Limerick's Cian Lynch: 'The competition within the squad is class'

MAN of the Match Cian Lynch described the competition within the Limerick senior hurling squad as 'class' after the holders extended their winning start to Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League with a 0-26 to 3-16 victory over Tipperary at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.

Two-time Hurler of the Year Lynch chipped in with two crucial points from play on his first start for John Kiely's charges in their Division 1B league campaign of 2024.

Patrickswell clubman Lynch, who was awarded the RTE Man of the Match accolade after the content, said the fierce competition for places within the Limerick squad continues to drive players.

Lynch, who captained Limerick on the night, told RTE Sport: "It's brilliant. This time of year we are training hard the last two months and lads are pushing each other. This man beside me (Donnacha O'Dálaigh) is pushing the barrier every night we are training. 

"It is about the rest of us trying to keep up with him and keep pushing him as well. I am just grateful. I know we are down here in Cork, beautiful stadium and to get a result, it was a good game, a tough battle. There are plenty of battles to go yet.

"There is a good batch of new lads after coming in this year from 18-24 and pushing the likes of yourselves who are there the last few years. That is what you need, you need freshness and you need lads tp keep pushing. The competition there is class. 

"We just love going training, love playing matches and enjoy every bit of it."

One of the younger squad members, Monaleen clubman Donnacha O'Dálaigh, caught the eye once more scoring three points from play in the derby clash.

O'Dálaigh told RTE: "It is just a pleasure to play with these boys here, on a night like this in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in front of a good crowd. Scores were obviously hard to come by there in the first half, but once we got our game going and got hands on ball, we started probably making better decisions on the ball, we pushed on. It is a pleasure to play with these boys. 

"Having lads with experience there, following on from these guys, copying what they are doing, reset, we knew we trusted the process that is put there for us and we just drove on and got the win there."