IT may not have been pretty, but a win is a win. Those are the words which best describe Limerick’s Munster Senior Football Championship win over Waterford last Sunday afternoon.The win sees Maurice Horan’s men set up a semi final tie with Clare on June 9th at the Gaelic Grounds with a 7pm throw in.
“We are delighted with the win obviously” commented Limerick Manager Horan. “It can be hard sometimes to play to your potential in the first round of the championship. Everything is building up to 15.30 on May 20th that you can look a little clueless from the start. It was frustrating in the first half because we were doing things that we said we wouldn’t do. We managed to get in at half time and we chatted about changing things around a little. That did help” added the Mayo native.
Help it did as Limerick held Waterford scoreless in the second half. The win, which was greatly needed for Limerick, following last seasons loss to Kerry in the first round, came with some room for improvement.
“You will have always have something to improve on. It’s only if you win the All Ireland that you can stop and not worry about improvement. Clare will have been watching that game there today and they won’t fear us at all. They will be looking forward to taking us on here at home”.
The 2-12 to 0-7 win for Limerick came with a lot of positives. Stephen Lucey and Stephen Kelly managed to get some game time, having missed a lot of the league through injury. Eoin Barry tasted inter county football for the first time, while Tom Lee and Paul Kinnerk managed to play their way into the midfield battles.
Speaking of midfield, it looks as if the June 9th semi final against Clare is going to come too early for John Galvin. The Croom star, who is still struggling with a cruciate knee ligament injury is taking each week as it comes and with rehab now on track, the talismanic mid-fielder is expected to return in mid June.
One player who is flying fit and looking fresh as ever is Adare clubman Stephen Lavin. The half back excelled once more on Sunday last. Lavin agrees however, there is room for improvement.
“We are delighted with the win. We did not work hard enough in the first half. This game is all about work rate. We were slightly better in the second half, but if we do not increase the work rate we will not be beating any other sides this season and that is a fact. Maurice spoke to us at half time about getting the lead out and making sure that our decision making is better. That is a great game to get under out belts and we will improve”
