Fintan O’Toole

TUESDAY night team releases are becoming an increasing rarity in GAA circles, but this week, Limerick bucked the trend by announcing their starting fifteen for next Saturday’s NFL Division 4 decider.
That final ranks well down the scale in the eyes of the GAA populace but the side that Limerick named was still significant. Limerick have flitted below the radar this spring with good news screaming out of every other lowly corner in Munster. Clare have had a concerted push for Division 4 promotion and Kilmurry-Ibrickane’s showing in the All-Ireland club decider to reflect on. Tipperary finally inscribed their name on the Munster U21 football roll of honour and saw High School Clonmel claim an All-Ireland Colleges crown for the county. And Waterford topped Division 4 to seal promotion after some agonising near-misses in recent years.
In recent years Limerick have mounted the strongest challenge to the Cork and Kerry duopoly in Munster, but there has been a burgeoning sense this spring that their stock is slipping and the other lower-tier counties have found theirs simultaneously rising. Limerick’s form at the basement level has been patchy despite being installed as heavy pre-season favourites to ascend to the top of the Division 4 pile. They dropped points against both Waterford and Wicklow, and indeed were it not for Westmeath referee Sean Carroll’s incorrect interpretation of the rules in Pearse Park in February, then Longford would have claimed Limerick’s scalp.
However Limerick’s form can be largely explained by a ruinous streak of injuries that have plagued them this spring. Which is where this weekend’s team selection comes into the equation. Limerick boss Mickey Ned O’Sullivan is finally able to pick along familiar lines. John Galvin is back ruling the roost at midfield, Ian Ryan is back firing bullets in attack and Padraig Browne is back in his natural habitat of the half-back line. Stephen Lucey is back in the squad as well and Saturday should be one of the last times this season that he occupies a place on the bench at the start of a match. In the absence of established stars though it’s been heartening how Jim O’Donovan has commanded midfield battles, how James Ryan has slipped effortlessly back into a football groove after a hurling sojourn last season and how exciting youngster Eoghan O’Connor gives them another option up front.
When their provincial dreams crumbled once more at the final hurdle last July, it was tempting to conclude that grief was going to be the default post-match emotion for this group of Limerick footballers. Yet when the draw was made for this summer’s Munster SFC, there was a different complexion painted for them. With Cork and Kerry stowed safely away in the opposite side of the draw, there exists a massive chance for them to get back to another final showdown. That draw must surely have enticed some of their older warriors back to the fold for another season. The hard grind of winter is now behind them, they’ve achieved promotion to Division 3 – regardless of how erratic they played this spring and can look forward to the summer with optimism.
Limerick want to send out a message that reinforces their status as the no. 3 team in Munster and that starts this Saturday.