WATCH | Aidan O’Connor “focused on the task at hand” as Kilkenny await in U20 Final

Limerick booked their place in this years All-Ireland Hurling Final after they defeated Tipperary in the final of the Munster Championship.

Diarmuid Mullins’s U20 Hurling squad clash with Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Final on Sunday May 22nd, the game will be televised on TG4 live from Semple Stadium.

Kilkenny first had to get past the challenge of Galway ahead of earning their place in the Leinster Final. The Cats defeated Waterford 1-13 to 0-15 in the decider which earned their place in the All-Ireland.

This will be the first time the two teams meet at the grade since 2017 where Limerick managed to get the better of their opponents 0-17 to 0-11. Mullins and his side will be hoping for a repeat of of their previous success against Kilkenny.

Limericks’ vice captain Aidan O’Conner has been a vital part of the U20’s season so far, his performance against Tipperary garnered praise from both fans and coaches alike. He earned the Man of the Match award after a nine point performance in the Munster Championship final.

With the final coming at the end of this week the excitement for both players and the fans is building.

“I’m really excited now you can see the weather now, its perfect conditions for hurling so all week we have just been trying to get relaxed and focus on the task at hand just to try get over Kilkenny next Sunday.”

Limerick had a difficult start against Clare as they secured the victory by just a point in the first game of the championship. Diarmuid Mullins and his side managed to put many worries at ease as they defeated Cork 1-25 to 1-19 in their second fixture.

Limerick began to close out their campaign with a 0-27 to 3-15 win against Waterford. Keeping with their semi-final form the Treaty men secured a 1-25 to 2-18 win against Tipperary while also claiming the Munster Championship.

“We know we started very slow against Clare our work rate just wasn’t really there, what did we score? 3-7 or something it just wasn’t good enough. The next day I’d say all our forwards scored and the subs that came on and got three or four scores it was a real squad performance, we needed that.

“The first day Cathal O’Neil; got 2-1 or 2-3 he dragged us out of that game and we don’t have him anymore so we just had to rely on everyone else to put in a shift and try and get a result. We have done that for the last three games thank god and everyone is chipping in with everything they have.”

The loss of Cathal O’Neill this season was a huge one to swallow, but his absence could make room for newer players to make a name for themselves out on the pitch.

“Since he is gone all through the other ages we have been relying on him to do all the scoring because he has always been the big name, but now that he is gone everyone has to take responsibility and just say everyone has a place in this team to stand up and get us over the line.

Watch the interview with O’Connor in full below.

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