John Kiely says Limerick exit the 2024 championship with no regrets after coming up short in what was an epic All-Ireland semi-final against Cork.
The defeat brings an end to Limerick’s drive for an unprecedented fifth consecutive Liam MacCarthy Cup triumph, but the players went down swinging at Croke Park on Sunday.
“I suppose really for me at the minute, the overriding thought is I’m extremely proud of the players and what they’ve done for 2024,” said Kiely.
“They couldn’t have done any more. They worked extremely hard, they left no stone unturned. We have no regrets. We have no regrets and it’s good to have that, if you like, in some respect.
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“Of course, we picked up a few injuries along the way. But every team has setbacks and you plough on. We had every faith in the guys to be able to get across the line today but we were just that little bit off.”
Kiely felt the difference ultimately between the sides on Sunday was accuracy in front of the posts – Limerick finished the game with 14 wides to Cork’s 10.
“I’m just disappointed for the lads. They’ve put in a huge, huge shift. With a little bit more efficiency they could have got over the line. It was just a battle of efficiency in the finish.
“Cork were that little bit more efficient, I think. I don’t have the stats but that’s my first impression of it. And we did have chances coming down the stretch.
“But Cork, their shooting was incredible. I don’t know how many points they got from the sideline but they got quite a few down there from the left-hand side. Congratulations to Cork. We wish them and Clare the best in the final. It’s over to them.”
The five-in-a-row journey had been part of the narrative around Limerick’s season but despite talk of that potential achievement outside the camp, Kiely says the weight of history did not sit on his team’s shoulder as any form of a burden in recent months.
“I don’t think it had any bearing on us at all, to be honest with you. We felt light about all that all year,” added Kiely.
“We were very committed to going after the 2024 championship. When you’re on the road as long as the lads are, on a winning run like they have been, of course you’re going to come up against opportunities for the opposition to beat you. Of course you are.
“But we gave ourselves an opportunity to win it too. It wasn’t that we didn’t have the opportunity to win the game today. If we were beaten by 10 points you’d say, ‘Something’s wrong here, we didn’t give ourselves an opportunity to win the game’. We could have won by two or three but we didn’t and, you know, that’s just the way it is so no, no concerns about the weight of that on the group.
“We had a really enjoyable year together. We were light on ourselves. We were determined to enjoy the season and we set out to do it and we did it and I don’t think the group has any baggage in that regard coming into today or any other day. I think you could see that by the performance.”
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