Mike O’Halloran was at Fitzgerald Stadium yesterday to see Kerry run Limerick close in the Allianz National Hurling Division 1B encounter…

Kerry 1-15

Limerick 1-19

I WAS tweeting before the game in Killarney saying that Kerry could be a lot closer to Limerick than most people expected.

I based that assumption on the fact that Kerry had added eight very experienced players to their starting 15 for yesterday’s match from the team that was defeated by Limerick in the Munster League in January.

The replies to those tweets did not agree with me but my assumption was not that far off. As I said, the basis of the tweet was the inclusion of the eight, one of whom was Darren Dineen.

Unfortunately Darren was forced to withdraw before the game started. I believe if Kerry had the services of Dineen for this game, the result could have been different.

Kerry had to play into a stiff wind and opened the scoring when Michael O’Leary pointed. Limerick added three points two from Barry Nash and one from Cian Lynch before John Egan tapped over for Kerry.

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Limerick then added a goal and eight points before Kerry’s next score from Michael O’Leary on 21 minutes. Minutes later, a Shane Nolan free landed in the square and Michael Boyle guided the ball to the net.

Limerick added three more points to leave the score at 1-16 to 1-5 at the short whistle.

Eleven points seemed a large gap to bridge for the final thirty five minutes. Limerick had lost their influential centre forward Gavin O’Mahony to injury and Kerry were gaining a bit of a foothold on his exit, but he came back on for the second half.

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Jack Goulding who was not as influential as last week, had a point on the resumption, John Egan followed suit before Declan Hannon had two pointed frees for Limerick.

Then came three unanswered pointed frees from Shane Nolan then Egan and Philip Lucid, added one each – Philip had replaced Jack Goulding.

Sean Tobin had Limerick’s last point on 69 minutes, John Egan replied for Kerry from play, Philip Lucid had one from a free and Patrick Kelly hit a long range effort between the posts.

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Kerry could have won this game if they had a little more self belief in the first half and if they moved the ball a little more quickly to the next available man in space. Some Kerry defenders took on too many contacts before clearing the ball or passing it off, over carrying cost at least two points from frees.

This defeat did not feel like a defeat and rather than dwelling on the loss of two points, the display against one of the top teams should be regarded as a building block to make a quarter-final spot if they can defeat Wexford when they come to Tralee as part of a double header at the reopening of Austin Stacks Park on March 6.

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Given the fright that Wexford gave Clare yesterday and the fact that Limerick gave Wexford a dusting, do Kerry need to fear anybody in this league? No they don’t.

The supporters who came to Killarney were in full voice which was great to hear. Replaced players were applauded off the pitch and when the team exited the pitch to the dressing rooms a large number of fans waited to cheer their efforts.

Last Sunday in Portlaoise was a great day, but yesterday in Killarney was a bright day, lit up by a hurling team who continue to bring pride to the green and gold.

If only Darren Dineen could have lined out, if his cousin Colum Harty had been awarded the penalty, if only, if only.

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Scorers 

Kerry: Shane Nolan 0-5 (4f), John Egan 0-4, Michael Boyle 1-0, Philip Lucid 0.2(1f), Michael O’Leary 0-2, Colum Harty 0.1, Jack Goulding 0-1 each.

Limerick: Declan Hannon 1-4, Barry Nash 0-4, Diarmuid Byrne 0-3 (2f, 0-1 ’65), David Reidy 0-3, Paul Browne 0-2, Cian Lynch 0-1, Graeme Mulcahy 0-1 Sean Tobin 0.1

KERRY: Martin Stackpoole; Seán Weir, Bryan Murphy, Keith Carmody; Daniel Collins, Tommy Casey, Tom Murnane; John Griffin, Patrick Kelly, Shane Nolan, Michael O’Leary, Colum Harty; John Egan, Michael Boyle, Jack Goulding. Subs: Jordan Conway for Shane Nolan, Philip Lucid for Jack Goulding , Jason Diggins for Daniel Collins.

LIMERICK: Nicky Quaid, Tom Condon, Richie McCarthy, Richie English, Dan Morrissey, Diarmaid Byrne, Séamus Hickey, Darragh O’Donovan, Paul Browne, David Reidy, Gavin O’Mahony, Cian Lynch, Graeme Mulcahy, Declan Hannon, Barry Nash. Subs: John Fitzgibbon for Darragh O’Donovan, Paudie O’Brien for David Reidy , Seán Tobin for Graeme Mulcahy , Tom Morrissey for Barry Nash, Pat Ryan for Tom Condon.