SHORTLY after 8pm on Saturday June 4, 2011, Limerick senior football manager Maurice Horan gave a post match interview under the stand in the Gaelic Grounds.
The former Mayo footballer was lost for words trying to explain his sides 3-9 to 1-26 loss to Kerry in the Munster championship. His charges had just been taught a lesson in football by the 36 times All Ireland champions Kerry.
Eight weeks on and three qualifier wins later, Limerick will once more face Kerry in the Football Championship, this time in the All Ireland quarter final. The furthest Limerick football has been since 1896.
“We had several knocks before that Kerry game”, says Horan. “We lost John Galvin for the year, we had Jim O’Donovan, James Kelly, Stephen Kelly and Mark O’Riordan all carrying injuries going into that game. We were at sixes and sevens and we could not do what we wanted”.
The loss was a body blow at the time for the footballers. The team was full of debutantes and inexperienced players. The side had been missing several key players from previous years. Limerick looked dead and buried.
So, what happened? What has changed?
“There is nothing as hard as getting back up after a defeat in a Munster championship. In saying that though, the qualifiers are best suited to teams like Limerick. We have been on the go now for three weekends straight. This will be our fourth weekend out. That builds up massive spirit and camaraderie in the side. We have had three games to get ourselves right. You have to look at each one individually and go from there. We have five weeks off to get over some of our injuries. We needed that”
The quarter final show down against Kerry, (Sunday July 31 at 2pm in Croke Park) was set up by Limerick winning games against Offaly, Waterford and Wexford. The third game being seen by many as the game of the season so far.
Kerry await Limerick having dispatched Cork in the Munster Final in Killarney. The Kingdom have been on auto pilot this season. Former Limerick trainer Donie Buckley is now part of Kerry manager Jack O’Connor’s backroomt team and the hunger for success seems to have been restored to the Kingdom’s charges.
Many have already written off Limerick. That is nothing new. Speaking to journalists after last weekend’s win, Limerick stalwart Stephen Lavin has these words for Limerick’s critics.
“Screw all those people who have written us off, Martin McHugh saying we don’t deserve to be in the last eight, Pat Spillane saying we’re not a good enough team, sub-standard footballers – this win is a message to them. These guys haven’t a clue about Limerick football – what do they know about us? They don’t see us in the league, they don’t read the paper – none of those know what we’re about. But we know what Limerick football is about. There’s 30 of us there giving our all and we say, screw the papers, they never give us a chance. Well, we proved them all wrong today, and I hope everybody reads this because I’m sick to death of those people never giving us credit. They give their all, they do it for each other, they do it for Limerick. It’s all about character – you can go a long way with character. We showed what we’re made of today.”
“Football is an integral part of Stephen’s life” added Maurice Horan. “He was speaking from the heart there. These lads are as good as anyone left in the championship. That is why we are here”.
When asked if he ever thought that Croke Park was on the cards for this season, Horan was honest to the last.
“Croke Park seemed a million miles away in June. It is hear now. We are going there and it is just another pitch. Another game. We will be ready and the Limerick supporters deserve their time to shine. We are all really looking forward to the game. We know Kerry will punish any of our mistakes, but this is a chance at redemption. We owe this performance to ourselves and our supporters”
The game will be televised on RTE2 as well as being broadcast on Limerick’s Live 95fm. Can they do it?
