Limerick Post Sports Blog all the sports not fit to print

Why bother, when the odds are against you?

AFTER five minutes of last weekend’s All Ireland Round four football qualifier between Cork and Limerick, all of the 10,036 in attendance, knew one thing. Cork were going to win.
Limerick’s talisman John Galvin was felled inside the small rectangle by his Cork marker. The Croom midfielder was tackled in a way that would be more suited to the international series in October, (The next big game in the Gaelic Grounds, thanks to the GAA). Referee Padraig Hughes (pictured) from Armagh blew his whistle. The home crowd jumped with joy. The Cork defender, Aidan Walsh, hung his head in hands. It was a penalty, if ever a penalty was seen.

The whistle, to the amazement of the crowd, the entire assembled media, the fans at home watching on TV, the Cork bench, the Limerick bench, the dogs on the street and the 30 players on the pitch, was for a free out. When John Galvin asked the referee, “How was that a free out?”, the referee replied, “You dived”

If we are good enough we will win – Micky Ned

CORK footballers stand between Limerick and the last eight of the All Ireland series. For the fifth time in five years the near neighbours will meet in the championship, this time, in the qualifiers.
In a repeat of last year’s Munster football final, Cork and Limerick face off in the last round of qualifiers. Cork won by the slimmest of margins last year so this Saturday night at 7pm, Limerick followers can expect another hard fought encounter.
The game itself was set up by virtue of a toss of a coin. Limerick and Cork agreed that they would toss for a home venue should they meet in the qualifiers. A risky choice you might think, but Limerick manager Mickey Ned O Sullivan believes that sometime Limerick’s luck had to come in. “If we had lost the toss, it would have been the eight straight time that Limerick followers would have had to travel to see their players in championship action. Our luck had to change. In fairness, we spoke to the players and they wanted the chance the play at home in front of a large Limerick crowd. We decided that we would go for a home game instead of settling for a neutral venue”.

JP Mc Manus Pro Am

For the next two days you can follow the JP Mc Manus behind the scenes on www.limerickpost.ie

Check back here later in the week for more insight and some unprinted interviews.

“In sport, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you take”

THIS Sunday at 2pm in Killarney, the Limerick senior footballers will look to bridge a 114 year gap as they take on Kerry in the Munster Senior Football final.
Kerry will be chasing their 73rd Munster title, and their first since 2007, while Limerick will be chasing only their second ever Munster title, that sole win came all the way back in 1896.
The upcoming final fixture is the first time the two sides have met since 2005, when Kerry triumphed 2-10 to 0-10 in that season’s Munster semi final at the Gaelic Grounds.

Indeed, this Sunday is the first time Limerick manager and Kerry native Mickey Ned O Sullivan will face his own county. Speaking to PostSport this week, the Kenmare man was confident that he is now 100% Limerick.

Justin Mc Carthy speaks to the Limerick Post

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LIMERICK senior hurling manager Justin Mc Carthy this week spoke to Postsport about last weekend’s Munster hurling semi final and much, much more.
On the game itself?
“We were obviously disappointed with the result. We know we can play better than we did on Sunday, but in saying that I feel that in some positions we had lads who hurled better than their marker and that is an achievement when you consider the experience that Cork have.”
On the mood in the camp after the 12 point defeat?
“The lads know themselves that they left some scores behind them last Sunday. We missed a penalty, we missed a few frees and of course we had a man sent off. The panel is a very level headed panel and they know where they are in the grand scheme of things and they know, like I do, that we are not going to get success overnight but it will come and days like last Sunday will stand to them.”
On the comments in the national media that Limerick are going backwards?
“I don’t believe that for one minute. Limerick needs to move forward as a county. Everyone is moving forward and so do we. Look at Dublin last weekend. They were six points off of Kilkenny last year and now they are 19 points off of them. Teams like Kilkenny, Cork and Tipperary are not standing still and therefore neither can we. Limerick needs to move on from the hidden agendas and the in fighting and as a county we need to move on. If everybody else stood still then it would be easy to catch up, but they are not.”

The weekend that was

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Over the weekend we were covered in sport really. Limerick played host to the Special Olympics, more on that in the paper this week. There was Ireland versus the All Blacks, more on that in a second and there was GAA/NBA/MLB/AFL and then of course the World Cup.

All of those sports graced my TV screen. The one good thing about the summer is that the sunshine during the day allows you the energy to stay up later and watch sports. The NBA finals are poised at 3-2 Celtics. If you don't watch basketball, just watch these two in action. It is worth every second. They are the biggest franchises/teams and they are going toe to toe over the next few days.

Limerick confirmed as City of Sport

There were celebrations in Limerick this week as the City received news that it had been successful in its bid to become a European  City of Sport for 2011.This prestigious award comes as the result of a pitch made earlier this year by Shannon Development and Limerick City Council to the European Capitals of Sport Association (ACES) based in Milan, Italy.  A delegation from ACES has been in Limerick over the past few days on an inspection tour of the City’s top sports venues organised by Shannon Development.

“If we play like that, we’ll be beaten out the gate”

THE words of Limerick football manager Mickey Ned O Sullivan after his side secured a Munster final spot for the second time in two years. The Kerryman wore a broad smile after the game, however he did not give too much away about the big game to come.
“It was the purpose of the exercise. It wasn’t pretty, but we got there in the end and it will do. The sending off early on may have had a major impact, but the game is now a lot about discipline and sometimes things can go your way and other days they won’t and that is football. We came to win and we won. We are in the final now, but if we perform like that we will be beaten out the gate by either Cork or Kerry” added the Kenmare native.
With thoughts immediately turning to the final, the Limerick manager acknowledged that the final had never entered the panels minds prior to last Sunday’s final whistle.
“It’s only from this moment on that we will start preparing for the final. Waterford had the advantage of having played a championship game two weeks ago and no matter how you prepare that is a major advantage. Championship football knocks the corners off and steels you”.