JOHN KIELY HAD a prime vantage point for one of the most famous points scored in a Munster hurling battle between Limerick and Clare.
Back in 1996, the current Limerick manager was then sitting on the Limerick subs bench, roaring with approval as Ciaran Carey made that lung-bursting run up the field at the Gaelic Grounds.
“(I) remember every bit of it, we were all standing up, nobody was sitting in the dug-out and we were all willing him forward.
“And he deserved it. (He was a) fantastic player. That was a titanic battle. But you had two teams at the height of their powers. Great teams and great players on both sides at a sun-baked Gaelic Grounds.
“Listen I was very privileged to be part of that panel, they were a fantastic team and we had some fantastic days.
“(We) won a couple of Munster titles and narrowly missed on a couple of All-Irelands. There is no doubt that we had opportunities in the last 25 or 30 years to get that All-Ireland success but it remains to be done at the same time.”
Sunday is the first stop on the championship road for Kiely. He slipped into the Limerick managerial hotseat last winter on the back of U21 triumphs in 2015.
Yet when assuming the reins, he was keen to ensure Limerick’s focus was not solely trained on Thurles in 4 June.
“We weren’t in a position to do that because it is our first year with the group.
“And I think it puts an awful lot of pressure on the players if you signpost a match like that so far out.
“I have seen a lot of teams signpost big matches like that from a long way out, I have seen Dublin doing it against Kilkenny a number of years ago, 2012, under Anthony Daly and it ended in a considerable flop on the day.
“We have only focused on the Clare game in last couple of weeks and we feel that has been enough time to focus on the game.
“We are not going to get six months to focus on a game later on in the championship, you are only going to get a couple of weeks.
“I think it devalues the games that you are playing at the time, so we decided to give every game we played as much importance.”
Despite the concentration on the league, the prize of promotion from Division 1B eluded them. An opening day loss to Wexford proved a major blow.
“Having been in Division 1B for seven years now, I would be lying to you if I said this management team and this group of players didn’t have ambitions to get out of 1B and play in 1A.
“But that is easier said than done, when you have the likes of Clare in there for one year, and Dublin and Galway and Wexford.
“It comes down to one game quite often and if you don’t get it right for that one game, your chance is blown. In 1B you can’t afford to lose any match.
“The Wexford game came maybe a bit too soon for us, and even though we were very happy with the level of performance in the first 45 minutes.
“We put ourselves in a great position and created a couple of goal chances, we were seven points up and if we had taken one of those, it would have been enough to get us across the line.
“The players know we have huge regard for them. We really appreciate the effort they are putting in for us. We are in this, together.
“There is a hugely positive sense of team spirit there at the moment and great ambition within the group.”
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Limericks year was over when they lost to wexford on day 1 of the league. Clare by 5 easy.
@nero: idiot
Just one all Ireland in 76 years for Limerick and none since 1973. Not optimistic about the prospects this year. At least 5 counties ahead of them in the pecking order.
@John Ryan: Very true John and for all that lack of success they are ahead of Galway, Waterford, Clare and Wexford in numbers of All Ireland success’s. Rugby has a massive effect on the numbers playing in Limerick and more recently Cork and it has a detrimental knock on effect. I would be very confident of a good showing from Limerick on Sunday and with the players coming through I believe they will compete in the latter stages many a time over the next ten years. This year will be a little early and I would be happy with a performance against a solid Clare.
@Fergus McGrath: This rugby myth again. Rugby has had very little effect on guys playing hurling in the city or county. Rugby is the second most played sport after soccer in Limerick City, and a very distant fourth in the county after hurling, soccer and football. How many players in the AIL come from a GAA background?…..not many. How many of the Munster players come from a GAA background?……..very few – Cork’s Darren Sweetnam & O’Leary before him are the only 2 i can think of. Lads who come from GAA backgrounds will generally stick to GAA, and the same goes for rugby. There’s not much crossing over at all.
The reason Limerick have 1 Munster Title in 21 years and 1 All Ireland in 77 years is nothing to do with Munster Rugby. The famine was there long before rugby fever took off.
When that point went over the re development of that ground begun, as the “stadium” collapsed beneath us