John Kiely’s strong rebuttal of gamesmanship on the part of his goalkeeper Nickie Quaid was to be expected. After all, no manager in any sport is going to come out with their hands up declaring, “fair cop, you rumbled us”. Top teams do whatever it takes in terms of game management to get over the line.
The charge against Quaid is that he manufactured a stoppage at a moment in the All-Ireland semi-final when Galway had all the momentum. It has been suggested he lost a contact lens, if so then hopefully it was only a daily disposable because to lose a monthly one is a sickener.
Speaking on RTÉ radio during match commentary, Davy Fitzgerald said: “I’d say Limerick are in so much trouble that he’s just deciding to break up the play. That’s what I honestly see, I don’t think that much happened to Nickie.”
Former Kilkenny defender Paul Murphy added on Newstalk: “I’ve seen twice this year he had a problem with his contact lens and he hadn’t had a problem since the 2019 semi-final.”
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A couple of days after the semi-final, Limerick held their All-Ireland media event and Kiely was asked about the incident.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that we’re talking about this two days after two All-Ireland semi-finals,” remarked the Limerick manager. “I think it’s utterly laughable, to be quite honest with you. It’s unbelievable, I think it’s unbelievable. Obviously, it’s a focus that has been driven by a few individuals.”
When asked whether Quaid was wearing contact lenses, Kiely wasn’t having any of it: “Can you imagine me going to Nickie, ‘what’s your sight like, Nickie?’ Would you seriously think I’d be doing such a thing like that? Absolutely not.”
Either way, there has been such attention now drawn to that particular stoppage during the All-Ireland semi-final that Quaid might be double-checking his contact lenses before running out at Croke Park this Sunday.
Put a ring on it
Kilkenny player Cillian Buckley will walk down the aisle to marry Niamh Dowling on Saturday, just 24 hours before he runs out at Croke Park for an All-Ireland hurling final against Limerick.
It is understood that in planning a date for the big day, the former Kilkenny captain believed the 2023 All-Ireland final would take place on the same weekend as it did in 2022 — last year’s decider took place on July 17th. Buckley has not been a regular starter this season but has contributed off the bench and scored the match-winning goal with the last play of the Leinster final against Galway.
Life of Brian
The photograph of Brian Cody beaming from ear to ear as Kilkenny won the Leinster final last month was about as cheerful and untroubled as any of the hundreds taken of the former Cats manager at the venue over the past two decades.
It was hard to predict what life after Cody would be like for Kilkenny’s hurlers, but Derek Lyng has so far done a fine job filling the biggest shoes in hurling. Cody has returned to the sidelines with his club, James Stephens, and on Sunday Kilkenny will return to an All-Ireland final without him at the helm for the first time since 1998 when Kevin Fennelly was the Cats’ boss.
In numbers: 4
Limerick are aiming to become only the third county in history to achieve four All-Ireland senior hurling triumphs on the bounce. Kilkenny won four in a row between 2006-09 while Cork were the first to achieve the feat between 1941-44.
In Quotes
“Everyone said we were gone, like, everyone said we were dead and buried,” said Darragh O’Donovan after Limerick’s Munster final win over Clare.
Another for the list of great GAA siege mentalities, as the best hurling team in the country for four of the last five years use the oldest motivational tool in the playbook: “Ye all wrote us off!”
