'We lost and we said we would be defined by teams at this level' - Limerick's Billy Lee

LIMERICK football manager Billy Lee doesn't look for excuses but did accept the scoreboard didn't fully reflect his side’s footing in this Munster SFC semi final.

In the end there were eight points between Limerick and Cork but most would agree four was probably about a true reflection across almost 80-minutes of football in the LIT Gaelic Grounds on Saturday afternoon.

“I don’t think the scoreboard reflected the game against Waterford either so it’s swings and roundabouts. Football is a leveller and I didn’t think the result against Waterford wasn’t a reflection on Waterford and likewise you wouldn’t think they (Cork) would go on to win by eight points - we just got to keep working and keep striving,” said Lee at the end of his fifth season in charge.

“We lost and we said we would be defined by teams at this level.”

Two years ago Cork beat Limerick by 21-points at the same stage of the provincial championship.

“That’s a measure of how much we have moved on in the last two years because that happened below in Pairc Ui Rinn and the floodgates opened and they beat us a cricket score,” he recalled of another early goal setback.

“​We lost our goalkeeper who is a key member of our strategy and we absorbed it and the lad that went in it was his first ever game for Limerick and it was seamless and that’s what we are trying to do and it’s a real positive from today. He even stepped up and kicked a pressure ‘45,” he recalled.

There is a clear divide developing for footballing counties according to Lee.

“The result of last weekend would have told everyone that - there is a divide. League is the level you are at. We lost by eight points and people will say we were in the game - you get punished very fast when you take a step up in quality to better teams. Cork were a top Division Two team this year and we are top end of Division Three and there is your difference.”

The Limerick manager pin-pointed some areas where his side weren't at their best.

"Giving the ball away that bit easier when we were in attacking positions and trying to force it and then spending a lot of energy coming back defending. Cork can come back and defend and then attack in waves and that is something we have to try and work on - these lads are in great shape and they were tending to drop with cramp and whatever and that’s great credit to Adrian (O’Brien). It’s about decision making - you are playing more quality teams at this level and you are under more pressure mentally before you start and it’s about how you handle it."

Limerick trailed by five points at half time but couldn't get within four points in the second half despite some periods of sustained pressure.

"Getting close enough to strike doesn’t mean you will strike but we certainly had a couple of opportunities that might have closed the gap and gave us a bit more momentum but it wasn’t to be," Lee recalled.

Overall in 2021?

"Happy we upped it a level," he said.

"But I am pretty certain that level won’t keep us in Division Three next year so we have to keep moving forward. The work behind the scenes is really important so that when we have lads coming into the set-up that are pretty much almost ready to fight for a position. I don’t make apologies saying this but lads we bring in are just not physically level for the intensity of that. Some of our lads are playing inter-county football for six or seven years and they at times were struggling with the intensity that Cork were bringing. Ability gets you on the dance floor but strength and conditioning and mental capacity allows you to dance and we can’t lose sight at that."