John Kiely “really happy with the attitude of the players” as new look Limerick side fall just short of Cork

Limerick have been crowned Munster Hurling League champions three times during Kiely’s tenure in charge but will relinquish their title after Sunday’s narrow loss.

Limerick returned to competitive action after a six-month layoff on Sunday as they were narrowly beaten by Cork in the Munster Hurling League.

John Kiely’s men led in injury time but Cork had the final two points of the afternoon to move into this weekend’s decider.

Limerick played with a relatively experimental squad, with four debutants named from the start and three more making their first appearance from the bench. Nonetheless, Limerick continued in the style we have become accustomed to with the new faces making their mark immediately as referenced by Kiely.

“Very good competitive game. Both teams really went after it and wanted the victory. Very little between the teams throughout, Cork just got those scores in the end to squeeze it out.

“Really happy with the attitude of the players today, I thought they worked extremely hard, battled for everything and we have a few young lads who joined last year and this year onto the pitch, they got some good game time and it’s a fantastic experience for them to have.

“I’m very happy with the entire group. I think everybody contributed today, It’s just a good omen for us from an attitude perspective. If we can build on that now going forward, I think we’ll be very happy with that.”

15 January 2023; Rob Downey of Cork in action against Shane O’Brien of Limerick during the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League Group 2 match between Cork and Limerick at Páirc Ui Rinn in Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

The game came shortly after the panel returned from their All-Ireland winning holiday with the majority of the All-Ireland winning team rested. Kiely outlined how Limerick had a block of training prior to the trip but did admit it wasn’t ideal preparation for the game.

However, he was happy with the attitude shown by the players as they just fell at the death.

“You haven’t a lot of hurling done, you’re kind of going into it blind in a way but from what I saw I’m very very happy with the lads, the way they engaged with the day, their attitude was superb throughout. We created a lot of scoring chances, didn’t take them all, but I’m not worried about that now, it’s about creating chances.”

Yet, there is plenty to do as Limerick will be focused on retaining Munster and All-Ireland titles they have held since 2020.

“But there’s a lot to do.”

John Kiely

Kiely also provided an update on Hurler of the Year duo Cian Lynch and Diarmaid Byrnes, with the latter traveling and the former back in full training after a year dogged by injuries.

Limerick have Kerry this Sunday in Tralee in Austin Stack Park in their final Munster Hurling League contest.


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