LIMERICK’S Senior footballers will face Longford once more in the All Ireland qualifiers.
Maurice Horan’s men will travel to Glennon Brothers Pearse Park on Saturday June 29. (Throw in 7pm). Limerick defeated Longford at the same venue in last season’s qualifiers.
The tie, which ended Limerick 1-21, Longford 1-15 was decided after extra time. Limerick find themselves in the qualifiers after suffering a heavy defeat to Cork in the Munster championship quarter final.
With a full round of club championship games this weekend, Maurice Horan will be hoping that he has a full strength panel to choose from ahead of the clash on June 29. Corner forward Ian Ryan is still recovering from an ankle injury which has kept him out of the side since the league final win over Offaly back in April.
Ryan, who scored four points in last season’s win, is unlikely to return with the estimated time left on his recovery reported as being close to four weeks.
Limerick fans will be pleased with the draw, considering some heavy weights such as Tyrone, Armagh and Fermanagh were avoided. However, when speaking to PostSport this week, Limerick manager Maurice Horan was quick to dispel any thoughts of this being a good draw for Limerick.
“It’s a really tough draw for us. One of the toughest we could have gotten to be honest. This is my first time in the opening round of the qualifiers and as you listened to the draw you could just hear the big names coming out. Having to go to Pearse Park is not easy ask. We went up there last year and played in a really tight game. We won in extra time thanks to a late rally. We might just have caught Longford on the hop last season. They will not let that happen again.”
An away tie in the qualifiers is never easy and Limerick will face Glen Ryan’s Longford side in the knowledge that their last championship game against Cork did not end well. The round of club games this weekend, coupled with the break since the Cork clash might just be the right amount of time to heal the wounds of the 18 point championship defeat.
In other GAA news, the county senior hurling championship, sponsored by Hyundai Limerick Motor Centre, took the main stage last weekend.
County champions Kilmallock were pushed all the way by a hard fighting Ballybrown side. In the same group, Effin saw off Hospital Herbertstown to join Ballybrown on two points.
In Group 1, Ahane, by defeating Garryspilllane, look to have secured a quarter final spot. South Liberties and Croom played out a tight tussle, which saw the Liberties stay in touch with a one point win.
In Group 2, Doon provided the shock of the weekend by defeating Na Piarsaigh. The light blues will now face Patrickswell in the next round, knowing a win is a must for promotion.
Finally, in Group 3, Adare are in control after two wins from two, as Murroe Boher and Knockainey chase the leaders.
