A DIFFERENT CROKE Park experience for John Kiely, who has grown accustomed to this being the site of success for his Limerick team after they brilliant dominance over the past four seasons.
For the first time in five years they suffered defeat at the venue, Cork edging them out by two points to end Limerick’s reign of supremacy.
“The hurt is going to be god awful, I have no doubt, but it is what it is. We haven’t tasted defeat very often, but any time we have, it has tasted very sour.
“So we just have to go through that now, the group will reflect obviously, individually, collectively. There will be a lot of time for that. But listen, today is not for that consideration. I think that will take quite a bit of time.
“They’re very, very disappointed, obviously and again, it’s about opportunities.
“You want to give yourself opportunities today to win the game, but you’d love to get to the final to give yourself an opportunity as well.
“And we’ve lost that opportunity and sometimes it’s not about the winning, it’s about giving yourself an opportunity.”
Kiely hailed his players in defeat for their extraordinary run of consistency.
“Just immensely proud of the boys, immensely proud of all the people in the backroom team for the work they’ve put in over the last number of years and in particular this year.
“And I’ve no doubt, Limerick will regroup and come back in 2025, you know, refreshed and ready to go again. There’s no reason why they can’t. The group of guys that are inside in that dressing room are incredibly dedicated.
“They shape their world around hurling, where they choose to live, where they choose to work, where they choose to go to college, they have shaped their world around this group, this team. There’s an incredible togetherness and unity within the group and, they’re going to hurt now, there’s no doubt about that.
“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win it too. If we were beaten by 10 points, we’d say, right, okay, something’s wrong here. We could have won by two or three, but we didn’t and, you know, that that’s just the way it is.”
Kiely refused to use injuries this season as a main excuse for Limerick’s defeat, Barry Nash the main absentee for this game.
“Every player you lose is a loss, there is no doubt about that, but we have tremendous faith in the group as a whole. Seán Finn is a direct replacement for Barry Nash, how could you possibly regret having Seán Finn, you’d love to have him on the field any day of the week. So, we didn’t look at it like that.
“Barry has a hamstring injury, it wasn’t the worst hamstring injury in the world, he probably would have been able to play next week but he hadn’t gone through all the protocols in terms of a return to play.
“So if I go and bring him today, put him on for five minutes and he blows his hamstring out, what is Barry Nash going to think of me after that? So, we always do what is right for the welfare of the player and that was the right call.”
Try not to be too hurt John, we are share yer hurt but by God it’s been completely unbelievable and please God we’ll be back again. Heads up lads, we love ye.
@Michael Kennedy: comiserations Mike…..unbelievable team, the best I’ve seen in my time anyway. Wasn’t expecting a win for us today, but was some performance to turn ye over. Was at the brilliant 2013 replay so more of the same please……except for the final result obviously!
@Joe Kennedy: ah thanks Joe, huge congratulations to you, a mighty win, think ye wanted it a small bit more today, well done.
Cork in 1980 & Kilkenny in 2010 both also missed out on 5 in a row.
Regardless, Limerick 1 of the greatest teams of all time & still young so they’ll be back.
58 scores in 70 something minutes – the standard of the top counties is now extraordinary
@Gerry Kelly: Cork were going for 4 in a row in 1979 but were beaten in the semi final by Galway
Limerick are still great team and they will be back
What a great effort by a BRILLIANT Limerick team.
We are all so proud of ye
Ye were great champions – from a rebel
@Niall McCarthy: thank you, and a fair chance they will be again. Well done today.
A genuine question for you (a rebel) Niall. What do you make of the Cork booing and blaring horns when Limerick were taking frees? I’m not sour, ye deserved to win, but, it annoyed me.
@Michael Kennedy: slow play taken free’s
@Michael Kennedy: it’s a terrible act, one at unfortunately Limerick brought to a new level in the last few years, hopefully it might eventually die out but I doubt it,
@Matthew Delaney: don’t think it originated I’m Limerick
Chokers
@brian fantana: A five in a row choke?
@James Murphy: sorry ted only won 4 ina row
@Mr G Pickett: Your wumming is about as successful as your charge at Gettysburg. Must try harder.
Pickett go and get a life this is a sports platform and there is no place for someone like you on this platform, enough about id!!ts, well done cork ye deserved it at the end finish the job now
@Mike Nolan: oh dear. A sore Limerick fan? Ye were never as good as ye thought ye were. Living in the shadows of the great kk team
@Mr G Pickett: don’t know what game u were watching. Limerick didn’t by a country mile get all the call. Looking for shirt to winge about. Fair play to Cork. Came up with a game plan and worked out. Jp like any other sponsorship gives money. Limerick have been blessed with how all the players have come at once and delivered. U may not realise but you can’t buy the best players from other teams. So whatever money he’s put in is just like Mike Ashley has done with Cork
It must be a great honour for this Lk team to be compared to the Kilkenny four in a row team, I know they were beaten in the semi final, and not the final like Kk on route to the five in a row…and Lk would have to win four of the next five All Ireland as KK did, to be mentioned in the same sentence…but they should be proud all the same
@Cathsl murphy: copy and pasting like mad you are