Kevin O’Brien reports from Semple Stadium
LIMERICK U21 MANAGER Pat Donnelly said during the week that he believes the county will be serious challengers for the Liam MacCarthy cup by 2020.
Donnelly led the latest crop Limerick’s rising stars to their second All-Ireland U21 crown in three years on Saturday, while they’ve also contested minor finals in 2014 and 2016.
The academy structures Limerick have put in place in the last decade are beginning to reap dividends and it’s just in time too.
Limerick famously won three U21 crowns between 2000 and 2002, but last year was the first time a seniors lined out in the championship without a representative from those three-in-a-row teams.
Thankfully for the Shannonsiders there’s a new crop of talented hurlers emerging, and the players themselves seem determined to make a mark at senior level.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Ronan Lynch, who picked up his second U21 medal today.
“To see everybody out there, a massive crowd of Limerick people in Thurles on All-Ireland final day I don’t think it gets much better than that really.
“Two All-Ireland medals in anybody’s book is a special thing. I know for certain I’m going to treasure them for the rest of my life. Teams in Limerick now have to learn that minor and U21s are only a stepping stone for a senior success.
“Hopefully we can use this as a learning curve, enjoy tonight. Things like that are there to be enjoyed with our families and stuff. When it’s all over and said and done, we’ll have to get back down cracking and move onto the big step now for the seniors.”
Eight players of Donnelly’s U21s have already played senior championship, including sharpshooter Aaron Gillane who finished this campaign with 0-44.
“We’re finished with our underage career now. We’ve been playing together since we were U14,” Gillane, who also won this title for a second time, stated. “We’re going try to kick on now and make the senior panel again.
“Hopefully you’ll see a few of us on the senior panel next year, that’s the plan anyway.”
Limerick atoned for the 2014 minor loss to Kilkenny, with 11 players who played that day on the winning side today.
“It wasn’t spoken about too much,” said Lynch. “It was more so nearly an unspoken thing, an understanding between us as players. It’s more or less the same group.
“That day hurt an awful lot. Up in Croke Park and losing our first big final like that, it hurt an awful lot to lose that game.
Gillane added: “We’d that extra bit of motivation today. It paid off. We finally got over the line.
“If you lose two finals, you’re going to be remembered for that. All-Ireland finals are for winning so thankfully we did that today.”
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