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LIMERICK pitching manager John Kiely has again appealed to the authorities to allow the full panel of players to access the All-Ireland SHC final.
Limerick will play Waterford on December 13 at Croke Park in the four-game run to the decider, 10 players and several members of the extended backroom team have had to watch games at home due to Covid-19 restrictions.
“If they don’t leave, the players come to the final, that would be a real farce, it would be a real farce. A massive mistake, an unforgivable mistake if they don’t let the players reach the final, unforgivable, ”he said.
“I hope so because the Level 5 restrictions ended on Tuesday, so I hope they do, for the good of both counties. For the sake of the players on both sides, it’s really important, ”he said after the nervous three-point semi-final victory over Galway at Croke Park.
Kiely announced “Limerick’s refusal to be defeated” after Sunday’s epic All-Ireland SHC semi-final victory over Galway.
Limerick trailed by five points after 15 minutes and led by five points going into the fourth quarter, but the teams were still tied in injury time.
“I am very satisfied with the performance because when things are not going as easy as you would like them to come, sometimes it can be the day that you delay and accept that it is not happening today and you find it very difficult, but the guys accepted that. I defied and accepted the difficulty and tried to find the solutions to the problems and just kept fighting, ”commented the happy Limerick manager.
“Our guys showed great overall resilience on a night when things didn’t quite go according to plan, they dug and dug and just refused to be hit. I think it was just a mere refusal to be beaten, under no circumstances, no matter what happened, they were going to be beaten, ”he said proudly.
He explained: “I know the guys worked really hard and they were made to work really hard for every ball they got – Galway was very firm at the tackle and didn’t allow us to break the tackle too often.”
“I am very happy with the way our guys responded to the adversity they faced and refused to get hit and that’s a fantastic marker for them for the next two weeks: the stamina they showed, the unity the team showed and there. it was a refusal to be beaten at night. That’s our story of the night, ”Kiely said.
Limerick was 0-7 to 0-2 behind before finding a way to go 0-9 to 0-8 ahead in 10 minutes.
“Going into that water break we were starting to find a little more rhythm and we probably wouldn’t have preferred to have it and move on because we felt like we were getting in and finding our range,” the manager recalled.
Limerick led 0-15 to 0-13 in the interval.
“We were looking to take advantage of what had happened again during the last 10-15 minutes of the first half and try to raise the intensity levels again if we could; that was a real challenge, ”he said about halftime.
Kiely had some questions about the referee.
“I know some of the free ones were definitely free, but I wouldn’t agree that all of them were: the free count was like 17-7 and it’s a big change in one direction. I would not agree that everyone was, there were times when we got the ball in tackles and we did not get the same response as the opposition, but it is what it is, “he said.
“We move on and look forward to the next day and obviously we have a lot of things we have to work on and we will work very hard for the next two weeks.”
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