John Kiely pleased with Limerick’s response as “questions asked of us” down the stretch

With the result in question down the stretch, Kiely applauded his team with how they answered the questions posed of them with the substitutes once again playing their part.

After failing to win in each of their first four league encounters in 2022, Limerick secured back to back victories over the weekend with a comprehensive Salthill visit.

The scoreline flatters the hosts with Galway out of the contest for the best part of an hour as Limerick dominated in most sectors. After a similar performance against a below par Clare in the second round, Treaty boss John Kiely was pleased with the improvements shown in the five-point victory over Galway.

However, their display dropped noticeably near the conclusion as Galway reeled them in to within two points. Limerick held on for the win with the Galbally man happy for the most part, although he insisted there is still work to do with another break on the horizon.

“We’re always looking for improvement from week to week and we’ve had two weeks now since the last game so we were expecting an improvement in the performance from the last day to this.

“And for much of it we did. Our energy levels and intensity could have been a bit higher but that’s for us to go back on now and work on.”

After leading by double scores at the break, 0-14 to 0-7, Limerick’s lead had extended marginally to eight with just over a quarter of an hour to play. But a fifteen-minute wait for a score allowed Galway back into the contest with Conor Cooney leading the charge for the Tribesmen.

And with their backs up after six on the trot, Galway must have smelt blood in Salthill. But when needed most, man of the match Tom Morrissey stood up and fired over a pair to stem the hosts who didn’t score again as Donnacha O’Dalaigh rounded out the scoring in the five-point win.

With the result in question down the stretch, Kiely applauded his team with how they answered the questions posed of them with the substitutes once again playing their part.

“For the most part it was solid and that’s what I would describe it as. We did things reasonably well, our puckout was strong and we did well on theirs. Our use of the ball was efficient, we switched the wings and we got chances we took them. Second half we were good for the first 15/20 minutes but we dropped then and Galway were always going to come back against us then.

“There were questions asked of us then, ‘can we keep our composure, keep fighting?’ and we did. We won back a couple of balls. The lads coming off the bench made a difference and that always a positive.”

The question of the hand pass rule was also posed to Kiely who said how hard each team is trying to play by the rules with the speed of the game making it difficult to ascertain clarity.

“It’s a bit of what I’d call mad talk really. I think players, and I’m global in this, players are always trying their best to release the ball within the rules and it’s hard to do these things as fast as you possibly can and that’s what has brought the game to where it is. the game is so fast it’s hard for the referee to see and a very hard one to adjudicate on. I think Sean did a good job today, he pulled Seamus for one and he was 100% right.

“We are all trying hard in training as are every county I’m sure in getting quality in the contact, being definitive in our contact. We are working very hard to do it by the rule.”

It’s clear Limerick are working hard in all facets of their game and with Westmeath to come in 10 days time, they will have another chance to push closer to a league semi-final berth.

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