‘We just have to play a bit better’ insists Limerick hurling manager John Kiely

HENRY Shefflin’s Galway come to town next Saturday evening as the Limerick hurlers attempt to return to winning ways.

The TUS Gaelic Grounds tie will be the first time that John Kiely’s men in green have played a home game without Covid-19 crowd restrictions since March 2020. The hurling heroes have won two All-Ireland SHC titles, two Munster SHC titles and an Allianz League since that March 2020 clash with Waterford.

However, the task at hand on Saturday will be a return to winning ways.

“We just have to play a bit better next week and that’s the bottom line,” said manager John Kiely’s after Sunday’s round one defeat to Wexford.

“It is never easy coming down here and we have to rebound and bounce back next week. We will work hard in training and get ready for Saturday night,” he stressed after the 1-11 to 0-11 loss.

“That was a really, really tight game and I suppose a goal was always going to be a huge score in a game like that and Wexford got that goal and it gave them that bit of breathing space with the breeze and it forced our hand to maybe go for goals after that,” outlined the Limerick manager.

“Lots of aspects of our game were very good - I thought we defended really, really well and used the ball coming out of defence really well. We were under a lot of pressure there at times and Wexford worked exceptionally hard and were right in our face from the get go and they were good value for their win at the end of the day.”

He continued: “It’s hard to put your finger on it immediately after the game - we didn’t get enough flow going, enough passing going and I think that continuity from the middle third into our finals third - the ball broke down on too many occasions in that sector”.

Limerick started with nine of the line-up from the Croke Park All-Ireland final last August with All-Stars like Kyle Hayes, Sean Finn and Darragh O’Donovan among the unused substitutes. 2021 Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch was rested due to his commitments in the Fitzgibbon Cup with NUIG.

“Graeme Mulcahy is back in training on Tuesday night but he will need a couple of weeks to get up to speed. We have what we have and we are quite happy with what we have - we just have to play a bit better next week and that’s the bottom line,” said Kiely.