Limerick footballer Paul Maher relishing challenge of facing Cork in the Munster SFC

LIMERICK'S Division 3 Allianz Football League campaign may have been disappointing, but Paul Maher is happy that the team gets the chance to quickly get back on the horse in Sunday's championship opener with Cork this weekend.

Despite some very near misses, Limerick ultimately lost all seven of their group fixtures in Division 3 and will be playing their football in Division 4 next season.

However, defender Maher is pleased to have the opportunity to switch focus quickly to the start of the 2024 Munster senior football championship.

Paul Maher said: “It is no secret that we lost a lot of players from last year. When that happens it is a kinda changing of the guard. We have a great influx of young talent coming in. It takes time to get used to this level.

“I think it was a steep learning curve for a lot of the players who came in this year. Of course as we all know sport can be very unforgiving and it doesn't really give you much time to prepare yourself for it.

“We took every game as it came in the league, we were unlucky in a few of them not to get results, but it is done with now, we've drawn a line under the league.”

Just two weeks after their final league outing against Offaly in Tullamore, the Shannonsiders begin their 2024 championship campaign next weekend. Maher is looking forward to the challenge.

“My own perspective would be, ‘let's get back on the horse’. I was never one for just sitting around and dwelling on it. We are going to be working hard over the next couple of weeks, getting ready for championship. Championship just brings its own edge as we all know, we are going to have to be really prepared for that.”

While Limerick finished bottom of Division 3 in the league, Sunday's opponents Cork claimed a mid-table finish in Division 2, winning three and drawing one of their seven league fixtures.

The Leesiders, boosted by home advantage, will start Sunday's quarter-final as firm favourites to advance to a Munster semi-final meeting with Kerry on April 20.

However, Adare club man Maher is looking forward to taking on ‘the Rebels.’

“We are well used to being underdogs. We enjoy it,” Maher said.

“We enjoy being written off. Look, we know Cork, we've had some serious battles with them over the last few years, so we know exactly what they are going to bring and we just have to match it. You do all that hard training over the winter months to get to this time of the year. Now it is finally come around you can feel that excitement is coming in because you know championship is just around the corner.

“The ground is firming up, the days are getting longer, that buzz is back around the place, you can feel that in the camp as well.”

Accomplished defender Maher is a graduate of the University of Limerick, doing his undergrad in Business, where he specialised in Marketing, before returning to do a Masters in International Management and Global Business.

During his time at UL, Maher captained a star-studded Sigerson Cup team that included top inter-county players, including Kerry's David Clifford, Cork's Sean Powter, Mayo's Eoghan McLoughlin and Clare's Emmet McMahon, among others.

Reflecting on that period, Maher said: “It was one of the best experiences of my life playing with the UL team. There weren't very many Limerick players on it, myself, John Hayes and Ronan McElligott from Mungret.

“In terms of quality from other counties we had a really wide spread of fellas from the likes of Kerry, Mayo, Cork, Clare and a few others.

“It was a group of individuals that really came together and formed a really solid team that year that was unlucky in the final not to win it. In terms of experiences and a learning curve, it was massive for me personally.”

So what was it like to captain a side with David Clifford in it? “Everyone knows David (Clifford) is one of the best players to ever play the game. He will probably finish his career as the greatest ever if he keeps going at the rate he is going.

“In fairness to him that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to him. He is an absolute gent and he was a brilliant team mate for everyone. For myself as captain, he was incredibly helpful to me, always there for advice or a chat if I wanted to ask him something. He was great to have around that year.

“And it wasn't just David, you had Donal O'Sullivan from East Kerry as well, vice-captain that year, Sean Powter, Eoghan McLaughlin, Emmet McMahon, from Clare, there were leaders all over the pitch.”

UL ultimately came up short in their bid to win the Sigerson Cup in 2022, losing out 0-12 to 1-6 to NUI, Galway in the final.

However, highly-rated Limerick defender Maher says the experience of playing in the competition has really stood to him.