John Kiely rightfully gloating after Limerick end-of-era discourse
Limerick are targeting an impressive seven-in-a-row after winning just one provincial title in the 20 years before Kiely took over as manager.
Being a part of so many Munster hurling finals in recent years has given Kiely memories that will live long in his head. He specifically recalls being on the team coach two years ago going up Ennis Road.
Kiely said: “Outside the Greenhills Hotel, there were 5,000 or 6,000 Clare supporters and we drove through them and it would make the hair stand in the back of your neck. It was just an incredible moment. You looked up the road and there were about 10,000 Limerick supporters coming out against you.
He added: “In any other society, war would have broken out.”
Their emotional victory over the Rebels last month delivered a bounce-back for Limerick, following disappointment at missing out on a fifth Liam MacCarthy in a row last year.
The 53-year-old was glad to see the back of 2024 as he felt the noise from talk about a five-in-a-row was all that came from people.
The Treaty manager said: “It was almost the first line at Mass – ‘We’ll pray for the five-in-a-row and we’ll move on to the more important matters of life and death’. So it’s definitely no harm that it’s finished with. It would have been lovely to do it, of course it would, but such is sport and we move on to the next challenge.”
The hype of that achievement was quickly replaced by discourse over whether Limerick’s golden era had run it’s course. Kiely is aware of this narrative and believes this Munster campaign has shown people his team’s response to this.
He said: “Maybe that narrative is out there. Or was out there.
“And I think that narrative has been debunked now.”
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