GAA
Mungret St Pauls head to the TUS Gaelic Grounds seven weeks after claiming county honours.
Mungret St Pauls will welcome Courcey Rovers to Limerick this Saturday as the pair face off in the Munster Intermediate Club Hurling Championship semi-final.
Mungret were dominant in winning the Limerick PIHC, beating Cappamore 4-17 to 1-12 in the decider at the end of October.
But that game will have occurred seven weeks previously by the time Mungret face Courceys with manager Liam Cronin discussing the lengthy break.
“A six week break at this time of year isn’t exactly ideal. We had huge momentum after winning the county title and it would have been an ideal scenario to move straight into a Munster campaign. But it is what it is, look the break is done now, we managed it as best we thought was possible and we are good to go for Saturday.”
The Limerick champions will face a formidable outfit in the form of Courcey Rovers who were crowned Cork kingpins three weeks ago in Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
They beat a fancied Castlelyons team in the final with Cronin highlighting the threat at hand.
“They’re a very good team. Certainly a step up form anything we have played this year as you’d expect being the Premier Intermediate Champions of Cork. Their workrate was excellent. They showed real heart to come back from eight points down. They’re going to pose a formidable threat for us on Saturday.”
And with Mungret being afforded the opportunity to play the game in Limerick, Cronin says there is a ‘feel good factor’ in the area as they venture into Munster for the first time in 15 years.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity and there’s a feel good factor in the club. There was a great night, the night of the final. Obviously it was huge for the players but also for the people involved it was great to celebrate with them. And everyone is certainly looking forward to going to the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday.”
Watch the interview in full with Cronin below.