*Limerick GAA news/discussion thread*

Fireball07

Would you actually have Condon on Honan rather than McCarthy? I'd prefer Condon to marking someone pacy like O'Donnell or McGrath, I'd say McCarthy....despite the obvious height disadvantage, is capable of keeping Honan at bay.


And elsewhere, I know we won.....but Hickey/Breen could be worried about their starting places... I'd say Dowling would be gutted if he doesn't get a start after that performance, and there's Allis and Downes aswell.


Only thing is I wouldn't really fancy Breen as a gamechanger from the bench tbh. I'd probably remove 1 of them from the starting lineup (probably Breen, he didn't impress me) and bring in Allis/Dowling. Then you'd still have 1 of them + Downes + Moran to bring on, if things aren't going exactly as planned.

paddy no 11

I have to say Allis didnt really impress me the other day, i felt it was all dowling that changed the match. After tipp took the lead and we came back to draw it a ball broke on the 45 and Allis was closest to the ball i thought here's his chance to make a name for himself......he got beaten to the ball by a yard, couldnt believe how slow he was, only seen him hurl a few times but wouldnt be campaigning to bring him in. For all breen's awkwardness and lack of pace Hickey could never hit a point the way Breen did sunday. Not going to be a cheer leader for any of the 3 really, Jimbob done best and i'm sure will stay at CF. As said hard to ignore dowling but need bench impact aswell, best left to Allen's judgement at this stage.

InchicoreDude

While its nice to have a sub who can make an impact, you should never put an inferior player on the team at the expense of a superior player, just because you want to have an impact sub.

premierstone

InchicoreDude wrote: »

While its nice to have a sub who can make an impact, you should never put an inferior player on the team at the expense of a superior player, just because you want to have an impact sub.

Certain types of players are far more suited to been used as an impact sub when the game has loosened up abit and space isn't at such a premium. And you can't really argue with what Allen did it was the polar opposite to last years approach and well the result was ther opposite aswell.

Fireball07

paddy no 11 wrote: »

I have to say Allis didnt really impress me the other day, i felt it was all dowling that changed the match. After tipp took the lead and we came back to draw it a ball broke on the 45 and Allis was closest to the ball i thought here's his chance to make a name for himself......he got beaten to the ball by a yard, couldnt believe how slow he was, only seen him hurl a few times but wouldnt be campaigning to bring him in. For all breen's awkwardness and lack of pace Hickey could never hit a point the way Breen did sunday. Not going to be a cheer leader for any of the 3 really, Jimbob done best and i'm sure will stay at CF. As said hard to ignore dowling but need bench impact aswell, best left to Allen's judgement at this stage.

Allis didn't really make an impact, that is true..... but the ball never seemed to be in his area of the pitch tbh. He's a hard worker, and I don't know about that incident but he's probably the fastest player in the squad, I'd say.

And Hickey would never score a point from the touchline like Breen, but that's a Breen thing, he does it once a game but will miss easy opportunities which Hickey is likely to get. For someone of his size, Breen doesn't win enough primary possession....when he gets the ball into his hand, he's powerful enough and can open teams up but he's too inconsistent for my liking.


Ryan obviously has to start, he was excellent. I'd have Dowling there too, for more reliable free-taking if nothing else.

paddy no 11

Agree on free taking he's far more accurate and has more distance. Hannon should have put one of the boys in for a goal immediately after the restart as well, gave a really poor hand pass, he still needs to up his game, loved the shoulder to knock yer man into touch and win the sideline at a crucial point and of course the last point. Missed free from 50 was bad obviously. Mixed bag from hannon but hopefully he can build on that.


Thinking back to u-21 yes Allis is very quick........just didnt see it sunday, anyway, looking forward to the other semi now, can put the feet up and watch not bothered who we meet.

Fireball07

Both Hannon and Mulcahy were poor by their own standards, and they are our two best forwards. The fact that we won despite that is very encouraging. I think the two lads will have a big game in the final.


Looking forward to the other semi too, I do reckon Clare will win though. Especially with Cronin out aswell.

plannerscanner

Fireball07 wrote: »

If anyone knows a place to watch the match in full again..... or hear the full 95fm commentary, please let me know.

Thats on Setanta Ireland this evening

glasagusban

Thinkstoomuch, I predicted limerick would win by 4 ahead of the game here and elsewhere. I was close enough.

This team has made progress whether or not we win Munster. A first win in Munster in years is progress, especially against a fancied tipp team, and especially after going 4 points down in the second half.

Cork and Clare are both fairly good teams and limerick are not superstars. I expect Clare to beat cork and I expect limerick to win a close thriller against Clare. But, if we lose to a good team it will be disappointing but it won't mean we haven't made progress, we will regroup and challenge whoever we meet in the quarter final, who will want to be a good team to get past us.

Fireball07

plannerscanner wrote: »

Thats on Setanta Ireland this evening

Cheers for that!



I can watch that on eircom sportshub, hopefully someone somewhere in Limerick records it and puts it on youtube too :P

Fireball07

So, watching the game back, couple of things I didn't pick up on at first:

-Mulcahy didn't score, didn't have his best day, but worked very very hard throughout. His hook on Conor O'Mahony that led to Ryan's score came because of that, and he tried throughout. Linked up nicely with others, couple of good handpasses, set up Niall Moran's point brilliantly and won a very important free to close the gap after the goal. I'm sure it'll come right for him the next day. (Although his goal attempt when clean through was pathetic, even if it was a foul)

-Hickey got through an amount of work around the middle of the field. He dropped deep an awful lot, but made himself available a lot and broke onto a lot of ball. Between him and Browne, they cleaned up a huge amount of possession. Think Hickey just needs to keep calm, get the ball into his hand and be sensible, he's definitely able to take a score or two. Definitely would start him the next day, ran himself into the ground for the team.

-Gavin O'Mahony was even better than I thought, be close to my man of the match now, he dominated the first half and was superb in the 2nd half.

-Couldn't see any reason for Breen to start next time.....scored an absolutely magnificent point but that was it really.

-Wayne Mac was blown up for what looked like a fair shoulder on Bonner Maher in the first half, but his physicality throughout was highly important. Although, seriously, those solo runs that finish with losing the ball have to stop.

-Need to nail all the long-range frees next time, if Hannon is off-form with them, let O'Mahony or Dowling take the ones from distance.

-Have to watch opposition forwards drifting off the ball in behind the cover. Tipp got a couple of goal chances because of that, we should have some sort of sweeper to counteract it, I think.

-Tipp only scored 1 point in the last 19 minutes + injury time and that was a free. That's excellent defensive work (although some poor forward play from Tipp).

-The most critical thing is we stop hitting those underhit points/overhit passes.....balls that drop in around the square that are absolutely no use to anyone. Either take a shot, or make it a pass.


-And from the Dowling free on was breathtaking stuff, just such a high pace, such a high intensity....particularly the last 5 minutes. Great stuff.

Thinkstoomuch

glasagusban wrote: »

Thinkstoomuch, I predicted limerick would win by 4 ahead of the game here and elsewhere. I was close enough.

This team has made progress whether or not we win Munster. A first win in Munster in years is progress, especially against a fancied tipp team, and especially after going 4 points down in the second half.

Cork and Clare are both fairly good teams and limerick are not superstars. I expect Clare to beat cork and I expect limerick to win a close thriller against Clare. But, if we lose to a good team it will be disappointing but it won't mean we haven't made progress, we will regroup and challenge whoever we meet in the quarter final, who will want to be a good team to get past us.

You did predict the win,one of the very few,in fairness,so fair play to you.You said if Limerick were within range,that the subs ye could bring on,could see ye home and they did.

You had though expressed concerns about the team when it was picked and that you were not inspired by the selection of the team.You were of the view,that ye were probably as strong as last year,and that the display last year came out of no where,and you were hoping for more of the same on Sunday.You did not seem to be of the view that ye were any better than last year,but equally as strong.

My view is that while Allen has got one win,and he done well,it is progress on the point of yere first big win in years,I wouldnt be saying that he or the team is the finished article yet.This team needs to put two back to back performances together before they can be judged as making real progress,in my view.

They have failed to do that in recent times.You said that if ye loose the munster final,ye will regroup and it will take a good team to beat ye.What if that happens and ye loose two games though..Have ye made any real progress,and is Allen still a great manager and still seen in the same light.No of course not,it will be one step forward, and two steps back.

I'm not saying that will happen.All im saying is that while Sunday was as good as it was,nothing was won yet.Yes it was progress on last year to some extent,but Limerick should not be happy that one win is progress.Real progress in Limericks case is when you win something.And for me ,I will judge them after the Munster final.
Riche Bennis beat Tipp too,then lost to waterford but then beat them again.Their was no shame in loosing to Kilkenny in the final.
Allen has not done anything that other limerick managers have not done as of yet.

Countless times,you see counties winning one game,against the odds and then that is their season.They do not drive on after that.That to me is not progress.

On the other hand Limerick Footballers lost in Munster a few years ago to Kerry.But they improved ,in every game,and beat Wexford.They reached a quater final.

Okay they did not win a Munster title,but for Limerick football to reach an all ireland quater final was fantastic.And their was no shame in loosing to Kerry in that game.As you said some times you are beaten by a better team.That was progress in the context of Limerick football.

I geuinely do hope Limerick make progress and build on this.And if Allens wins the Munster title then yes he deserves immense credit.And he will have proved a lot of people wrong,both inside and outside Limerick,myself included.

I am honestly not trying to burst anyone's bubble.
I'm just of the view,it will take another game for me to be convinced on both manager and the team.

Limerick came in under the radar ,last Sunday to a degree,that won't happen in any other game this season.And if it is Clare,it wont be in the comfort zone of the Gaelic grounds.Can this team under Allen win away from home??? Only time will tell.

Rightwing

Thinkstoomuch wrote: »

You did predict the win,one of the very few,in fairness,so fair play to you.You said if Limerick were within range,that the subs ye could bring on,could see ye home and they did.

You had though expressed concerns about the team when it was picked and that you were not inspired by the selection of the team.You were of the view,that ye were probably as strong as last year,and that the display last year came out of no where,and you were hoping for more of the same on Sunday.You did not seem to be of the view that ye were any better than last year,but equally as strong.

My view is that while Allen has got one win,and he done well,it is progress on the point of yere first big win in years,I wouldnt be saying that he or the team is the finished article yet.This team needs to put two back to back performances together before they can be judged as making real progress,in my view.

They have failed to do that in recent times.You said that if ye loose the munster final,ye will regroup and it will take a good team to beat ye.What if that happens and ye loose two games though..Have ye made any real progress,and is Allen still a great manager and still seen in the same light.No of course not,it will be one step forward, and two steps back.

I'm not saying that will happen.All im saying is that while Sunday was as good as it was,nothing was won yet.Yes it was progress on last year to some extent,but Limerick should not be happy that one win is progress.Real progress in Limericks case is when you win something.And for me ,I will judge them after the Munster final.
Riche Bennis beat Tipp too,then lost to waterford but then beat them again.Their was no shame in loosing to Kilkenny in the final.
Allen has not done anything that other limerick managers have not done as of yet.

Countless times,you see counties winning one game,against the odds and then that is their season.They do not drive on after that.That to me is not progress.

On the other hand Limerick Footballers lost in Munster a few years ago to Kerry.But they improved ,in every game,and beat Wexford.They reached a quater final.

Okay they did not win a Munster title,but for Limerick football to reach an all ireland quater final was fantastic.And their was no shame in loosing to Kerry in that game.As you said some times you are beaten by a better team.That was progress in the context of Limerick football.

I geuinely do hope Limerick make progress and build on this.And if Allens wins the Munster title then yes he deserves immense credit.And he will have proved a lot of people wrong,both inside and outside Limerick,myself included.

I am honestly not trying to burst anyone's bubble.
I'm just of the view,it will take another game for me to be convinced on both manager and the team.

Limerick came in under the radar ,last Sunday to a degree,that won't happen in any other game this season.And if it is Clare,it wont be in the comfort zone of the Gaelic grounds.Can this team under Allen win away from home??? Only time will tell.

I agree with almost everything in this.

Another question I'd ask is: how good were Tipp? They looked very average to me.

Fireball07

Most of what you say is right, I certainly think we need a 2nd win this summer to make it a successful Championship season. And I do think we're capable of it, can't afford to get complacent though.

But one point, we beat Clare in Thurles last year under Allen, so we are able of winning away from home. Clare will be improved, but I hope we are too.



As for Tipperary, they weren't great on the day but they did reach a league final, they are the Munster champions, they have some very talented hurlers.... are the other teams going to be any better?

glasagusban

Can't say I disagree with any of that thinkstoomuch. But again, say we put in a good performance in the final but are beaten by an inspired Clare or cork performance. And or say we reach a semi and lose narrowly to the likes of Kk or Galway who go on to win it. That will still show progress to me. Don't forget, 17 games in Munster with one win. 10 managers in 10 years. Two lost seasons.

We have built a good team. I am under no illusions that they are world beaters but there is more in them yet. We got our first win in years. Both those are progress. Ill take a balanced view at seasons end, it will be bitterly disappointing but maybe not an utter failure if we don't win again this year, it depends on circumstances.

However, I really really want, and expect us to win Munster.

Thinkstoomuch

Fireball07 wrote: »

Most of what you say is right, I certainly think we need a 2nd win this summer to make it a successful Championship season. And I do think we're capable of it, can't afford to get complacent though.

But one point, we beat Clare in Thurles last year under Allen, so we are able of winning away from home. Clare will be improved, but I hope we are too.



As for Tipperary, they weren't great on the day but they did reach a league final, they are the Munster champions, they have some very talented hurlers.... are the other teams going to be any better?

My apologies,you are right about winning in thurles.

In relation to are Cork and Clare better than Tipp???.Cork are so depeleted at the moment with injuries,we just lost another one,it looks impossible realistcally to see how Clare can loose next week.That may seem very negative but really and truly even the most positve optimist would find it hard to back Cork now.

Up to last week I would not have fancied Clare against Tipp on the basis of Tippereary having so much big game expierence and winning mentality in Munster,and would have fancied them to edge the game.

Clare won't face the same problem with Limerick though.And while Clares team is younger compared to limerick,but similar to Cork in 99,when our average age was 22,this clare team have practially being together since minor and won two U21 all irelands titles.They have been born and bred in a winning culture,are a year older than last year and will not fear Limerick at all.

Limerick won't fear Clare either though.
It would be a very close game.It will really come down to which ever teams turns up and is not overawed by the occassion.
Tippereary are out of the way,but Clare will certainly test Limerick.

It would have the makings of a great day.

Thinkstoomuch

glasagusban wrote: »

Can't say I disagree with any of that thinkstoomuch. But again, say we put in a good performance in the final but are beaten by an inspired Clare or cork performance. And or say we reach a semi and lose narrowly to the likes of Kk or Galway who go on to win it. That will still show progress to me. Don't forget, 17 games in Munster with one win. 10 managers in 10 years. Two lost seasons.

We have built a good team. I am under no illusions that they are world beaters but there is more in them yet. We got our first win in years. Both those are progress. Ill take a balanced view at seasons end, it will be bitterly disappointing but maybe not an utter failure if we don't win again this year, it depends on circumstances.

However, I really really want, and expect us to win Munster.

I see your point and one win in 17 proves that.
Ye have as any good chance as any on Munster final day,and once you have that leading in to a game,then anything is possible.
The Munster final will be a good test .
I have nothing against Clare, but I would like to see Limerick win too.
Time will tell us how good Limerick are.

paddy no 11

Agree with all that fireball on reviewing the match.

Regarding hickey and jimbob we cant play deep all the time, when moran came on and we played orthodox hurling much more of the game was played in their half and the scores came. In the third quarter we were playing too deep and any free ball went to bubbles who knocked it over.

Yeah Mulcahy's work was good and GOM was excellent. I wouldnt play a sweeper just that the corner backs over committed once or twice and left a man behind, corner back and half back just need to be aware who's going up and who's watching the break.

Still DOG was MOTM. Plenty to work on, Jimbob, 2 hands on the hurley when rising please, he misses the first lift waaaay too often.

jordainius

"HEROES ALL" according to the Limerick Leader, just because we won one match. That's as ridiculous as some of the over reaction to the league final defeat, we're really not good at remaining grounded in this county, all reactionary, reading too much into individual games without looking at the bigger picture, lets just go whatever way the wind is blowing. You'd think the county would have learned after making heroes of the 2000-02 U21 teams, one of John Allen's biggest achievements will be keeping his players from getting swept up in the hype.

Much talk about the county team right now, lets not forget about the second round of the senior and intermediate club championships this weekend, a massive weekend as with 4 and 12 teams being relegated from the SHC and IHC respectively there should be plenty of intensity as many teams simply cannot afford to lose this weekend.

Rightwing

This is how I'd rate the hurling in Munster.

Tipp
LK
Clare
Waterford
Cork.

paddy no 11

jordainius wrote: »

"HEROES ALL" according to the Limerick Leader, just because we won one match. That's as ridiculous as some of the over reaction to the league final defeat, we're really not good at remaining grounded in this county, all reactionary, reading too much into individual games without looking at the bigger picture, lets just go whatever way the wind is blowing. You'd think the county would have learned after making heroes of the 2000-02 U21 teams, one of John Allen's biggest achievements will be keeping his players from getting swept up in the hype.

Much talk about the county team right now, lets not forget about the second round of the senior and intermediate club championships this weekend, a massive weekend as with 4 and 12 teams being relegated from the SHC and IHC respectively there should be plenty of intensity as many teams simply cannot afford to lose this weekend.

FFS what muppets, also looking at broadsheet now i'm guessing that i wouldnt think much of the editor.

jordainius

paddy no 11 wrote: »

FFS what muppets, also looking at broadsheet now i'm guessing that i wouldnt think much of the editor.

I know, the reason they (the Leader) are annoying me so much is that they have at many stages down the years been very critical of our county's tendency to get carried away and make heroes out of players despite no silverware, during our lower points they have pointed the finger at fans for doing it, yet here they are, ringleaders of the very thing they have been critical of in the past.

glasagusban

Sure it's limericks all Ireland to lose

InchicoreDude

paddy no 11 wrote: »

FFS what muppets, also looking at broadsheet now i'm guessing that i wouldnt think much of the editor.

To be honest, reading some of the comments here and listening to Limerick people after the match, it pretty much echoes what Limerick people are thinking!

This is how I'd rate the hurling in Munster.

Tipp
LK
Clare
Waterford
Cork.

I'd still have Tipp at the top alright. But there is really really little between the others which is terrific for a non-Munster person like me!

soccymonster

yaaaay for those of us who don't have sentanta or eircom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrJRAvN4HCo

Rightwing

InchicoreDude wrote: »

To be honest, reading some of the comments here and listening to Limerick people after the match, it pretty much echoes what Limerick people are thinking!



I'd still have Tipp at the top alright. But there is really really little between the others which is terrific for a non-Munster person like me!

Spot on. Also I agree that the players were heroes, just for the day. It was a big upset and gave the county a boost. Praise them but keep the feet on the ground.

Hidalgo

jordainius wrote: »

"HEROES ALL" according to the Limerick Leader, just because we won one match. That's as ridiculous as some of the over reaction to the league final defeat, we're really not good at remaining grounded in this county, all reactionary, reading too much into individual games without looking at the bigger picture, lets just go whatever way the wind is blowing. You'd think the county would have learned after making heroes of the 2000-02 U21 teams, one of John Allen's biggest achievements will be keeping his players from getting swept up in the hype.

Much talk about the county team right now, lets not forget about the second round of the senior and intermediate club championships this weekend, a massive weekend as with 4 and 12 teams being relegated from the SHC and IHC respectively there should be plenty of intensity as many teams simply cannot afford to lose this weekend.

WTF, ye're relegating 12 teams from intermediate?? or is that a typo

Rightwing

soccymonster wrote: »

yaaaay for those of us who don't have sentanta or eircom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrJRAvN4HCo

Just looking at that again, all seemed to turn good for us when Hickey came off. Tipp had a few bad wides in the last 10-15 mins was also noticeable.

jordainius

Hidalgo wrote: »

WTF, ye're relegating 12 teams from intermediate?? or is that a typo

Depends how you look at it!

At present, straightforward enough with 16 senior teams and 16 intermediate teams. But major restructuring for next year.

Next season, 12 teams will remain senior, 8 teams will be "Premier Intermediate", and 12 will be Intermediate. Though still Intermediate teams, these 12 teams will be playing in the new third tier next year.

So only the four teams who reach the semi finals of the intermediate championship will retain their current tier 2 status, the remaining 12 drop down a tier!

premierstone

What about the team that wins this years intermediate, do they play Senior next year, or is their a play off with one of the bottom 5 senior teams??