A solid performance from a very physical Limerick side. The back line played well with Hickey and Morrissey the stand outs, I thought Condon was poor and dropped two balls coming out which on another day would have ended up as scores. Lynch and Browne were very good, Lynch needs to be in this role to get the forwards in to scoring position. The forwards done well as a unit, Hegarty awkward as always and got a few scores but missed a few gilt edges chances. I thought OāDonovan, Morrissey and Flanagan all played really well and put in great shifts today. I think there is a decent panel there when you put in Mike Casey, Ronan Lynch, Kyle Hayes, Declan Hannon, Will OāDonoghue, Shane Dowling, Kevin Downed and Peter Casey in the mix.
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Howād Meara go?
He went well bar one mistake in the first. He has the right attitude for it at this level. A run of games will do him the world of good.
No doubt about it, The Mackey Stand is the coldest spot in the Northern Hemisphere.
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Your lads had their first get together of the year last night, a team meeting, and they were training this morning.
Agm tomorrow night.
Hickeyā¦du du dudu du du , oh Casey, Casey du du dudu du duā¦
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Limerick will take beating this year
Was Hickey colour coordinated though?
Iād be loathe to criticise any individual too much on that display. There were lots and lots of mistakes for sure- touch was off, there were lots of dropped balls, plenty of players took way too much out of the ball.
But I would say that pretty much everyone had a good game. Our backs were almost totally dominant; they were way more physical than the little Clare forwards, and it was a game that really suited us in that regard. Dan Morrissey in particular was excellent at centre-back.
Lynch & Browne were really good, looked like a proper midfield partnership.
Tom Morrissey got man of the match, he scored some fantastic points and his work rate was good throughout. I thought Darragh OāDonovan was superb, he was just so lively and got through a lot of work. Barry OāConnell picked off a very nice score and had a few lovely passes to set fellas off. Flanagan was the standout of the inside men, itās hard to believe that he wasnāt even first sub for the U-21s last year. Heās big, strong, quick and well able to score. Gillane didnāt get a huge amount of ball but when he got it into his hand, heās an absolutely deadly finisher. Hegarty did some very good things but I still donāt think heās a corner-forward.
Subs did well too, particularly Barry Murphy. Clare werenāt great, hit a lot of bad wides. I thought the young fella Diarmuid Ryan, still in school, was their most impressive player. Game didnāt suit their smaller forwards- the likes of Podge, Tots et al. Physically beaten up by the Limerick backs.
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A game for the ages.
Clare hit the first three scores of the second half to go 0-9 to 0-8 up and then didnāt score again until injury time. Their shooting was absolutely dire.
Mostly impressed by our midfield and half forwards. MOTM Morrissey and Donovan got through a pile of work, Browne & Lynch the same in the middle of the park. Full forward line was toothless enough. Hegarty looks like a fish out of water.
Condon has wintered very very well. Do the Clare County Board impose some sort of height restriction on players?
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co op league
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As they say Joe, from small acorns. I was impressed with Limerick today. I am not a fan of Quaid and his pick outs but I did like Limericks physicality, they are young and will only get tougher. When all the players are available we have a good squad to choose from.
A decent workout.
Result not all that important but was impressed by the way we played. We finally seem to have a decent puck out strategy. Rather than lumping it into the forward line we were playing it into space for players to run on to. Worked well a number of times throughout.
Our defence dealt comfortably enough with the midget Clare forward line. Conceded a few terribly soft goals last year but looked solid enough back there today. Didnāt really give up many goal chances. Hickey did well as a spoiler, beat OāDonnell up a stick.
Iāve always been a bit iffy about Dan Morrissey but he has come into his own over the last year and a bit. Did well in Nowlan Park last July and decent again today. His decision making has really improved. Hannon and Byrnes are nailed on half backline starters and other position is up for grabs.
The Askeaton man didnāt look out of place at all. A few mistakes but only to be expected when he has missed so much hurling in the last year or two. Might be a year too early for him but definitely plenty of potential. Should go well with the u-21ās anyway.
Midfield is Cianās position. Just leave him there now. Him and Browne are a good pairing. Slowly but surely sorting out the spine of the team. Hannon at 6, the two boys at 8 & 9.
Flanagan is a great bit of stuff and he probably cemented his place as a starter v Laois. He won a few balls that werenāt sticking up there last year. He had defenders hanging out of him all day but gave plenty back to them. He didnāt lick it off a stone! Like the cut of his jib. Canāt have enough stubborn, pig headed west Limerick cunts on the panel. Thought he was our best forward.
Hegarty aināt an inside forward. Worked like a Trojan but hit a few poor wides. Being a jack of all trades works against him.
Gillane is a terrific finisher, once he gets chances. Tom Morrissey played as well as he has in a year or two. Chipped in with scores and worked his bollocks off. Ditto Darragh OāDonovan.
Decent pre season. Clare were fairly woeful in the second half, though.
Finally seem to be adding a bit of squad depth. Hopefully can have a proper go at the league and assimilate the Na Piarsaigh lads back seamlessly.
To go all Sky Sports itās worth pointing out we are unbeaten in the calendar year and, in fact, are unbeaten since last July. 
3,000 at a game in mid January is decent going. Could be a cracking championship.
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Flanagan was very impressive. Say what you want about West Limerick hurlers, but thereās one thing for sure, thereās very few of them windy. He showed up well today physically as well as his Hurling, the best example being when he was being impeded off the ball for the umpteenth time deep into the second half and just clattered his man and stuck him to the ground by the throat after a brief wrestle around. He wasnāt running after the ref looking for something to be done. Breeding is a terror.
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Was the hurling any bit more direct today or did they stick to the short game?
Terrible day for hurling
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What was the weather like back with ye Joe ?
Would agree with all of that. Fine crowd for January, wouldnāt have expected that.
Hickey was very impressive, and I think others are being harsh on Condon, I thought he was good. Heās an absolute bull of a man and literally walked over fellas today. Definitely no getting carried away with it today, conditions suited backs, particularly ones as physical as Condon. English was tenacious but lost his footing a few times. Clare inside forwards were particularly poor too, I thought.
I was a little surprised that Malachy didnāt get a run at all, maybe Kiely doesnāt particularly rate him? I donāt know what the teams have been like in challenges but there hasnāt been that much variation in these games. Willie OāMeara was decent, Morrissey excellent; if Hannonās out for the entire league, both could feature in the Dublin/Galway games.
Agree on Hegarty, heās an awkward fucker and makes life difficult for backs. But he just lacks that extra yard of pace for corner-forward and isnāt a particularly natural scoretaker. There were a few chances today that if Gillane/Nash/Casey had got into their hand, would have been definite scores. At the same time, he won balls he probably had no right to win and his overall work rate is excellent. Half-forward for me.
Tried to play with the head up, created the space for the man in possession around the middle before firing it in low to the inside line.
One great score in the first half. Few neat handpasses. Worked it eventually to Barry OāConnell in space. Picked out Flanagan with a great diagonal pass, straight into the paw, he rampaged through, was fouled and handy free in. Always tried to be positive. Less aimless clearances than usual.
Clare didnāt really want to know though. Youād imagine Wexford will be fitter than them in a fortnight.
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