Allianz Hurling League Division 2 – Limerick 2-9 Clare 0-6

Limerick defeated Clare by 2-9 to 0-6 in Round 1 of the Allianz Hurling League Division 2 on Sunday at Cusack Park Ennis.

O’Grady relieves the pressure

Limerick 2-9 Clare 0-6

By Diarmuid O’Flynn for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, February 14, 2011

TRIUMPH for Donal O’Grady’s Limerick in this Allianz Hurling League Division Two opener in Ennis yesterday, disaster for Clare and their manager, Ger O’Loughlin. Unbeaten during the regular rounds last year, denied promotion only after a surprise loss to Wexford in the playoff, Clare were again expected to dominate the section this season. Limerick too were expected to figure in the final shakeup but given the turmoil in the county last year which saw them failing to win a competitive match after being shorn of the services of over 20 of their top players, this one was expected to be too big a test too early. So much for conventional wisdom.

Limerick hit the ground running, led by a goal to nil after four minutes (a drilled penalty by wing-forward Richie McCarthy after Graeme Mulcahy had been hauled down), and had extended that lead to nine points by the break, 2-4 to 0-1 (the livewire Mulcahy converting the goal, after a magnificent pass by teenage full-forward Kevin Downes). They then did enough to maintain that gap through a more evenly-contested second half. We could go into more detail on the actual match happenings but really there isn’t a lot of detail to examine; the damage was done in a first half in which Clare were awful, as reflected by their solitary point — and that from a free — while Limerick were simply efficient, converting six scores from nine opportunities.

Of more importance are the details surrounding this Limerick win, this Clare loss. First, Limerick. Not since July 18th 2009 had the men in green won a competitive match, against Laois in the All-Ireland qualifiers, yet here, and with several of the players considered surplus to requirements by last year’s manager, Justin McCarthy, they played as though they’d never been away. Keeper Nicky Quaid, making his debut, was solid as a rock, made a brave body-block to deny Darach Honan in the 59th minute, commanded his area under the high ball and placed his clearances and puckouts well.

The defence, solidly anchored by Stephen Lucey at full-back and Seamus Hickey in the centre, was focused and ever-vigilant, snuffing out danger. In midfield they monopolised with Donal O’Grady and youngster Paul Browne combining to great effect, while up front, all six forwards worked hard and efficiently. Put together, the hallmarks of a Donal O’Grady-coached side, and a display that left him satisfied – for the moment. “The performance was what we were looking for but the two points are handy. It comes down to workrate and there’s an awful lot of credit due to the lads themselves, they’ve worked really hard. We’ve only been training since January the 2nd, and I was honest when I said last week I didn’t know where we were. We’re happy with the win because it takes some pressure off — two points is important.”

That pressure wasn’t just on the returning players either, reckoned O’Grady. “Everyone was under pressure to perform. I was under pressure, Ciarán Carey, Pat Heffernan, TJ Ryan (his selectors), the whole backroom team — we were all under pressure to perform. We didn’t overkill it, but everyone going out on the field were aware of what they were expected to do. It worked for us today, it may not work next Saturday night against Westmeath, may not work the following match, but it worked today and we’re thankful for that. But it comes back to workrate; Jerry Wallis (trainer) has done excellent work with them since January. You’d be pleased, but it’s the start of a long campaign.”

Not at all pleased however – and understandably so – was Ger O’Loughlin. “We have to say that overall, based on that display, we’re rightly down in Division Two, we deserve to be there. Next week’s game now is even more important, we have to travel to Antrim, try and grind out a result, but if we don’t improve 100% on what we saw today we’ll struggle. “Our backs are to the wall, we let a lot of people down today with our display. It is a bitter pill to swallow. We regrouped for the second-half but overall we’ve no excuses; Limerick played well – we were just diabolical.”

Scorers for Limerick: R McCarthy 1-5 (1-0 pen., 0-4 frees); G Mulcahy 1-1; K Downes, J Ryan, D O’Grady 0-1 each.

Scorers for Clare: N O’Connell 0-2 (0-1 free, 0-1 65); C McGrath 0-2 (frees); F Lynch 0-1; C McInerney 0-1 (free).

Subs for Clare: C McInerney for McMahon (32); M Earley for Ryan (35); C Morey for Lynch (57); C O’Donovan for Conlan (65); S Collins for Honan (70).

Subs for Limerick: S Tobin for O’Shaughnessy (63); N Maher for Moran (70).

Referee: J Ryan (Tipperary)

Limerick step up to the plate for O’Grady

From the Irish Independent newspaper

Limerick 2-9 Clare 0-6

Monday February 14 2011

The Donal O’Grady era began yesterday for Limerick with a convincing statement of intent. From the warm-up in Ennis, Limerick’s attitude reflected a team that meant business, while their method and play mirrored the personality and core coaching philosophy of their manager; efficient, organised, together, defensively sound. Limerick were light years ahead of Clare in how they played as a unit, with all of their men playing with their heads up and continually looking to take the right option with the ball. Limerick had more experience and they physically dominated the game, but O’Grady’s fingerprints were still clearly visible in all aspects of their play. Their defence gobbled up Clare’s attack while Limerick’s midfielders, Paul Browne and Donal O’Grady, largely bossed the game. There were also tints of Cork’s old style evident in some of their support play.

Moreover, when Kevin Downes had a goal chance late on, he tried to bat the ball to the net; that was a ploy routinely practised in Cork under O’Grady, and which was often used to devastating effect later under John Allen. The performance was all the more impressive given that O’Grady’s team was a fusion of the players which were on both sides of the divide after the split in the squad under Justin McCarthy. Two of the standout performers were full-back Stephen Lucey and centre-back Seamus Hickey, both of whom didn’t play for Limerick last year.

“Honestly, I don’t know if there was pressure on the returning players to put in a big performance,” said O’Grady afterwards. “Everyone was under pressure to perform, including the backroom team. We didn’t overkill it, but everyone going out on the field was aware of what they were expected to do. “I was honest when I said last week that I didn’t know where we were at. The performance was what we were looking for, but the two points are handy. It comes down to work rate and there’s an awful lot of credit due to the lads themselves. They’ve worked really hard. You’d have to be pleased. “Any time you win a match, there’s a bit more of a buzz there, a bit more of a lift. All these things are important. Confidence is important.”

On the other hand, this was a complete horror show from Clare. They only managed one point from play, while their often woeful use of possession, lack of movement and cohesion up front, combined with the deficit in leadership, physicality and team-work has left the players and management with a huge amount of soul-searching to do. “Notwithstanding that Limerick played well, we were just diabolical,” said Clare manager Ger O’Loughlin. “We have to say that overall, we’re rightly down in Division 2 based on that display. We deserve to be there. “In fairness to Limerick they wanted it badly and we didn’t stand up to them. We let the ball out of our full-forward line far too easily. We allowed their full-back line and half-back line to dictate, especially in the first half. We regrouped for the second half but overall we’ve no excuses.”

Underfoot conditions were made extremely difficult due to a torrential downpour at the outset of the game, but Limerick got the perfect start after just three minutes with a goal from a penalty from Richie McCarthy. Although McCarthy hit five wides, he went on to notch 1-5. Limerick’s first score from play didn’t arrive until the 19th minute, but they had clearly established their dominance by that stage. They were completely on top around the middle third and in a period before half-time, they won six successive Clare puckouts and soon began to cash in on their glut of possession. Their second goal arrived on 29 minutes after Downes showed great composure to pick out Graham Mulcahy under pressure with a measured pass. Mulcahy made no mistake from close range and Limerick were cruising at half-time, 2-4 to 0-1.

Clare picked up the pace in the third quarter but they couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard and they finished the half with seven wides. Even their free-taking malfunctioned at times, with six missed frees in total over the 70 minutes. The one chance they had to get back into the game came in the 59th minute, but Nicky Quaid made a fine save from Darach Honan. Inexperience is clearly a factor for Clare at the moment. Only three of the 19 players they used are over 24, but yesterday’s performance was a whole new level of reality. With an away trip to come next week against Antrim, Clare need to get themselves sorted out, and fast. “We have to travel to Antrim and try to grind out a result up there,” said O’Loughlin. “If we don’t improve 100pc on what we saw today, we’ll struggle. Our backs are to the wall, we let a lot of people down today with our display. Maybe in a couple of weeks we mightn’t even be talking about this match. But as of now it’s a bitter pill to swallow.” For a Limerick team starting out under O’Grady, the taste was far sweeter.

Scorers — Limerick: R McCarthy 1-5 (1-0 pen, 4f), G Mulcahy 1-1, K Downes , D O’Grady, J Ryan 0-1 each. Clare: C McGrath (2f), N O’Connell (1f, 1 ’65’) 0-2 each, J McInerney (1,f), F Lynch 0-1 each.

Limerick — N Quaid; S Walsh, S Lucey, D Moloney; W McNamara, S Hickey, D Breen; D O’Grady, P Browne; R McCarthy, J Ryan, N Moran; A O’Shaughnessy, K Downes, G Mulcahy. Subs: S Tobin for O’Shaughnessy (63), N Maher for Moran (69).

Clare — D Tuohy; E Glynn, J McInerney, C Cooney; D O’Donovan, C Dillon, P Donnellan; N O’Connell, C Ryan; F Lynch, J Conlon, P O’Connor; D Honan, D McMahon, C McGrath. Subs: C McInerney for McMahon (33), M Earley for Ryan (h-t), C Morey for Lynch (50), C O’Donovan for Conlon (65), S Collins for Honan (69)

Ref — J Ryan (Tipperary)

Allianz Hurling League Division 2

From the GAA.ie web site

Limerick 2-8 Clare 0-6

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Donal O’Grady got off to a winning start in the league as Limerick manager as the Treaty County eased to an eight-point victory over a very disappointing Clare in Cusack Park. Clare were never in the game, despite the fact that Limerick didn’t really hit top gear in an underwhelming clash. There was a very tame opening to proceedings in Ennis as both sides struggled to find any fluency in the early exchanges.

Limerick’s first score came from the penalty spot with Richie McCarthy smashing to the net after Graham Mulcahy was taken down in the square. Conor McGrath got Clare off the mark with a point from a free, but after 20 minutes, there still hadn’t been a score from play from either team as the winter cobwebs took a while to be fully shed. Limerick were still clearly the better of the two sides though and they pulled themselves strongest from the ether. Their second goal came on 28 minutes, an angled drive to the net from Mulcahy. That made it 2-4 to 0-1.

Clare responded soon after with a point from Fergal Lynch bringing the first half to a close. The second half was a redundant affair, with Limerick having done all the damage in the first half. Both teams traded some scores but Limerick eased to their deserved eight-point win, with their two goals ultimately determining the outcome.