OPINION: Second half display was the most intense of 2023 - Shane Dowling

DID anyone else have that feeling at some stage throughout the first half of Saturday's All-Ireland hurling semi-final with Galway at Croke Park? Maybe, just maybe, Limerick's run was about to come to an end? I won't lie - I did.

When Kevin Cooney burst through the Limerick defence and Brian Concannon doubled on the handpass, I was waiting for the net to bulge.

Somehow it happened to hit Mike Casey's hurley. If that goes in, I’m not saying we would have lost the game, but it would have been so, so different. 2-12 to 1-7, the crowd are with you, the momentum is with you, and your mindset is totally different.
Instead, Darragh O'Donovan goes up the other end of the pitch and makes it a four-point game. From there until half-time Limerick took over. I did think in those opening 25 minutes that Limerick were a good bit off it.

Galway players receiving puck-outs in the middle of the field uncontested, line breaks, Cooney, Mannion, breaking through on goal. It was so uncharacteristic of Limerick.

I don’t want to make it sound so simplistic because we all know its not, but it really was a case that Limerick were not getting the challenges in. They were not getting the hits and I thought they were a bit lethargic.

Yes, maybe the four-week break was a factor, and at one stage in the first half, the All-Ireland semi-final of 2019 registered in my head. And if Concannon had got that goal, it may not have been a million miles away from it.

Much has been made of the Nickie Quaid moment. I don’t know what happened him, or the reasoning behind it, but it did make a massive difference.

The pace of the game slowed down, the momentum had slowed and it gave Limerick time to hit the reset button.
From that moment on, Limerick took over. I have to say in the first half also, the contrast in refereeing was off the charts. Early on, James Owens seemed to be blowing for everything.

You literally couldn’t touch somebody and the hand was up for advantage. Then, for some reason, half way through the first half, he changed that. That’s what’s most frustrating for a player.

Ref it one way or the other. Leave it go, or be finicky, but don’t be both. Especially, you can't change through the course of the game. It suited Limerick more when he left it go a bit. Any challenges they were putting in early doors were being punished.

And Evan Niland was slotting them all over. When half-time came I still didn’t know where we stood. I took confidence from the fact that without playing well, we were only a point down, and that Galway had thrown the kitchen sink and more and were just staying above water.

What really opened my eye was when I saw the spread of scorers. Limerick had 9 different scorers in the first half, while Galway just had four. Then I started taking some confidence. And when the second half started, Limerick just took over. While they took over, Galway were so bad.

You couldn’t but commend Henry Shefflin afterwards for his refreshing and honest interview after the game.

If I had to throw a guess at it, I would argue it was Limerick's most intense half of hurling all year. Or thereabouts, anyway. They were ferocious in the second half and relentless.

When the bench was emptied, it didn’t just stay as it was, I would say it increased.

The 73rd minute, everyone just waiting for the final whistle and Cathal O'Neill who covered nearly every inch of grass at the weekend when he came on, was back on his own 21 yard line getting in a number of tackles. And remember, doing all this without Declan Hannon or Sean Finn.

Yes, of course, Sean is going to miss the final. Declan - who knows at this stage? I'd imagine it will be tight anyway.

William O'Donoghue to number 6? I would argue his greatest attribute is out around the middle of the pitch, hunting for prey.

It's a bit harder to do that when you are a sitting at 6. But he got to terms with it and the game will bring him on no end if that’s where he finishes up again in the final.

Could you make the case Limerick are only improving this year even at this stage? Cian Lynch, with a game under his belt again, is a big plus. Anyway, we won't get carried away just yet.

Being totally honest, I saw Kilkenny in the Allianz League final against Limerick and I left thinking they were miles off it. After Sunday, I don’t believe that anymore.

Why? Match-ups and I will go through them all next week in the big game build up.