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Irish Independent
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
Colm Keys: Dublin deserve all the credit for biggest shock but Limerick really took their eye off the ball
Less than two minutes into Saturday's All-Ireland SHC quarter-final, Limerick's Aaron Gillane stood over a free 35 metres out to the left side of the Hill 16 end goals.
Irish Times
23-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
TV View: Dublin deliver shock of the season to leave us all bewildered
Liam Sheedy put it best on The Saturday Game. If after watching Limerick beat Cork by 16 points you suggested that just five weeks later they'd be knocked out of the championship by a Dublin side down a man after 14 minutes, you'd have been sent to a home for the bewildered. Did you ever see the like? And be honest now, how many of you went out for some sun after Chris Crummey was sent off, making the assumption that, thereafter, Dublin would be pulverised? If it wasn't for the need to drop back indoors for another bottle of Factor 100, we'd have been none the wiser about what was unfolding, Darragh Maloney and Brendan Cummins' hollers on the telly alerting us to the drama. The new batch of freckles could wait. The Dubs, somehow, were three points up at the break, Joanne Cantwell's Gaelic Grounds-based panel mightily impressed by their efforts. But as Dónal Óg Cusack noted, 'can you imagine what's being said in the Limerick dressingroom?' READ MORE Exactly. Fireworks. So, the Dubs' delirium would be short-lived, Limerick would step it up a gear or eight in the second half, normal service would be resumed, and that'd be that for the plucky underdogs. Except, as Darragh asked after those two Dublin goals in a minute, 'WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?' You know the way sport can, occasionally, leave your jaw on the floor? This was one of those days, nothing more jaw-dropping than Seán Brennan denying Aaron Gillane that goal, there ending the save-of-the-season competition. By then, Hill 16 had filled up with the football crew who had arrived for Dublin's meeting with Cork , when at the start of the game there'd have been space to lay out a heap of picnic blankets and sun loungers. 'And how many times have we seen Dublin football followers drifting in to see a Dublin hurling team get the last rites,' asked Dónal Óg come full-time. On this occasion, they had been administered to Limerick's 2025 championship hopes. It was, in a word, sensational . Later in the evening, Damian Lawlor wondered if it was hurling's Séamus Darby moment. At the very least, 'is this the greatest day in Dublin hurling history and one of the greatest results in GAA history,' he asked Liam Rushe. 'Yeah, it's definitely up there,' he said, although he reminded Damian that the county had a few All-Ireland titles to its name. Mind you, only those pushing 90 would remember the last one. Rushe experienced a fair sprinkling of good days in the Dublin shirt too, but not too many saw this one coming. 'To think this morning I was at training and people were asking me would we cover the 12 point handicap,' he laughed. 'An absolutely massive shock.' Rare auld times indeed. Back at the Gaelic Grounds, Tipp and Galway's supporters were celebrating Limerick's demise while waiting for their own counties to square up, Galway following Limerick out the championship exit door come full-time. 'It was all a little bit flat,' said Joanne. 'Jeez, I don't often say this Joanne,' Dónal Óg sighed, 'but thanks be to God that's over'. It had, though, a hard act to follow. A view of the pitch ahead of the Lions v Argentina at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho If the Dubs fought like lions, the Lions were, well, a bit kitten-like on Friday night, Argentina ruining their big Australia send-off . And TG4 and Sky had given the game the mother of all build-ups too, Donal Lenihan among a string of folk who popped up on TG4 to reflect on their touring memories. It was only recently that he was rummaging around his attic, probably looking for Christmas tree lights, when he found not one but four boomerangs that he didn't even know he had. But sure, which one of us doesn't have four boomerangs in the attic? Not many, mind, brought them back from Australia after winning the 1989 series. Sky's team is exceptionally excited about this tour. 'All three tests are live on Sky Sports – just saying it makes you tingle,' as commentator Miles Harrison put it during their four hours of coverage of an 80 minute game. And the 'destination' of the current crop of Lions, asserted Will Greenwood, was 'a place in sporting history'. That might be arguable, seeing as they won in Australia before. Real sporting history would be, say, the Dubs doing the Double. If you'd even mentioned that possibility before Saturday afternoon, your address would, yes, now be: 'The Home for the Bewildered'.
Irish Examiner
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Ó Ceallacháin:' We knew they wouldn't fold, we knew we'd be in it'
A most remarkable afternoon at Croke Park. Outsiders, written-off, looked on as a run-out for Limerick – Dublin didn't read the script. Indeed, they failed to revert into their shell when captain Chris Crummey was dismissed after just fifteen minutes. Their two more recent quarter-finals were forgettable afternoons. Thumped by Clare in 2023, their radar was one of their main issues when they succumbed to Cork 12 months ago – but they have a new man in charge. Niall Ó Ceallacháin doesn't read scripts, and if he does, he tears them to shreds. Na Fianna, All-Ireland Club Champions in the early spring, and now they've knocked out Limerick – a side fancied by so many to reach the final, once again. 'Very proud. It is a complicated game – but it was just character that won that game. So many things against us, absolutely written off by ye (the media) and everyone else. To go down a man in those conditions after 15 minutes, I would have to be just so proud of the lads', explained the Dublin Bainisteoir. Short their launchpad, Crummey, it was not something anybody would plan for 'We obviously prepare for a lot of scenarios, but we just prepare from a set-up perspective, so we just know what we are at from that point of view. In the case of inter-county hurling, there is only a certain amount of preparation you can do. 'You need to physically be able to do it and stay at it for that period (of time), so for the boys to stay at it and have the lads in that shape. But most of it is deep in your stomach, to have that character and the will and hunger to do it – that it what we are proud of.' Just before the two game-changing, and game-winning goals, the Treaty snuck ahead. 'I've no doubt that the expectation would have been that Limerick would settle into their stride and go three, four or five points up but that underestimates is the character that is in our dressing room. We knew the lads wouldn't falter, a lot happens in a game, we knew they wouldn't fold, we knew we'd be in it.' Seán Brennan, the Cuala netminder, who has returned to the side, denied Aaron Gillane when the net seemed likely to ripple again, 'It is a huge moment, the lad striking the ball (Aaron Gillane), is a good a striker of the ball as there is. These are the big moments in big games, it could easily have went the other way. In any game at this level, there are big moments, Sean was brilliant. A squad that is building, albeit seemed slowly during the Leinster Championship, have now arrived. They'd won the games they were expected to win, but now they've delivered something only they expected. 'The whole thing means a hell of a lot to them (the squad). They are a very well-connected group, they are very close is what I'd say, they have each other's backs, it means a lot to them and they look out for each other. In the chaos of what happens out there you need to know that the lads have your back – and they do." 'To answer honestly, it probably hasn't sunk in. I get it, Limerick for what they are, and what they've won, going down to 14, it is an incredible achievement. In our minds, there are four games here, there are two down and two to go," explained the Na Fianna clubman, coldly. 'We are out again in two weeks time, I don't mean to state the obvious, but we will park this in the morning. That's not to understate the day that is in it, I totally understand that but this will be long forgotten if we don't follow through in two weeks time.' Dublin are now just 70 minutes short of a first All-Ireland Hurling final since 1961.
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
From the glorious chaos of the Gaelic Grounds, the Rebels rise again
Everything about it was staggering: the suffocating intensity, the twists, the spectacular scores and the crazy misses. Cork and Limerick were locked in a clench from teatime until shortly before bedtime and neither of them knew how to let go. The longest night in the history of the Munster Championship ended with a penalty shoot-out and a season set ablaze. Hallelujah. After being eviscerated by Limerick in the round-robin phase, Cork reclaimed everything they had lost three weeks ago. All the doubts about their temperament and their stomach for the fight were obliterated. This group of Cork players couldn't afford to fall over again. They stood up to everything Limerick could muster. The cruelty of penalties is a modern phenomenon in the GAA. For an epic contest such as this to be decided by such a capricious tiebreaker is a function of the condensed calendar and, no doubt, there will be another chorus of dissent. There should be. In the event, Limerick's third and fourth penalties missed the target; in between Alan Connolly buried a penalty with characteristic panache. After nearly 100 minutes, that was the only difference. READ MORE The psychological capital for Cork is incalculable. After their late collapse in Ennis and their abject surrender in the Gaelic Grounds three weeks ago, there were widespread doubts about Cork's credentials as serious contenders. This performance was the only credible answer. Aaron Gillane scores a late point for Limerick. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho The teams were level 17 times in all, but it was Cork who found the equaliser at the end of normal time and at the conclusion of extra-time. Limerick had chances to finish the game in 70 minutes, but Darragh O'Donovan dropped a shot short and Aaron Gillane missed a free from an acute angle. Cork had earned their reprieve. For Limerick there is an obvious cost. For the first time since their breakthrough season in 2018 they must navigate a quarter-final in a fortnight's time, and for an ageing team that is a tax they would prefer not to pay. John Kiely has never made any secret of his fondness for the month long break granted to provincial winners but they must do without it now. At various times in the second half of normal time, when they were playing with the wind, it looked like Limerick would assert control and kick on. But they couldn't. Cork's four-point half-time lead was wiped out in just 11 minutes, but from there until the finish they never led by more than a point. In normal time they managed just 28 shots from play when they would usually expect to register that many scores, or more. When Cork beat them in the round-robin game in Páirc Uí Chaoimh 13 months ago they were the first team to have more shots than Limerick in the Kiely era. Here, they exceeded Limerick's total by eight shots. For Limerick, a team whose potency is built on volume, this was a massive systems failure. Primary possession had been a massive problem for Cork three weeks ago, but that core issue was successfully addressed too. Cork won 59 per cent of their own puck-outs and restricted Limerick to 62 per cent on their own ball; that game that a platform to compete. Cork's Tommy O'Connell in action against Limerick's Barry Nash. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho The biggest difference, though, was Cork's aggression and abrasiveness and relentlessness. From the start they stood in the middle of the ring and traded body blows. They were ravenous for turnovers and flew into contests for ball on the ground. This was the fundamental stuff that Pat Ryan has demanded from this group for the last three years but had been so painfully absent three weeks ago. Cian Lynch was hounded by the outstanding Ciaran Joyce and a posse of lieutenants. Diarmaid Byrnes was tormented by Seamus Harnedy, just as he was in the game 13 months ago, and eventually the Limerick wing back was taken off. Kyle Hayes was magnificent in the opening 20 minutes, but by half-time Shane Barrett had scored 1-3 from play on his watch, and for the remainder of the game Hayes was just another bamboozled mortal, going around with his tongue hanging out like everybody else. In a game like this, with both teams going at each other like rutting stags, the referee was bound to be part of the story. Members of both management teams made a bolt for Tomas Walsh as he left the field at half-time and ended up getting stuck in each other. There was pushing and jostling and jawing and shaping and all of it was out or order. It was clear during the first half, though, that both managers had become increasingly wound up by Walsh's refusal to penalise obvious fouls – or at least when it suited them. The fourth official and the linesman on the Mackey Stand side were on the receiving end of constant feedback and hot takes. Limerick's Cian Lynch after the game. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Just like Brian Cody's Kilkenny years ago, Kiely's Limerick are usually sanguine about matches where the physical contact is unregulated and Cork clearly came to the Gaelic Grounds with the stomach for a battle. Walsh granted permission for illegal contact all over the field and both teams flaked away. In these situations, though, everyone loves the spectacle until they're gasping for a free and there's an unpenalized foul in front of the goal for an offence that had also gone unpenalized in the middle of the field. For Cork's first goal, Brian Hayes and Patrick Horgan were both mangled by Limerick defenders, but Walsh's hand wasn't raised for an advantage before Shane Barrett whipped the ball to the net. There were no laws in the jungle. Walsh booked four players in the first 10 minutes of the second half but there was no end to the viral fouling. It would have been the most delicious of ironies if the game had been decided by a free, but Gillane's effort from an acute angle in the fourth minute of stoppage time flew wide of the far post. Limerick will feel like they blew it, which is the same feeling they had against Cork twice last year. The wheel has turned again.
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Munster SHC final: Limerick look too far ahead to be caught on this occasion
Munster GAA SHC final Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, Saturday, 6pm If the intrigue surrounding the counties' earlier meeting centred on how convincingly Limerick could regain their form of old and how successfully their opponents could iron out troubling inconsistencies in their performances to date, the resolution made tough viewing for Cork . READ MORE The champions got back within shouting distance of their pomp with as good a display as any since the 2023 All-Ireland. Cork, however, were a ghost of the rampaging unit that had swept to the league title only weeks previously. For Saturday, the question for Pat Ryan's team is not so much whether they can rediscover the defiance, cuteness and aggression that so bothered Limerick last year but whether they will even be in a position to do so, given injury problems. Lingering doubts about the sustainability of the champions' explosive performance will have to be addressed. To what extent did they simply unburden the frustrations and resentment at last year's 'drive for five' being unceremoniously derailed? Such an interpretation – that fury spent, Limerick will revert to the mean of this year's performances – would be wishful thinking. The scale of their domination was jaw-dropping. From Nickie Quaid 's laser-guided puck-outs, which never relented – to the ruin of Cork, who frequently did – to the buccaneering Aaron Gillane up front, they were in irresistible form. There is every chance of some drop-off, but will that facilitate a turnaround? To get where they posed such a formidable challenge, Cork needed an optimal blend of tactics, attitude and personnel. Taking on the champions' half backs took brave puck-outs and a taste for attrition as well as the sharpness of Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly on the inside forward line. Declan Dalton and Séamus Harnedy did the primary battling but three weeks ago, they managed just 43 minutes between them after the former was taken off injured in the eighth minute and is still missing. There is further difficulty for them in the reconstituted power of the Limerick half backs. In last year's All-Ireland semi-final, they managed to keep the ball out of Kyle Hayes's orbit, but his switch to centre back, facilitated by the composure and clinical distribution of Barry Nash moving to number seven, restored the formidable platform of the whole line. Darragh Fitzgibbon needs to get back to the form of last year's All-Ireland semi-final and Cork will have to improve on retrieving fewer than half of their puck-outs. Cork's Tim O'Mahony and Brian Roche struggle for possession with Cian Lynch of Limerick. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho There are complementary problems at the back. The Downeys were a powerful axis last year and even allowing for a slight downturn this season, the main damage has been Rob's injury. Ciarán Joyce has performed far more effectively on the wing than when operating centrally and with Cian Lynch conjuring on the 40, a solution is needed. On top of that, the old firm of Gearóid Hegarty and Tom Morrissey were back on the prowl, zipping around and scoring 0-8 from play at wing forward, half of the winning margin. Lynch, though, is at the heart of the champions' best play. Manager John Kiely said in reference to his captain that the best coaching allows for great players' spontaneity. After the recent victory over Cork, he eulogised: 'I think Cian got the thing off to a really great start with his presence of mind in that first two minutes. He could see it and when the first couple get going, it encourages everybody to follow suit. Our use of the ball was very, very good.' The other dog that hasn't been barking is Cork's goalscoring. Gordon Manning compiled on these pages the figures for the season to date , showing that Pat Ryan's team has outscored their opponents by 27-8 so far. But going into the previous contest three weeks ago, the disparity was the same, 24-5, and still, Limerick outscored them by three goals to one. Brian Hayes, their chief goal creator, was well marked by Dan Morrissey the last day and Connolly and Pat Horgan struggled to make their own arrangements. Cork's most pressing anxiety isn't so much that they allowed Limerick such latitude last month but that, for all their fire-breathing, goalscoring of the past 12 months, they have in fact been wearing the emperor's new clothes. Redress is essential. Verdict : Limerick Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Barry Nash; Adam English, Will O'Donoghue; Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Aidan O'Connor, David Reidy. Subs : Shane Dowling, Peter Casey, Colin Coughlan, Seamus Flanagan, Declan Hannon, Barry Murphy, Shane O'Brien, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh, Darragh O'Donovan, Patrick O'Donovan, Cathal O'Neill. Cork: Patrick Collins; Damien Cahalane, Eoin Downey, Seán O'Donoghue; Cormac O'Brien, Ciarán Joyce, Mark Coleman; Tim O'Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Diarmuid Healy, Shane Barrett, Seamus Harnedy; Patrick Horgan, Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes. Subs : Brion Saunderson, Niall O'Leary, Rob Downey, Tommy O'Connell, Ethan Twomey, Luke Meade, Shane Kingston, Jack O'Connor, Brian Roche, Robbie O'Flynn.
