Limerick banish fitness concerns to end bad run against flagging Clare

Limerick 3-18 Clare 1-20: SO IT appears John Allen may have been right all along. A penny for Ciarán Carey's thoughts this morning?

Carey, Allen’s former selector, opted to walk before the championship as he felt the Limerick players weren’t fit enough.

To be fair, it seemed there was more than a degree of merit in his argument when Limerick caved in against Tipperary in the final 20 minutes of the Munster quarter-final, when they had been seven points clear. But Allen insisted after that game that fitness was not an issue. Limerick lost because Tipp had a stronger bench, Allen claimed.

Now, Limerick have quality substitutes that they can call upon. He brought on Declan Hannon, Kevin Downes and Seamus Hickey to help Limerick record a first victory in five competitive outings against Clare on Saturday.

Limerick had lost three times against Davy Fitzgerald’s Clare in 2012 but when it mattered most, they got the job done.

Allen said: “It was the first time we could say this year, in the final 15 minutes we’d have our strongest team on the field. You bring on Seamus Hickey, you bring on Declan Hannon, you bring on Kevin Downes – we were in a good position and the next day, hopefully, we’ll have one or two more vying for positions. That’s the way we want it.”

Hannon scored a crucial goal five minutes after half-time to give Limerick some breathing space and they would not be caught after that.

The winners led by seven points on three occasions before the final whistle. Clare were back to within a goal when Tony Kelly beat Nicky Quaid from a 20-metre free in the 68th minute. But Clare’s tank was empty. A Cusack Park battle with Dublin a week before had taken too much out of them.

“When you have an extra week, it makes an awful difference,” Fitzgerald said. “I think they’ve got to look at that. You spend weeks there doing nothing and then you have to come out one week after another. If they could space it out – if every team got two weeks, you’d be better off. That can be accommodated.

“But let’s not make excuses about that today. They beat us and we were playing catch-up for the second half. And in that second half, they deserved their win.”

Niall Moran was one of Limerick’s heroes as the experienced Ahane forward scored five points from play.

He has been pilloried by some Limerick fans in recent years but reflected: “Everyone has their critics but in some counties certain fellas are fall-guys. You never set out to hurl a bad game, but sometimes things just don’t run for you.

“I’d be the first to acknowledge when things go bad and I acknowledge when they go right. Today is just one day and the next will be different again.

“I love hurling for Limerick. I love hurling for my club. I give my life to it. Sometimes people don’t acknowledge that, but that’s them, not me.”

Teenager Shane Dowling also played his part for Limerick with a nerveless display of free-taking.

And Allen, who received his share of criticism earlier in the season, responded too. His decision to leave Hannon out of the starting line-up, with Brian Geary favoured at centre forward, didn’t go down well in some quarters but Allen reacted when the need arose. Patrick Donnellan was all over Geary and bombed forward for a point of his own but Allen brought on Hannon before half-time – and the Adare star whipped home the crucial 40th minute goal.

First half strikes from Wayne McNamara and Seánie Tobin helped to establish a 2-9 to 0-14 lead for Limerick – in a half that saw both teams hurl in patches.

A mass brawl that broke out in the 21st minute saw Moran and Clare full-back Cian Dillon booked when, in truth, referee Brian Gavin could have flashed at least one red card.

Over 20,000 spectators watched as fired-up Clare responded by shooting seven points without reply. A similar run was good enough to break Limerick in the Division 1B final but this time, Limerick responded with their own spell of 1-3 before half-time.

LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; W McNamara (1-0), D O'Grady, G O'Mahony (0-1, free); P O'Brien, J Ryan; S Dowling (0-8f), B Geary, D Breen; G Mulcahy (0-2), N Moran (0-5), S Tobin (1-1). Subs: D Hannon (1-0) for Geary (29), K Downes (0-1) for Tobin (59), S O'Neill for Condon (inj, 60), S Hickey for J Ryan (62), T Ryan for Mulcahy (70).

CLARE: P Kelly; D O'Donovan, C Dillon, S Morey; B Bugler (0-1), P Donnellan (0-1), N O'Connell (0-4, three frees, one 65); C Galvin (0-3), S Collins; F Lynch, J Conlon (0-2), T Kelly (1-2, 1-1f); A Cunningham (0-1), D Honan, C McGrath (0-6, four frees).

Subs: L Markham for Collins (50), C Ryan for Cunningham (64), J Clancy for Honan (64).

Referee:B Gavin (Offaly).