LAST UPDATE | 9 Jun
Limerick 1-26
Clare 1-20
DURING THE WEEK, THE talking heads on all the podcasts and tactical columns got their teeth and nails into the Munster hurling final.
They pulled it apart, dissected it, deconstructed the match-ups, the shapes, the shape-shifting and the big beautiful tactical brains involved.
And for all the talking, everyone came back to the final conclusion; Limerick will beat you with Plan A. And if that doesn’t work, there’s at least two more back-up plans that will fry your brain.
As it unfolded, it felt like a game that was getting away from Clare. For twenty glorious minutes, it didn’t feel like that; the half-time break.
Tony Kelly, in as a late inclusion, sent a wind assisted free towards the Limerick goal. It fell short but Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid looked to have dealt with it. He shovelled the ball towards the side where Peter Duggan accepted the unexpected gift and trounced it to the net.
Peter Duggan’s goal levels the game at the break but Aaron Gillane has really threatened at the other end
— OurGame.ie (@OurGameHQ) June 9, 2024
pic.twitter.com/wodNIZtBOO
Level. All square. The Clare crowd cheering and both teams heading for the dressing room.
At that point, it felt that Clare’s luck might be in for the second half. They had escaped a goal chance on six minutes when Cathal Malone got back superbly to get a nick on the end of Shane O’Brien’s hurl when it seemed a three pointer was inevitable.
What has to drive them mad is their own wastefulness. If the benchmark they were aiming for was somewhere north of 70% shooting efficiency, the 57% they achieved in the first half was some way off that.
What constituted a free or a fair tackle was the greyest of areas. It was something that when Cian Lynch didn’t get what his body shape suggested two frees, the led to opposing managers Brian Lohan and John Kiely having a frank exchange of views along the line.
Lohan and Clare were up for the grandstand finish.
Everything to follow disabused them of such fancy notions.
With the breeze, Limerick rattled off the first four points.
What had changed with shape and formation was negligible. Their stickwork was smarter and there was a lean quality to the performance. Clare on the other hand were baggy and over-elaborating.
The Limerick goal when it arrived, had layers of context. In open play, Clare goalkeeper Eibhear Quilligan aimed a crossfield ball to Peter Duggan. It was a tactic tried throughout the day with little success.
This time, it failed to land. Kyle Hayes pumped it back downfield. David McInerney made a hash of it. Aaron Gillane got a flick on. Quilligan, perhaps unsure of his angles, made to come out as the ball trickled on the grass with Gearoid Hegarty addressing it.
Hegarty went old school. Pulled on it first time and went low with a ground stroke. It landed between the post and the goal stanchion. One for the purists.
AND THE CROWD GOES WILD 🙌
— The GAA (@officialgaa) June 9, 2024
Gearóid Hegarty scores Limerick's first GOAL today‼️@LimerickCLG #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/Luh5f7QZJw
At that signal, Clare lifted their own levels of performance. They outscored Limerick 0-4 to 0-2 in the next ten minutes but a series of missed frees from Tony Kelly and Aidan McCarthy led to them leaking confidence.
In two minutes, Mark Rodgers was hungry for goal. The first time he produced a sensational catch, turned and drilled low but Quaid was equal to it. On 58 minutes, Kelly intercepted a Barry Nash pass, played it to Rodgers and this time he smacked the shot off the butt of the post.
If that was the moment, that was the moment gone.
In all the slicing and dicing of Limerick, one factor seems almost too agricultural and a-tactical to mention; this is a group of monsters. You can try to go over them or through them or around them. But they will exact their punishment in the collision zones.
They win so many closing stages of games because they leave something on you each time. They tighten their grip, they starve you of oxygen, your decision-making deserts you.
In the final ten minutes, they can still count on the likes of Diarmuid Byrnes to hammer home a monster point.
In the very next play, they can count on the fresh legs of Adam English to exploit a missed pick from John Conlon to nip in and slot over. Kyle Hayes will kick into action with a point from distance and Gearóid Hegarty will turn to the crowd and fist pump long before his shot in the dying minutes has actually travelled through the uprights.
On now to Croke Park, with the target of five-in-a-row. It all feels inevitable right now.
Scorers for Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-5 (4f), Diarmuid Byrnes 0-5 (3f), Gearoid Hegarty 1-2, Tom Morrissey 0-4 (1f), Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes, David Reidy, Shane O’Brien 0-2 each, Cathal O’Neill, Adam English 0-1 each.
Scorers for Clare: Aidan McCarthy 0-8 (6f), David Fitzgerald 0-4, Peter Duggan 1-1, Tony Kelly 0-3, Mark Rodgers 0-2 (2f), Shane O’Donnell 0-1, Ian Galvin 0-1.
Limerick
1. Nickie Quaid (Effin)
2. Mike Casey (Na Piarsaigh) 3. Dan Morrissey (Ahane) 4. Barry Nash (South Liberties)
5. Diarmuid Byrnes (Patrickswell) 6. Declan Hannon (Adare) 7. Kyle Hayes (Kildimo-Pallaskenry)
8. Will O’Donoghue (Na Piarsaigh) 9. Cathal O’Neill (Crecora/Manister)
10. Gearóid Hegarty (St Patrick’s) 11. David Reidy (Dromin-Athlacca) 12. Tom Morrissey (Ahane)
13. Aaron Gillane (Patrickswell) 14. Shane O’Brien (Kilmallock) 15. Cian Lynch (Patrickswell)
Subs:
19. Adam English (Doon) for Lynch (53m)
17. Conor Boylan (Na Piarsaigh) for O’Neill (63m)
25. Donnacha ÓDalaigh (Monaleen) for Gillane (68m)
23. Aidan O’Connor (Ballybrown) for Reidy (69m)
21. Graeme Mulcahy (Kilmallock) for Tom Morrissey (73m)
Clare
1. Eibhear Quilligan (Feakle)
2. Adam Hogan (Feakle) 3. Conor Cleary (Kilmaley) 17. Conor Leen (Corofin)
5. Diarmuid Ryan (Cratloe) 6. John Conlon (Clonlara) 7. David McInerney (Tulla)
8. David Fitzgerald (Inagh-Kilnamona) 9. Darragh Lohan (Wolfe Tones)
10. Cathal Malone (Sixmilebridge) 11. Mark Rodgers (Scariff) 12. Peter Duggan (Clooney-Quinn)
13. Aidan McCarthy (Inagh-Kilnamona) 14. Shane O’Donnell (Eire Óg) 22. Tony Kelly (Ballyhea)
Subs:
15. David Reidy (Eire Óg) for Lohan (62m)
20. Ian Galvin (Clonlara) for McCarthy (63m)
4. Rory Hayes (Wolfe Tones) for Cleary (66m)
Referee: Colm Lyons (Cork)
