Thatâs a great result for Limerick today, well fucking done
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He gave a great interview to Sunday Sport after the game. Mighty man
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Just back from TUS Gaelic Grounds.
What a day. Magic. Itâs slim pickings following the footballers but it just makes days like today all the sweeter.
Among the small band of football supporters promotion wasnât even mentioned at the start of the year. I doubt the management or players even uttered it either. Makes the whole thing all the more miraculous.
Fully deserved it, though. Went to Belfast, Fortress Aughrim and Portlaoise and won the lot. When it came to the crunch they always turned it on.
Today was no different. After an excellent first half, the by now consistent early second half fade out kicked in. Fermanagh had it down to a point but they never panicked. Cian Sheehan - brilliant all campaign long - grabbed a fantastic score and the siege was lifted. Never really looked back after that. Big Josh x 2, Bourke, Enright, Fahy and Griffin kicked some blinding scores. If the Gooch did thatâŚ
The last few minutes were played out in relative comfort, which was pleasing. Soaked up the pressure and broke with pace repeatedly. Thereâs some serious athletes in this team - OâDea and Fanning are colossal back there. Corbett is Corbett while Sheehan has been a revelation since being reinvented as a wing back.
Up front Brian Donovan, Naughton and Hughie have serious speed and directness. A lovely balance to the forward line, everything was sticking off Big Josh inside and they all chipped in with scores, assists or tackles. Got a bit of luck in this campaign - Laois missing late chances last week, Westmeath & Fermanagh drawing, the effort off the crossbar today etc - but this group made its own luck.
The gaffer. What can you say. After Kiely and ROD, maybe the greatest current living Limerick person. There has been such an evolution of the style of play under him. Letâs not re-write history, the first year or two under Billy was grim enough. Understandable really, as he was making them tough to beat but the 14 men behind the ball stuff was turgid. But over time it has improved, now weâre a decent enough side to watch when weâre on form. We actually kick the ball now! Building a bit of depth now too, bringing good lads off the bench rather than just having the bare 15.
Pure bonus territory now and a day out next Saturday. When you look at the list of âfootballâ counties whoâll be in the Tailteann Cup it makes you appreciate the achievement even more. Just rewards for a really honest group.
Will be expected to be whipping boys next year but we should still be competitive against Clare, Cork, Louth and maybe Derry and Meath. Could well lose every game but should give a decent account of themselves in most of those. From a selfish point of view I hope we get Derry, Kildare and Meath away - three grounds Iâve never seen us play in. Owenbeg/Celtic Park would be particularly enticing for the novelty factor.
Usual shambles of a set up for the footballers today. Open stand closed on the warmest day of the year, a paltry programme and the national anthem debacle. Still didnât detract from the day.
Small crowd as ever but the roars late on as the points sailed over was good for the soul. Great scenes at full time. A great buzz.
See ye in The Oval next Saturday.
WE ARE GOING UP!
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Iâve followed Wexford footballers for years, seen them at their worst and their best, and when I see counties similar to ourselves where ya have a strong strong majority whoâd nearly want to ban football being played and not even give it a second thought, it makes me happy. Enjoy it all! Absolutely buzzing for yaâs. All the way from division 4 to division 2. Billy Lee bringing back the halcyon days of Mickey Ned OâSullivan and the 2000âs!
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Top reportâŚ.Almost like being there. Those small, mostly un-expected little triumphs are the reason lots of âlesser lightsâ keep the flame burning against all the odds. While infrequent, these are the days weâll remember and talk about in 20+ years time. Fuck the big boysâŚâŚ.
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Isnât it great that out of the 4 finals next weekend in football, the Div 3 final has the greatest manager matchup. Titanic battle of minds
Tipp and Cavan a nice curtain raiser to the main event.
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Last time we played Dublin in the league?
DUBLIN 0-14 LIMERICK 1-10 DAMIAN LAWLOR NFL DIV 1A UNIMPRESSIVE Dublin stuttered past Limerick courtesy of a late Mossy Quinn point in this hard-fought Division 1A league clash at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday afternoon.
Paul Caffreyâs men looked way off-colour and sensing their hesitancy, a spirited young Limerick side pushed the boys in blue all the way to the final whistle and only failed by the narrowest of margins to cause the shock of the year so far.
It took a Quinn â45â to clinch this win for the Dubs; Quinn sent the winning score over on 70 minutes and although Cork referee Michael Collins allowed six minutes of injury-time, Limerick could not gain the draw they really deserved.
Credit also to Stephen Cluxton who pulled off a magnificent world-class save to deny Limerickâs Pa Ranahan a spectacular goal near the end.
But apart from Quinnâs second-half scores and Cluxtonâs save, there was precious little for Caffrey to enthuse over. His side reverted to playing too deep as the game went on and lost their shape too easily.
True, they gained their first points of their campaign after last weekendâs loss to Tyrone, but question marks surround many players on this team and it certainly looked like they lacked leadership yesterday.
Considering it was their first game of the league, Limerick were hugely impressive. Players like Ranahan and Darren Horan were on fire and Mickey Ned OâSullivan will be delighted with his new-look sideâs display. They started slowly, but only trailed by a point at the break and it was the same margin at full-time.
With only 1,227 in attendance, it was some contrast to the bright lights of Dublinâs date in Croker last Saturday night. Motivation surely proved a little harder although Dublin did play with quality early in the first half.
Still, like previous years, Limerick stayed in there and battled hard to claw their way into the affair. Indeed, John Galvin and Darren Horan missed goal chances in the first period which proved to be vital.
Caffrey will have been disappointed at the lack of fervour Dublin displayed in the opening half. Even though it seemed they were able to pick off scores at their ease, they lost concentration too often and as the half wore on their opponents seemed to get to the ball quicker and controlled most of the midfield tussles.
But early points from Darren Magee, David OâCallaghan and Alan Brogan set the visitors up nicely and for a while it looked like they would cruise home to collect their first points of the year.
However they seemed to lose their intensity as the game progressed and slowly Limerick caught fire. Mike Crowley, Jason OâBrien and Micheal Reidy hit points to get them into the game, but just as they got going Dublin clawed in front again through points from Alan Brogan, Diarmuid Connolly, Conal Keaney and David OâCallaghan.
Limerick needed inspiration fast and they got what they were looking for when full-forward Darren Horan fumbled home a goal from close range. It wasnât pretty, but they all count. Soon after, Mike Crowley and Pa Ranahan added points as Limerick surged ahead for the first time.
Dublin were shell-shocked and but still managed two points before the break - a cracker from Keaney and a long-range effort from Darren Magee - to lead by 0-9 to 1-5 at the interval.
They added a lot more pressure on the restart as substitute Mossy Quinn and Conal Keaney pointed a free each.
But Limerick toiled hard; they blocked, tracked back and their hard-working full-forward Horan showed a bit of class to score a wonderful point from the left wing to reduce the deficit before Mossy Quinn hit back with a score on the run and put over a free soon after to leave it 0-13 to 1-7 with three-quarters of the game played.
Limerick made a host of substitutions, but again although they fought like demons for every ball it just seemed as if they lacked conviction, while Dublin remained calm even though things werenât going exactly according to plan.
The game burst to life in the latter stages when the bustling Limerick wing-back Pa Ranahan attacked the Dublin defence and unleashed a blistering goal-bound shot only for Stephen Cluxton to parry it magnificently over the bar, to leave three points in it.
They continued to attack their nervous opposition and Micheal Reidy brought the margin back to one with his second point of the day and Gareth Noonan made no mistake from a â45â minutes later to level the game with four minutes left.
It was left to Quinn to save his sideâs blushes with that late â45â.
Scorers - Dublin: T Quinn 0-4 (2f, 1 â45â), D OâCallaghan 0-3, C Keaney 0-3 (2f), D Magee 0-2, A Brogan 0-1, D Connolly 0-1. Limerick: D Horan 1-1, M Crowley 0-2 (1f), P Ranahan 0-2, M Reidy 0-2 (1f), P Ahern 0-1, J OâBrien 0-1 (1f), G Noonan 0-1 (1 â45â)
Dublin: S Cluxton; P Griffin, D Henry, N OâShea; P Casey, B Cullen, G Brennan; D Magee, R McConnell; D Murray, A Brogan, D Connolly; D OâCallaghan, K Bonner, C Keaney. Subs: T Quinn for D Connolly (inj, 37), B Brogan for D Murray (h-t), D Lally for K Bonner (62), C Goggins for N OâShea (63), C Moran for C Keaney (69)
Limerick: M Jones; D Carroll, J McCarthy, S Gallagher; P Ahern, P Browne, P Ranahan; T Cahill, J Galvin; J OâBrien, J Ryan, J Cooke; M Crowley, D Horan, M Reidy. Subs: S Cronin for M Crowley (55), A Lane for D Carroll (55), G Noonan for J Cooke (58), N Mulvihill for J OâBrien (64), G Collins for S Cronin (inj, 68).
Referee: M Collins: (Cork)
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Limerick went from Div 1 to Div 3 that year as the league was being restructured I think? Lost a load of very close games
I was at that game. Our full forward missed half a dozen chances, among others.
Its mad to think only a handful of years ago limerick finished bottom of div 4 (maybe london below) and will be playing the dubs next year. Billy Lee is some man
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Very nice guy, but was surprised at the time he was considered good enough for that setup.
A bit of organisation and funding will rise many counties a division or two, especially if others arenât.
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Limerick U-20 hurling panel:
Adam English (Doon); Adam Fitzgerald (Templeglantine); Adam Lyons (Staker Wallace); Aidan OâConnor (Ballybrown); Barry Duff (Mungret/St. Paulâs); Brian OâMeara (Mungret/St. Paulâs); Cathal OâNeill (Crecora/Manister); Chris Thomas (Doon); Cian OâDonovan (Doon); Cian Scully (Dromin/Athlacca); Colin Coughlan (Ballybrown); Conor Hanley Clarke (Kilmallock); David Fitzgerald (Kildimo/Pallaskenry); Diarmuid Hegarty (St. Patrickâs); Donnacha OâDĂĄlaigh (Monaleen); Eddie Stokes (Doon); Ethan Hurley (Newcastlewest); Evan OâLeary (Ahane); Fergal OâConnor (Effin); Jack Donie Franklin (Kilteely/Dromkeen); Jack Molloy (Knockaderry); Jimmy Quilty (Blackrock); JJ Carey (Na Piarsaigh); Joe Sweeney (Adare); John Kirby (Patrickswell); Josh OâReilly (Ballybrown); Liam Dennehy (Glenroe); Liam Lynch (Mungret/St. Paulâs); Liam OâDonnell (Cappamore); Lochlann McHale (Monaleen); Mark Riordan (Castletown/Ballyagran); Michael Keane (Adare); Patrick Finn (Bruff); Patrick Kirby (Patrickswell); Patrick OâDonovan (Effin); Patrick Reale (Knockainey); Ronan Lyons (Monaleen); Sean OâNeill (Blackrock); Sean Whelan (Cappamore); Shane OâBrien (Kilmallock); Vince Harrington (Na Piarsaigh)
10 players who started in Championship last year, another 5 who came off the bench. And POD didnât play last year, but made the senior panel this year.
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Serious spread of clubs represented there. Great to see.
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Good spot
You had one job
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As if
Very strong squad. Anyone want to make a way too early prediction for the 15?