good bit of patience with this team. We've a tendency to roar for wholesale changes but you are looking at some very young but very promising players coming through and a bit of work to be done on the defense in general. Hopefully after a good year last year the underage can continue to improve. After that, stability with the senior set up would go a long way to avoiding some of the disappointments of the 2000s.

I agree that the full-back line is a bit of a worry. Richie McCarthy is the best natural full-back in the county imo, but you could be right about him not being intercounty standard. Condon has done well enough there in the past, my only worry about him is sometimes he suffers rushes of blood to the head and does some stupid things which you can't really afford at full-back. Still, he's probably our best option. I'm surprised David Moloney wasn't given more of a run-out, I think he's a superb man-marker.

As for the half-back line, I think if you put Hickey in there, it becomes very strong. Hickey is a class hurler, and I'd have him in midfield or wing-back rather than in the full-back line. Wayne Mac is hugely committed and excellent in the air but I think he makes some terrible decisions at times and is just not as naturally skilled as Hickey, DOG or GOM. O'Mahoney is another fantastic player, I wouldn't be worried about him come Championship.

I still think the half-forward line is a worry. Even with Hannon there, I'm worried about their ability to win possession. They're all well able to score and certainly able to win their own ball but against a top half-back line, they could be cleaned out. Remember the U-21 semi-final last year, both Hannon and Dowling were in the half-forwards and the Galway lads just swept up everything.



Still, I think we can rattle Tipp in the Championship if we have everyone fit. Stage is set for Dowling and Hannon to make their mark on the Championship. One of them will win Young Hurler of the Year imo.

Benny Cake

Fair play to James Ryan, I'm of the opinion that you can't hit Davy Fitz hard enough or often enough!!

buck65

Benny Cake wrote: »

Fair play to James Ryan, I'm of the opinion that you can't hit Davy Fitz hard enough or often enough!!

Fat lot of good it did him or his team.

Benny Cake

buck65 wrote: »

Fat lot of good it did him or his team.

And what harm did it do exactly? Fitz is a mouth, nothing more, couldn't have happened to a nicer fella.

Fireball07

Beat Offaly 0-25 to 0-20 in a challenge match today.

I wasn't at it but it seemed like a very experimental side. Murphy was in goals, Geary at full-back, Hickey at centre-back (good to see him back), Tommy O'Brien in midfield and Niall Maher at centre-forward. O'Brien scored 4 points from play, Dowling got 10 in total.

Don't know what the Offaly team was, but I'll try and find out what the performance was like. Good to see he's trying other options anyway and good to see Downes and Hickey getting starts.

calvin_zola

Fireball07 wrote: »

Beat Offaly 0-25 to 0-20 in a challenge match today.

Yeah these types of games should prepare Limerick for the type of opposition they will be facing in the qualifiers this year.

premierstone

calvin_zola wrote: »

Yeah these types of games should prepare Limerick for the type of opposition they will be facing in the qualifiers this year.

I assume its for the same reason that Waterford were playing Wexford at the weekend

chatjunkie

Fireball07 wrote: »

Beat Offaly 0-25 to 0-20 in a challenge match today.

I wasn't at it but it seemed like a very experimental side. Murphy was in goals, Geary at full-back, Hickey at centre-back (good to see him back), Tommy O'Brien in midfield and Niall Maher at centre-forward. O'Brien scored 4 points from play, Dowling got 10 in total.

Don't know what the Offaly team was, but I'll try and find out what the performance was like. Good to see he's trying other options anyway and good to see Downes and Hickey getting starts.

E

How did Geary go at full back?