Limerick hurling manager John Kiely has identified his side’s second half comeback against Tipperary as his highlight of another momentous year.
Although Limerick got off to a less than stellar start in 2022 as they won two, drew one and lost two of their five Allianz League fixtures, by the time the championship came around the Treaty County were back to their best.
That wasn’t apparent in the first half of their Munster Championship final meeting with Tipperary however, as they trailed by 10 points at half time, but they came storming back in the second period to win by five points.
Kiely was speaking to the Irish Examiner and pinpointed that second half revival as perhaps the most significant moment in Limerick’s season.
John Kiely on the highlight of Limerick’s year.
“It’s an interesting one. Looking back on it, you could pick out individual performances that were exceptional, and individual moments of brilliance,” Kiely said.
“But from a team perspective I think the first 15-20 minutes of the second half against Tipperary in the Munster final was a really significant passage, a really significant period in the game.
“If we had not responded in the way we did, the way the boys did, the game could have been gone from us very quickly.
“It was great to see the boys trusted themselves and trusted the work they’d done, and found the energy to grab the game by the scruff of the neck — to take control of it, and to convert that control into scores.”
Here is the 2021 @PwCIreland All-Stars Hurling Team! ⭐
Well done to all who were nominated this year and congratulations to our award winners! #PwCAllStars @gaelicplayers pic.twitter.com/FsozebevsF
— The GAA (@officialgaa) December 9, 2021
The Treaty County show no signs of slowing down.
Limerick were by far the best team in the country this year, which was very evident in their rampant 16-point victory against Cork in the All-Ireland final.
12 Limerick players were included in this year’s All-Stars hurling team, smashing the previous record of nine, while Cian Lynch became just the second player to be named as the All-Stars hurler of the year on more than one occasion.
With a relatively young squad, there isn’t much reason to believe that Limerick won’t be just as good next year, as they look to lift the Liam McCarthy Cup for the third time in-a-row.
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