JOHN KIELY IS convinced referee Liam Gordon was right not to award a free during the final moments of Limerick’s one-point Munster final victory over Clare.
Tony Kelly and Adam Hogan had strong shouts for fouls turned down in the seconds before the final whistle but the Limerick manager says Gordon was correct in his call.
“For me, there was no free there. No free,” said Kiely.
“Listen, we were there in ’19 when things don’t go your way in the last minute. You have to suck it up when it doesn’t come your way.”
In the opposite camp, Brian Lohan said he hadn’t seen any replay of the final play.
Kiely heaped praise on his players for achieving something that can never be taken away from them in winning a record-equalling fifth Munster title.
The Galbally native has won all 12 of his finals as manager and this one, he believes, answers any questions about his side’s hunger and appetite.
On a practical level, the victory buys Limerick four weeks with which to get the likes of Cian Lynch back to full fitness.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said Kiely. “We’re the first team now to qualify for the semi-finals.
“We managed four weeks last year. We’ve done it in the past. We know our routine, it’s nailed down.
“They know exactly what is going to happen this week, the week after, the week after that, and the subsequent week.
“It’s an opportunity for us to recharge. An opportunity for a few guys to get a few little bits and pieces together in terms of their own preparation, fitness levels, knocks and bumps and lumps. And just take a break.
“It’s been a really tough Munster Championship.
Every team brought their absolute best performance against us every day we went out. I think we’ve shown an amazing level of resilience and the hunger and the appetite that was questioned is most certainly still there.
“Achieving what they’ve done today does cut them off as being a particularly special bunch of men. I’m thrilled for them that they have that and it can never be taken from them.”
He paid a special tribute to his substitutes, with Cathal O’Neill (0-2) and Adam English (0-1) contributing three of their final four points.
“I’d be particularly pleased with the impact we got off the bench. Lads came into a really frenetic, difficult game, probably the most difficult game I’ve ever seen lads get into. We coped with it really well.
“Cathal and Adam, particularly given the circumstances around the death of his uncle yesterday, having to come and participate today and do what he did – for a young player, I thought that was an incredible achievement for a Munster final and an occasion like today.
“That just shows you the calibre of the individual that he is.”
One player who didn’t see game-time off the bench was two-time Hurler of the Year Lynch.
Kiely says he’ll be better positioned to make his impact at Croke Park next month.
“Cian, in fairness, has done really well the last two, three weeks.
“His injury has taken a lot longer for him to recover from than any of us might have expected but he had two serious injuries back-to-back last year.
“All I know is that his trajectory is very much on the upward curve and we now have a fantastic opportunity with Cian to take him to the next level in the next three weeks.
“I’m sure you’re going to see him in Croke Park in four weeks’ time and by God, a hungrier player won’t be on our panel in four weeks’ time than Cian Lynch will be.”