Pa Ranahan: Footballers’ “Appetite Hasn’t Been Satisfied With League Success”

Pumpkins carved and apples suitably chomped, I settled in for a novel Halloween Night Munster Football Championship game last Saturday. Even with the positive vibes of promotion still lingering, the question still remained; would this be a “Trick” or “Treat” performance from Limerick?

There was no need to be spooked though, with Cillian Fahy ghosting in for an early goal. With Limerick exorcising the demons of their last Munster Championship game, the horror show of the Wexford league game feels like a long time ago. And while there were a few bangers being set off here locally, all the fireworks in Fraher Field came in the spell before the first water break. 

A blistering start in that period, which yielded 2-4 for the men in green, was the winning of the game. Much like the promotion sealing victory the previous week, Limerick took the game to their opponents from the off.

The benefit of the elements helped of course, but as we’ve all been told since we pulled on a pair of boots, “the wind won’t win you the game”! What is helping Limerick win at the minute is the ability to put up match winning totals – 3-30 accumulated in the last 2 games – and, even more importantly, the spread of scorers.

I’ve mentioned on here previously how this is so important when you don’t have an individual who consistently registers big scores, and the recent games have seen a variety of scorers. Nine different players finding the target against Sligo was a high watermark, but that rose to double figures in the Waterford game. Many hands make light work. This is true both in and out of possession, so when you see regular contributions from defensive players you know it’s a real team effort. 

It wasn’t all a bed of roses. The twenty minute spell without a score tells it’s own story. And you could hear the sideline weren’t happy with some sloppiness at times. You won’t always have it your own way obviously and the lads have done well to control the game when required in the last two outings. But the scoreboard will need to be kept ticking over against a Tipperary team who are well capable of putting up big scores. 

The interplay between the Limerick forward unit of late has been unstoppable at times. Ask any defensive unit and they’ll tell you the hardest thing to deal with is quick, unselfish link up play. No time to swarm the ball carrier and force that turnover.

Hugh Bourke has been a big part of this and Sean McSweeney has also been a breath of fresh air in his Intercounty introduction. And the team’s conversion rate has improved. Very few pot shots and any wides kicked have been from scoring areas, so it’s just the execution there. 

Tipperary are coming with high hopes on Saturday after a big win over a fancied Clare, their third win on the bounce. They have the majority of the side that reached the All Ireland semi final in 2016 and David Power has injected a new lease of life into the group.

Conor Sweeney and Michael Quinlivan are the household names, but they are capable of scoring from all areas and certainly have an eye for goal. In American Football, they say you can’t expect to win if you lose the turnover battle. The same is true for the “goal battle” in Gaelic Football. The timely increase in 3 pointers for Limerick has also helped, and if a Munster Final berth is to be achieved, that will play a huge part this coming Saturday. 

Expectation comes with this territory. And with the game being broadcast live on RTE News Now, there will be that added pressure. But, to quote famed tennis coach Chuck Kriese, “Pressure is a privilege.” To be in a position where you feel pressure means you have done something well to get to that point.

Limerick have earned this. To be honest, anyone lucky enough to still be able to play their chosen sport at present is in a privileged position. I do hope they embrace this opportunity for what it is. The signs were there last Saturday that the appetite hasn’t been satisfied with league success. The bookies feel a Munster Final appearance is unlikely. But Limerick have proved a lot of people wrong so far in 2020.