WATCHING YESTERDAY’S GAME in Croke Park, I couldn’t but be amazed by the effort from both sides.
The weather was terrible at times and trying to play hurling in that looked incredibly difficult. I played with Cork in the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final against Waterford on a wet day but never hurled in conditions in Croke Park like what Limerick and Kilkenny faced yesterday.
The physicality, intensity and endeavour were incredible. The effort from the Limerick guys in particular was brilliant to watch. But come the final whistle, they got no reward for their efforts. Kilkenny did what they do best and somehow found a way to win the match.
Limerick gave it everything they had and I felt they were probably the better team overall. They played the better hurling and produced the better passages of play. How did they end up being defeated then?
If you were being critical, maybe they lacked a bit of composure at certain times. The concession of the goals and certainly the timing of those strikes were also killer moments for Limerick.
They were on top for so long in the first-half but went in at the break losing. For the first half hour, they dominated the game, got the crowd behind them and picked off some really good points.
Kilkenny’s big players weren’t in the game and Limerick had nearly played a perfect half of hurling. But then Richie Hogan got in for a really well-taken goal and the whole complexion changed. At half-time, you’d have been happier to be in the Kilkenny dressing-room as you assessed the first-half. They were ahead on the scoreboard after having played poorly.
Then Limerick came back out in the second-half and got into a good rhythm again before conceding another goal. It was a major setback for them. It was fortuitous, a long-range free that could have gone anywhere but the Kilkenny player got the vital touch.
Limerick had to chase the game a bit then and Richie Power helped ensure Kilkenny benefited from the extra space. He made a big difference. He could have got another goal near the finish but for being fouled by Donal O’Grady.
If you were a player in that situation, you’d have done the same as O’Grady. It was a calculated move, he sized the situation up and did what was needed for his team. Given he was on a yellow card at the time, he probably should have been sent-off as the foul deserved a booking.
Donal looked to me like a player who knew the punishment that was coming and was probably as surprised as anyone that he didn’t get another yellow. I felt i was a big mistake from James McGrath. He’s the same referee that got it wrong in sending off Patrick Horgan last year and this was another bad error.
Limerick did so many things right. Declan Hannon showed great character to hurl like that yesterday after what happened to him in last year’s semi-final. Shane Dowling had JJ Delaney under big pressure in defence. Seamus Hickey was outstanding for Limerick and kept TJ Reid out of the game.
One of the traits of Brian Cody’s management is that he has often in All-Ireland semi-finals and finals, put a key attacker on an opponent’s key defender. The idea seems to be that if the Kilkenny forward gets on top of a player that has been going well for the opposition, it’s a big psychological advantage in favour of Kilkenny. Shefflin was usually the man they used and I thought yesterday they were looking to get Reid to dominate Hickey in order to hurt Limerick. It didn’t work though.
Limerick will hurt badly after this. They gave a really good account of themselves and that will help the disappointment ease a little after a while. Their problem was that they couldn’t pull clear of Kilkenny when they dominated in the first-half and early in the second-half. A Limerick goal during either of those periods would have been crucial.
I think we learnt yesterday that Kilkenny are there for the taking. They’re not the powerful force of old but they still have the ability to grind out a result. Their defence was really good at the end yesterday, Jackie Tyrrell stood out superbly and Colin Fennelly was excellent when they needed him in the first-half.
Kilkenny are still standing though and you have to hand it to them. They recognised they were under huge pressure yesterday and dragged their half-forward line well back. They realised this wasn’t a semi-final where they would pull away comfortably and instead knew that had to battle. They tightened up enough just in the end and are back where they want to be in a final in September.
