AS EVER genial Limerick captain Declan Hannon had the Green Army in the palm of his hand during his latest post Munster Senior Hurling Final speech, a veteran now on the mic as much as on the pitch.
In front of his adoring supporters, numbering in the region of 25,000, he courteously accepted the Mick Mackey Cup from provincial chairman Ger Ryan of Tipperary, who was alongside representatives of the championship’s various sponsors.
Hannon then thanked all those who needed to be thanked; manager, Clare, venue, Limerick Board, families and loved-ones, referee and his officials, sponsors (singling out the McManus family in particular) and the like, but, of course, the fans were foremost in his thoughts, for whom ecstatic pitch invasions have now become the norm.
The occasion was so reminiscent of Limerick’s defeat of Cork in the 2013 Munster Final at the same venue, when the sun shone all day and the home support again took not a blind bit of notice of the end-of-match stewards whose job it was to keep everyone in their seats.
“We’re so lucky to have all of you, the most fantastic supporters in all of Ireland,” Hannon said to deafening approval.
“I can assure you, none of us will tire of days like this. And I hope you will never tire of them either,” he added to even louder approval.
Addressing the deflated opposition, Hannon said: “I wish you all the best of luck for the rest of the championship and I would like to see you again.”
If this comes to pass, it will only be in the All-Ireland Final at Croke Park on July 23, provided, of course, both teams negotiate their way through tricky assignments over the next while.
Clare are into an All-Ireland quarter-final where the opposition will either be Carlow or Dublin, who meet at Dr Cullen Park on Saturday.
Limerick are on a month’s break before a semi-final outing at Croke Park on Saturday July 8.
That Limerick are directly through to the last four was down in no small part to the contribution of 1-11 from Aaron Gillane. He said modestly: “A lot of them were from frees and the others were put on a plate for me.”
Added the three-time All-Star: “This day is massive. Any day you win a Munster medal it’s absolutely unbelievable, no matter who many you have in a row or whatever. There are all as equally as special as each other. It’s a brilliant feeling, right now.”
On the eve of his 34th birthday, Nickie Quaid was amongst a plethora of Limerick stars on Sunday.
