JUST AS LIMERICK boot the door off the hinges on their way to their fifth All-Ireland final in six years, it’s worth just reflecting on the words of one John Kiely Esquire of Galbally on the very first day of this championship.
The tone of his response was hardly a polite riposte to a number of fawning media contributions by pundits and columnists which suggested that Limerick could be looking at a period of domination.
“Listen, let’s be honest about it,” he began, taking the direction of the chat away from a softball question.
“There was some amount of bullshit spoke about our team and the season ahead and the week before. It’s a softening-up exercise, mentally, from those outside of our camp.
“But we are around a long time. We know that that’s all folly and nonsense at the end of the day.”
Given the second-half dismantling of Galway — and providing it’s alright by John himself, like — it’s fun to imagine that Limerick may have now entered the Cody Zone.
You know what we mean. Players performing poorly in a first half. Perhaps guilty of having trained like Tarzan only to play like Jane on the big day. Letting another side run up a lead against them before giving themselves a shake and pegging back a lead just in time for the break.
Before we poke around under the bonnet, a quick recall of some of the more gorgeous moments.
The Aaron Gillane goal. As Brendan Cummins said, a tad too honest of his marker Dáithí Burke, stranded under the dropping ball, to lead with his stick, two-handed. Gillane started from behind and picked his pocket. Net.
But within minutes, Conor Whelan had it level and Evan Niland stretched the lead. Galway were mano-a-mano, matched up everywhere, and delivering their statement to Limerick that they were every ounce their equal.
Cian Lynch was a wizard without the baggy sleeves, turned over in the tight spaces.
Then came a Cathal Mannion goal. His run was a clever direct line but the vision and imagination of Kevin Cooney to tap a reverse pass into the turf and then the composure of Mannion to take on the shot across Nickie Quaid was ballsy stuff.
Limerick had a chance of a reply. Diarmaid Byrnes sent a free wide. A wobble? Not when Gearóid Hegarty sends those massive hips right, then left, to slice over a shot as he is running away from the Galway goal.
A bit of quick restructuring of shape and Henry Shefflin was gesticulating wildly at his players who had pushed up to the max on Quaid’s puckout. The Tribesmen won that and Kyles Hayes gets a yellow for a slap down on Brian Concannon’s knuckles. Evan Niland with the successful free; Galway lead by six.
And then, the inevitable and phantom injury: Limerick’s Quaid with his helmet off and a doctor going through the charade, while the big brains of Limerick get a quick tactical reshuffle and allow the heart rates to lower.
The thankfully non-cancelled Marty Morrissey (a Renault like! I mean…) proclaimed that ‘the roar is coming all the way from Connemara and Spiddal!’
And it might have, only for the miracle of Mike Casey keeping Concannon’s goalbound shot out.
That was as good as it got for Galway. Limerick’s rally brought them to the break just one point down. Cian Lynch’s point was a case in point: crashing into his man, tossing him, and striking over with his feet planted.
All of it meant that Galway had to go down the stretch against this Limerick team for the fourth time since 2018. This was their moment of reckoning, the moment when all the effort to get Henry Shefflin would tell.
The first ball of the second half brought three Limerick tackles, two from David Reidy, and on 22 seconds, Seamus Flanagan did one of those over-the-shoulder numbers to level it.
The pundits would claim after that they felt the game was on the turn. Lynch was finally getting his special moves going and produced such magic to send Reidy away towards goal. He drew the final defender and dished off unselfishly for Gillane to bat the ball against the crossbar.
Just weeks after he sent a booted ball to Cillian Buckley for Kilkenny to pull the Leinster final out of the fire, Padraig Mannion swiped at the rebound. It could have gone anywhere, just as the booted ball could.
But it fell perfectly for Gillane to lash to the roof of the Galway net. Ye Gods, it doth amaze me!
Limerick were four points up with 30 minutes to go.
Their purple patch never ends. Kyle Hayes takes possession of the ball and keeps running through all the obstacles, finishing with a scooped point. So quick-witted.
By 57 minutes, Limerick were seven up and winning the second half 1-8 to 0-3.
This was the side that was looking a bit gnarly after the Munster campaign. The side without Sean Finn and Declan Hannon.
But Galway’s effort went into the floor like a dart. With it, went their belief. You can just see with some teams the exact moment that happens, like a spirit leaving the body. For Galway, it was the second time that Mannion’s sideline cut failed to clear the first defender or even get some air.
Limerick substitute Cathal O’Neill’s point to make it 2-24 and a nine-point gap was a thing of beauty, but the effort of Barry Nash to get ahead of the play and help out with the move was, for coaches, their own Chef’s Treat.
When Kiely and Paul Kinnerk come to review the tape, it won’t be the crisp connection O’Neill makes with the ball, but the pumping arms of the lean figure in the red helmet that gets them excited.
Relentless and punishing. There’s hardly a team out there that could stop them. Someone should run that by John Kiely to get his thoughts.