Their hunger, physicality and tackling was very good. Tom Morrissey did make mistakes when he had the sliotar in his hand, fuck it though he won some amount of 50/50 ball.
Seamus Flanagan also worked extremely hard and did v well for Gillanes 2nd goal and scored a point himselfâŚanother day heâd have had 3 or 4 from play easily.
Hegarty is also going very wellâŚwins a load ball that others wouldnt and chips in with scores every week. He was in for a goal at one point in the first half after linking up with T Morrissey v well and was unlucky that McInerney got a great hook in.
The poor wides will need to be addressed though Iâd be more concerned if we werent creating the chances.
Itâs all learning ⌠Galway was a step up and it took players a while to adjust ⌠Yesterday was another step up as Clare were far slicker in their movement ⌠some players struggled to make the right decisions under pressure ⌠the more games they play at this level they will come on. You couldnt fault a single Limerick player for effort yesterday and no harm the odd fella having a tough game, thatâs where they will learn.
Realistically, time is against the NaP lads as they will more than likely have a couple of weeks off to recover before joining the squad. That will make it roughly 5 weeks before the Tipp game, I cant see too many of them making a starting claim in that time ⌠we badly need Peter Casey tho, one of the few forwards we have thatâs composed under pressure and generally hits the target.
Kyle Hayes is still no where near 100% either, he struggled yesterday but thereâs plenty more to come from him.
Look at Barry Murphyâs contribution for the second Limerick goal, fucking unreal. Looked as if he had no chance of getting near the man but he chased and chased, and forced him to turn and hit blindly. Ball goes straight to Tom Morrissey unmarked as a result. Onto Flanagan, and then to Gillane, then finish.
Just class from Murphy though, will go unremarked by many but thatâs why Kiely will pick him, heâs a very effective tackler.
Well done @dodgy_keeper best analysis on here, seems balanced and not hysterical. Time is going against the Na Piarsaigh lads as this group seem to have built up some bond and spirit as evidenced in the last two games. This can be very hard to break into and JK will be very wary of unbalancing the great work ethic he has created with all the players he has at present.The championship this year will require strength in dept and I think it will be the cork game before you see some of the Na Piarsaigh lads get a run. The two corner backs if they continue their progress will start championship ,Richie might just get the full back slot. The half back line i believe will stay as is , Kiely/Kinnerk have installed them from the get go and i dont think it will change. Cian deffinite midfield, Brownie is under pressure but he will come good. Hego and Kyle Hayes will start in half forward line, Gillane and Peter Casey will start inside . Pick any two after that .Just a final word kudos to Kinnerk , a lot of people openly critical last year ,but we now are hurling to a god game plan , stick work looks sharp and fair play Joe OâConnor we look like a really fit team. I know it is only March , but its very positive to date.
Indeed I too was sceptical about Kinnerks style but we are becoming more comfortable with mixing in the short game when needed,you could see that yesterday when the players went short working through the lines making space for support runners instead of just lashing it 60-70 yards into the forwards to make a hero out of the defenders! The 2015 U21 style of play is creeping in.
In fairness Kinnerk has probably tinkered with his favorite possession game a little and is now using the short accurate passes to set up accurate delivery to the forwards. The tactic of using diagonal balls to the corners is working well for Gillane last night and Murphy last week. But overall how comfortable the players seem to be with this style is great.
Clare looked like they were almost double marking Gillane in extra time,every time a ball was played across the wing back dropped in to help the corner back. Looking forward to seeing himself and Casey hopefully hit form simultaneously!
There is also the re-fixture of the Limerick v Wicklow league game to be addressed.
There is a free weekend in between the hurling and football so they might move the football back a week or re-fix any games involving hurlers for that weekend.
My understanding is though that weekend had been kept free to allow the hurlers go on a training camp.
