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WHEN Brian Cody’s great team in Kilkenny began to disband, he was convinced of one thing: that he would never see his likes again.
ilkenny had been so good for so long it seemed like they were the team of his life. One that would stand out above the rest.
But for me, Limerick is making its way into that conversation.
If it sounds a bit premature to compare John Kiely’s team to the team that won six of seven All-Ireland, let me explain.
Limerick is in the middle of a golden age. Now they have collected six trophies in just over two years. Two leagues, two Munster titles, and now Liam MacCarthy twice. And today they could have easily been playing for three All-Ireland titles in a row if they had gotten a better decision at ’65’ than it was in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.
Kiely’s team also made another piece of history when they went undefeated during the season. During the preseason, the league and the championship, they won all 13 games.
That hadn’t been done since 1961. And in most cases they had a little to spare.
They won all three of their Munster League games by a total of 31 points. Their average margin of victory in their five league games was five points. And in their five Championship starts, they had 37 points to spare. In Sunday’s final they scored an incredible 24 points per game.
Unplayable
That’s a level of mastery that can be compared to Cody’s great team.
And there is the possibility that they will earn much more in the years to come.
Gearóid Hegarty and Tom Morrissey are almost impossible to play. Between the semifinal and the final they scored 0-23 between them. There is quality in every line. And the age profile suggests they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
They still have Mike Casey and Richie English to return. Young Cathal O’Neill is an exceptional talent that we will hear a lot about for years to come. They seem like a side eager to rack up silverware. It will take a formidable team to eliminate them.
So for Waterford this will hurt, but there is no shame in losing to a team like that. And the merit of our boys, they came out with their shields.
Waterford needed goals to have a chance to win and when the opportunities presented themselves we just didn’t take them.
Jack Fagan, Stephen Bennett and Dessie Hutchinson all had opportunities, but we didn’t make the right choice or found Nickie Quaid in good shape.
In the midst of that too, Tadhg de Búrca was expelled.
If you had to write down the things Waterford didn’t want to happen, miss scoring chances and lose an inspiring figure like De Búrca would have been high on the list.
At halftime, there were only three points. Liam Cahill would have been satisfied with that because Limerick’s dominance was not reflected on the scoreboard. And in previous games, Waterford had been strong in the third quarter. Limerick turned that around and edged Waterford 0-10 to 0-5 in the rush to the breakwater.
And after that, Waterford was chasing the game, but you’d have to be proud of how they kept going.
Austin Gleeson deserves a special mention. Sometimes he comes for an undeserved stick, but he stood his ground and carried the fight as long as he could.
He is a good boy, and if there are going to be good days for Waterford in the future, he will be at the center of them.
Still, even Austin couldn’t rescue this one. Waterford dominated the skies in the game against Kilkenny, but they couldn’t get their hands on the ball. Limerick has some brilliant pitchers, but they also have a huge appetite for brave things. Will O’Donoghue forced Kevin Moran to overload and celebrated like it was a marker.
They bring an unforgiving physique to everything they do.
Waterford has seen the levels they have to reach. The danger that came into this game was that after stumbling to play in the Munster final and the Irish semi-final, all parts of the Limerick machine would work in unison. Waterford were the victims.
When the fog of defeat clears, I believe that Waterford will be able to see 2020 as a year in which significant progress was made.
We couldn’t win a match at the Munster championship for the last two years, but here we reached an Irish final. The first order of business should be to tie up Cahill and Mikey Bevans and allow them to continue what they started.
But this is the time for Limerick. They are amazing and ready to do more great things. I take my hat off to them.
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