“We have to keep striving to make incremental improvements week to week” | Kiely happy with Clare win but insists there is work to do

The win puts Limerick third in the table, behind Cork, who were victorious over the Shannonsiders in the opening round and Clare who pip the Treaty on scoring difference.

It was a case of Limerick at their All-Ireland winning best for the majority of last Saturday’s National League win over Clare in the TUS Gaelic Grounds.

John Kiely’s men had the first three scores of the evening and led from pillar to post with Donnacha O’Dalaigh’s 67th minute goal had the Shannonsiders 13-points clear.

But a late Clare surge put some respectability on the scoreline as they grabbed six of the final seven scores with David Reidy netting late on.

Reflecting on the game, Kiely said he was pleased to get off the mark with their first win of the league campaign but insists there are improvements to be made.

“Happy with the win, happy with the two points, happy with 58 minutes of the performance. It was solid, we controlled the game for large periods. The last 10/12 minutes we lost our shape, leaked 1-5 so disappointed with that. Last week we were disappointed with the entirety of the second half, this week the last ten minutes so it’s an improvement and that’s what we’re looking for.

“We have two weeks to the next game and it will give us time to get a body of work done and hopefully we can be a better team in two weeks’ time.”

The win puts Limerick third in the table, behind Cork, who were victorious over the Shannonsiders in the opening round and Clare who pip the Treaty on scoring difference following their hefty win over Westmeath.

It also means they are within one point of their total from 2022 where they mustered only a solitary win to go with their draw over Clare in Ennis. That win came against Joe McDonagh Offaly with the eventual All-Ireland champions losing to Wexford, Cork and Galway.

As such, Limerick look a far improved team from 12 months ago but Kiely was slow to agree insisting that they need to find “incremental improvements” week on week.

“We didn’t look like we were streets ahead last week and we didn’t look like that in the last 12 minutes tonight so we have a load of work to do. We’re looking ahead and seeing how good we can be next weekend the week after. We have to keep striving to make incremental improvements week to week and that’s the challenge.”

However, he was more than pleased by the sides goal that saw three relative newcomers combining to put the final nail in the Clare coffin.

Man of the match Micheal Houlihan started the move with a delightful flick over his shoulder to Adam English who traveled the length of the field before firing a pin point pass to O’Dalaiagh who bagged his first goal for Limerick.

Kiely praised all involved but said moves like it need to be replicated more often with fringe players taking their chances.

“They did the right thing, the movement was good by both, The break by Adam and Donnacha peeled into space and allowed the man to be drawn in. Made himself available and finished well. We have to do that more often but at the same time it was encouraging.

Limerick return to action on Sunday week in Pearse Stadium where they face Henry Shefflin’s Galway who were victorious in their 2022 league meeting.

Please accept YouTube cookies to play this video. By accepting you will be accessing content from YouTube, a service provided by an external third party.

YouTube privacy policy

If you accept this notice, your choice will be saved and the page will refresh.

Accept YouTube Content