WITH a second All-Ireland Hurling Champions final in as many years to look forward to on Sunday week, Limerick captain Declan Hannon remains level headed, focusing on the task at hand in preparation for the test of Cork.
John Kiely’s side have grown into their performances as the summer has moved on. The performance against Waterford last time out was a mature one but there were chinks in the armour in the games against Cork and Tipperary.
28-year-old Hannon knows that he and his teammates will have to be at the top of their game to win consecutive Liam McCarthy’s against a Cork side who saw off Kilkenny in extra-time to reach the final.
“They’ve taken serious momentum. They were fantastic against Kilkenny, there’s not many that have played Kilkenny in All-Ireland semi-finals and come out on the right side. We’ve found it difficult against Cork. Pace, skill, heart, work rate, they have it all. We’re going to have to be at our absolute best.”
Limerick will go in to the game as heavy favourites, following their fine form of recent years but the performance against the final opponents was far from convincing in the Munster semi-final a few months ago.
The Shannonsiders came out as winners on a 2-22 to 1-17 scoreline but Cork will rue a crazy few minutes that saw Kyle Hayes & Darragh O’Donovan raise the green flag right before the break when the sides were level at 0-10 to 1-7.
Hannon insists that the pressure of being champions is a factor but isn’t a major obstacle between Limerick and another All-Ireland title
“It is more difficult but it’s something you have to embrace. We’ve been long enough trying to get to this position so why not embrace it. Whoever performs on the day will come out the best but you have to enjoy the occasions as well,” the captain said.
The Tipperary half-time dressing room
Another pivotal moment in Limerick’s season was during the Tipperary game. The scoreboard was a shock to many as Liam Sheedy’s side deservedly led by a ten-point margin.
The dressing room at half-time would’ve been an interesting place to be but the Adare man insists a cool, calm and collected approach did the trick to spur the team on for what was left to salvage their season.
“It was quite calm, you’d be surprised to see just how calm it was if you were a fly on the wall in there. We just knew ourselves that we hadn’t shown up. We just needed to reset and get back into our game plan. We weren’t allowed to implement it in the first half.
“A few lads spoke, there’s great leaders in the dressing room. It was just about knuckling down and getting back to basics. There were no hurls being broken off tables or anything like that, I don’t know if that works anymore,” Hannon added.
A win on Sunday week would be the elusive two-in-a-row for Limerick but it’s business as usual for Limerick’s group of hurlers as you’d expect under the tutelage of John Kiely.
While it’s certainly a motivating factor, it’s not to the forefront of Hannon’s mind.
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