Ye are some fans in fairness
I donāt know about tbh, I wasnāt concerned at all before today tbh. Considering that they decided to select such a strong team today, which I donāt think was needed, I would have liked to see a better performance today.
Does that mean we donāt deliver in 6 weeks time? No, of course not. Thatās 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. Itās a big thing about choosing when to shoot, when to look for an extra pass and when to put the ball inside and weāve 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 wasnāt on; and then there were times we tried to deliver when there were 2 or 3 extra Claremen back. Thatās 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 weāll have extra options off the shoulder, draw extra defenders and increase space inside.
I donāt think swapping half-forwards into the āCasey roleā 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.
Two feet off the ground while doing so, he was lucky not to get a yellow for it
Coughlan stood out alrightā¦For his lack of pace, unfortunately heās 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. Iād say if Hayes/Byrnes go down it will be Nash/Morrissey out wing back ahead of him.
Poor oul Tony was like a lad trying to stop a car from rolling after forgetting to pull the handbrake up
Tossed aside like a rag doll.
Itās been a glaring weakness unfortunately for the guy. Youād think shedding some of the weight might help as heās a big unit. But heās 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
He is a huge man - the turn and recovery pace will be a problem
Is the rule still in place where if say Adam English or CON play senior champ. then they canāt play u20 championship?
Yep. Joyce and OāLeary will almost certainly be out for Cork. Meehan gone for Clare, possible Crotty too. I suspect Limerick will only lose OāNeill.
Such a fucking stupid rule. Denies the best young players in the country their last year at playing undersge intercounty.
A stupid rule while I have lads being flogged playing colleges on mud patches.
Is Daire OāLeary still U-20?
Coughlan played Championship last year; heās not gone great the last couple of days but over 4 round robin games, thereās a fair chance heāll see some gametime. Still a chance English could make the bench too, and if he does make it, thereās a fair chance heāll be used at some stage.
Iād say Crotty will surely play for Clare, heās been very impressive.
Cathrach Daly for Waterford too.
Donāt think Tipp have anyone.
Yep Daire OāLeary 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 canāt see English being used.
Fucking hell, he was a big 18yo so!
Thatās 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 wouldnāt 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 Iām 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.
You are probably right but then thereās a massive step up to senior at 21. Many players will need at least a year to make the transition.
But let them transition then when they are physically more prepared
Itās no real secret that the GAA hierarchy want rid of that grade anyway. The rule, whether right or wrong, is designed to push things in that direction as much as anything else.
It was a bit cheeky for the Limerick hurlers to have a tough training session the day before, and another one on the Sunday morning of the Cork League match