Limerick GAA Discussion Part 2

that kilmallock result is impressive too , there is a shop in westbuary called clancys , actually parteen cross , the man that runs it is encyclopedic in terms of clare/limerick hurling ,

go in there for a chicken roll some morning you wont leave until the break is over , but he has always frowned on doon any time i asked him about there chances , given the under age stuff, darragh o donovon , pat ryan the english brothers barry murphy , and they still churn out a result like this , the man is right when he says they will never win a county championship , a big statement he told me pre covid that seems to be aging well

I would say kilmallock are one of three almost definites for the knockouts.

Ahane had a decent start beating Kildimo in what appeared to be a 5th/6th place decider in that top senior group but going by Doons defeat Ahane could be well placed to beat Doon and enter the Top 4 of top division for knockout stages.

Good to see Old Christains keeping things going and beating St Pats in Junior, hard to see how a Junior Team with Gearoid Hegarty playing ( im presuming) wouldnt be going well at that level, in saying that Cathal O Neills Crecora were beaten as well.

It's only a short while ago that his aim was to go for a puck-around with his mates, such was the extent of his injury. Testament to the character of the man that he's made it back to goalkeeper for a top club. I said it before and i'll repeat, his contribution to the Limerick team in 2018, is up there with "Nicky's flick" as one of the main reasons we have gone from 7 to 12 All-Ireland titles. Would love to see him win another county medal. An amazing individual. (and have never met him BTW)...!!!

Hes a good guy is Dowling. Kinda have to wonder about the youngsters coming through at Na Piarsaigh though. Not since Will Henn's appearance about 3 years ago has there been another quality young forward. Then seeing Dowling make goalie ...and Na Piarsaighs dominance underage is over aswell .

Vincent Harrington is top top class. Iv seen him play a few times. Haven't seen Wayne. I honestly think there's abit of bias against City players.. Its basically a country sport but the Likes of Henn never got a look either. O Dalaigh would never be called up except for Kinnerk being Monaleen

Monaleen, St Pats and Mungret are city aswell. No one else. Can't really say Claughaun or Old Christians will ever produce a plater again

Doon beat the Well tonight, poor enough game 2-18 to 2 -16

Gary Kirby’s son John looked very promising, scoring 1-2.

Pretty routine win for NaP over K-P last night.

Kildimo gave it a good go but it was easy see the difference between a recently intermediate team and a team of Limerick and almost Limerick players.

Yeah. That's by design. Top 4 from Group 1 and top 2 from Group 2 progress.

"City, almost city or long established" is taking in a fair whack of teams. Practically everyone except K-P have a chance by that metric.

You are right though that across the country success is concentrating more and more in urban centres. Nothing can be done about it really as it's just how the population is going.

Na Piarsaigh , Monaleen & Mungret are city, Ballybrown, Patrickswell, Ahane , Kildimo, Adare & South Liberties are all on the fringes of the city. ( of the 12 senior teams with Doon, Kilmallock, Garryspillane well organised traditional clubs the remaing 3.

I guess the smaller rural clubs like Kileedy , Tournafulla, Bruree, Knockainey etc will struggle to have the numbers to ever play senior again but their underages joined up do ok, should there be more amalgamations at adult level??

Will Monaleen & Mungret & Ahane( all big operations with lots of players & Volunteers) be the only possibilities of breaking up the big 4 NAP, Pwell, Kilmallock, Doon over the next 5/10 years or indeed ever?

Would South Liberties be class as a small club ( numbers wise )? V few build up areas out there

Monaleen & Mungret playing the under 19 premier hurling final tomorrow night . The under 13 premier top two is monaleen and Na Piarsaigh . These clubs are very well ran and have big numbers of players and as importantly volunteers. Monaleen and Mungret will win senior finals in the coming decade but very few others outside of recent winners Nap , Kilmallock & Pwell will win one , Murroe Boher are the only club underage on an upward trajectory helped by many new houses and proximity to the city . The days of a Bruree or Garryspillane winning a county will never again be seen not to mind senior teams of the past like Kileedy , tournafulla etc .

Think there’s 50 clubs putting out hurling teams at adult level , 25 would be enough , some of those underage set ups like Kilacolla Gaels , Coshlea Gaels or Newcastle West and district hurling club or other new amalgamations might make new senior clubs to compete with the big guns .

The big difference between Portlaoise, Ballygunner ect and Raheen ,Monaleen is that they don't really have a club and schools rugby scene that offers kids a viable transition to a professional sporting career.

I think the divisional system is much better than amalgamation. Amalgamation only stops kids playing...it picks the best from the 2 clubs and disillusions the 'ordinary'kid completely. Name a former amalgamated club that got going on its own properly again..very few. But look at the likes of Cloyne,Youghal, kanturk ect in Cork who threw their heart and soul into their divisions and ended up with good senior teams of their own down the track