Limerick finding it a long, hard road to recovering

A YEAR ago, Limerick hurling was sleeping off the hang over caused by the dramatic defeat in the 1994 All Ireland final. One of the consequences was relegation from Division One of the National Hurling League, sponsored by Church & General.

Tomorrow, at the Gaelic Grounds, the county hopes to confirm a swift return by beating the hapless Down and hoping that Laois make a successful raid on Casement Park. The likelihood is, however, that Limerick won't be troubling the GAC when the quarter final draw is finalised. As a result, manager Tom Ryan is ambivalent about his team's campaign.

"We very much wanted to make the quarter finals, but our results before Christmas were not good - losing to Laois and Dublin. We were slow out of the traps and while we expected six points, we got only four and it wasn't good enough."

Adapting to the second division can be difficult for teams hoping for a quick comeback, despite the availability of three promotion places. The matches tend to be attritional and whereas in Division One, teams can afford not to get too worked up until after Christmas, early defeats in the second division can carry a heavy price tag at the end of the season.

"The standard is tight and competitive," says Ryan. "Last day in Trim we were very lucky against Meath. Our approach to the League was very positive, but in view of our aims, it went wrong from the first day against Dublin."

All the more galling so, that Dublin's vigour wasn't long being drained out of them - leaving them easy prey for limerick's promotion and play off rivals. This was compounded by Dublin's agreement to forfeit home advantage in order to accommodate a change of dates for the meeting with Laois - in which they were severely beaten. Ryan, predictably, is a little irritated.

"Dublin's performance against Laois was very hard to figure out, like the decision to giveaway home advantage to a team that was winning. All I could say is that when we played them, Dublin were full of enthusiasm, that they played the match with championship fervour. I can't understand what happened to them since. You can't be looking for favours from other teams, but, at the same time, the whole thing about Leagues, is the fact that teams do others favours."

In a couple of months, Limerick face into the hardest task in the Munster championship; an away match at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, where Cork have yet to lose a championship fixture. Ryan had hoped for an extended League run that would help develop the summer challenge but isn't altering his immediate focus.

"We haven't even started thinking about the championship. We have to concentrate on the League and get the best position we can. Our aims were one, to get out of the second division and two, to get to some kind of playoff that would provide additional games against first division teams.

"County quality players are scarce in Limerick. We're not in a position to blood players in the League. To be competitive, we have to put our best players out, so we haven't done much experimenting."

Whereas Limerick's line up hasn't changed radically since 94, Ryan is aware that the team needs strengthening and this weekend sees the appearance of a couple of new players, including reserve goalkeeper John O'Brien, who was outstanding in UCC's defeat of University of Limerick in the Fitzgibbon Cup two weeks ado.

"We have introduced a couple of new players for tomorrow, John O'Brien and John Kiely who have both played Fitzgibbon Cup. We've been looking at John O'Brien for a while and we've been conceding goals at a fierce rate."

O'Brien's call up would have been an unlikely choice until recently because of the excellence of Joe Quaid, who won an All Star two years ago. In the meantime, according to Ryan, Quaid's game has deteriorated.

"He's lost his form and we have to look down the road. You can't get results conceding goals. A goal conceded at the right or wrong time can be vital. Meath kept themselves in it by getting soft goals (in the most recent league match)."

Although 1995 wasn't as traumatic as the year before, Limerick's loss of their Monster title was a bitter experience that escaped receiving too much attention because of the historic nature of Clare's breakthrough. Ryan is still unhappy about it all. "Because Clare were a novelty, our performance against Tipperary in Cork was overlooked. It was a good win against the head, but our performance in the Munster final has to be looked at. There were factors that day that got overlooked.

"There were times when we were in with a chance of winning and we didn't take it, but some of the refereeing decisions made were a total disgrace. The penalty was one of the worst decisions ever made. It upset our fluency and style of hurling. (Damien) Quigley was brought down twice bearing down on goals.

"You prepare a team and they get knocked out of their stride but in saying that, key players of ours didn't perform. We were probably still suffering the effects of the All Ireland, but it meant we lost our position as Munster champions, our status Clare have taken it."

As soon as tomorrow is out of the way, it's likely that Limerick will be able to concentrate on trying to set the record straight.

Right now it looks a mountainous task but in recent years, Munster has become unusually fertile ground for improbable happy endings.