They’re performing in fits and starts, and fading out of matches all through the league. Kiely might be timing their season for a 5 game blitz after Waterford and cork give them the fright they’ll need.
Not convinced anyone is putting much pressure on the tried and trusted so far. Coughlan looked like he was pulling a sled on a few occasions today. English scored the quintessential Gillane point running away from goal but was quiet otherwise. Connolly slotted in but Byrnes and Nash dominated the distribution from that area. English and Reidy seem to still be the obvious options off the bench. Maybe Kyle can slot in somewhere else to give the team another option.
I don’t know about tbh, I wasn’t concerned at all before today tbh. Considering that they decided to select such a strong team today, which I don’t think was needed, I would have liked to see a better performance today.
Does that mean we don’t deliver in 6 weeks time? No, of course not. That’s plenty of time to get things right if we know what the issues to work on are.
The touch will get better. 100%. At times, we were a bit lethargic in doing things, that will improve. The only real concern (which is a big thing) is decision-making around our deliveries inside/shooting from inside. It’s a big thing about choosing when to shoot, when to look for an extra pass and when to put the ball inside and we’ve got it wrong a lot over the past two weekends. There were times today that Gillane or English were isolated inside and we had the ball in midfield and looked for another pass that wasn’t on; and then there were times we tried to deliver when there were 2 or 3 extra Claremen back. That’s a thing Limerick have done brilliantly in recent seasons, and was way off today.
You would hope that with the increase in fitness for Championship, that we’ll have extra options off the shoulder, draw extra defenders and increase space inside.
I don’t think swapping half-forwards into the ‘Casey role’ worked today. We ended up too deep and Conlon had a field day. I think we need a specific person in that role, even if purely from a defensive point-of-view.
Two classic examples were Gillane with the ball right in the corner on the endline, reminiscent of when he teed up Lynch in the AIF. Hail Mary shot. English with the ball in the same position tried to do the right thing but played a floaty ball back into an area full of Clare men.
Coughlan stood out alright…For his lack of pace, unfortunately he’s short 5 yards of pace. He was left for dead 4 or 5 times yesterday and as a result I suspect played himself out of Kielys plans. I’d say if Hayes/Byrnes go down it will be Nash/Morrissey out wing back ahead of him.
It’s been a glaring weakness unfortunately for the guy. You’d think shedding some of the weight might help as he’s a big unit. But he’s getting skinned a few times.
All fit, he wouldnt be pushing for selection anyway in that HB line so the experience of the league will hopefully stand to him in time
Coughlan played Championship last year; he’s not gone great the last couple of days but over 4 round robin games, there’s a fair chance he’ll see some gametime. Still a chance English could make the bench too, and if he does make it, there’s a fair chance he’ll be used at some stage.
I’d say Crotty will surely play for Clare, he’s been very impressive.
Yep Daire O’Leary is on the age for u20 this year.
Coughlan didnt play championship last year until the 20s was finished. IIRC, he only came on in the AI final. I still think Kiely would use Dan Morrissey or Nash on the wing as opposed to Coughlan. I can’t see English being used.
That’s true but I think, with the round robin, the hand may be forced. He came on in both the semi-final & final. It is definitely possible that Nash or Dan could be moved, especially with Casey back aswell, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Coughlan played.
This should be a serious 20s team for Limerick, should be targeting an AI, but chances become a lot slimmer if we lose any of those.
Personally ( and I’m probably in minority here), any lad U20 should not be eligible to play senior intercounty. Let lads develop physically and mentally before thrown them in at that level.