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Limerick coach John Kiely is hopeful his team can take advantage of having played a match when they face Tipperary in the Munster SHC semi-final next weekend.
A strong second half performance at Thurles on Sunday made it easy for the 2018 Irish champions to overtake Clare, and the Treaty men had 10 points to spare at full time.
With only a week left before the final four clash, Kiely is hopeful that they will head into the game with clarity.
“We have to make (the advantage of this game) count,” he said on RTÉ’s The Sunday Game Live.
“He would like to have a little more recovery time, but at the same time we know where we are, we know what we have to work on.
“So hopefully we’ll do it over the next few days.”
The game also acted as the Allianz League final, with Limerick becoming the first county to defend a league title since Kilkenny in 2014.
Kiely admitted it was a satisfying achievement after a frustrating period for the Shannonsiders in competition over the past decade.
“We had not focused on it being the final of the league,” he said. “Being the first round of the championship, that was where our focus was.
“Once it’s over, you need to pay attention to that (the league final). For us, having spent nine years languishing in Division 1B, we know the value of the league and have always placed great emphasis on it. last four years.
“So for us winning back-to-back titles is a great achievement for the group and hopefully something we can build on.”
The match was tight at first, with the teams tied at the break.
Limerick found extra gear in the second half, hitting the first six scores on the spin as the match resumed, and Kiely praised his players for stepping up to finish Banner’s challenge.
“We just couldn’t get into our rhythm in the first half, we just weren’t chaining passes together. Our work pace wasn’t where it should be.”
“There were a lot of areas that we had to address at halftime, and we did. To be fair to the guys, they responded very quickly. They got a little hold of the game early in the second half, and pushed from there.
“It was a good score, we didn’t leave too many behind, the precision was good, especially from the guys coming off the bench, I was delighted with their contribution.
“I think we are all happy to be back on the pitch again. We have a lot of things that we need to improve on next week.
“Quick change for us now – seven days to Tipperary in Cork, another big challenge for us.”
Kiely’s counterpart Brian Lohan now has two weeks to prepare his charges for a qualifying match against Leinster’s opposition: one from Laois, the losers from Wexford / Galway or the losers from Dublin / Kilkenny.
The two-time All-Ireland winner pointed to the period after the break as the decisive part of Sunday’s game.
“Right after the break they got five quick points with the breeze behind so it was a fight from then on,” he said.
“They were able to sit down a bit and it was comfortable for their defense line in that second half, where we will have to work.
“The spirit was pretty good for most of the game. Against superior opponents, if you lower your concentration, they can score so freely.
“That period after the break put us under a lot of pressure, so we’ll have to improve that.
“But we are still there.”
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