Limerick manager John Kiely heaped praise on goal hero Kyle Hayes as he processed the loss of a close friend coming into today’s Munster final.
Darren Whelan, a Kildimo-Pallaskenry clubmate of Hayes and fellow Limerick panelist Darren O’Connell, died in a tragic accident in Greece last weekend and will be laid to rest tomorrow.
Hayes scored one of the great Munster final goals midway through the second half as Limerick’s 10-point comeback victory over Tipperary peaked, the wing-back making a 90-metre run from his own before finishing past Barry Hogan.
Kiely said: “Cracking goal, delighted for him. He’s had a really tough week. Darren O’Connell as well.
“Their good friend Darren Whelan passed away tragically last weekend. It’s an awful blow to them young lads and it’s a reminder to us all of the fragility of life.
“We saw it again this weekend with Monaghan’s under-20 captain, Brendan Og Duffy.
“What a terrible, terrible tragedy. All valuable young men in their families and their communities, making a huge difference to their wider communities. We’re just grateful that we have these young men, all of us in Tipperary and Limerick and Galway and Cork and wherever they are from.
“We’re very lucky to have them and we’ve to try and mind them. You know, terrible tragedies and desperate losses. It hits these boys tremendously when something like that happens.
“But, you know, hats off to Kyle. It was difficult for him to do what he did today and at times he found it hard outside there on the pitch.
“But like everything Kyle does, he gives it his all. There’s no reverse. It’s only going forward with Kyle Hayes. That’s the bottom line and I hope that’s the way he’ll continue to be. And he can dedicate that performance to his great friend.”
Having trailed by 2-16 to 0-12 at half-time, Limerick outscored Tipperary by 1-10 to 0-1 in the third quarter before Hayes applied to coup de grace.
“The third quarter performance was our strongest performance in five years,” Kiely admitted. “It needed to be. Had to be. It was up there with our best 16 or 17 minutes of hurling. They had to stand up.
“We were extremely disappointed with our first half performance, really disappointed. We know we left ourselves down in many aspects of the game that we pride ourselves on, particularly our workrate.
“And it wasn’t there in the first half. And we won’t get away with that in the future if we allow that to happen. We managed to turn the tide today but you won’t do that consistently.”
Tipp boss Liam Sheedy said that Limerick were “formidable” in the second half but lamented the fact that his side “lost their structure”.
He explained: “They were able to get ball and deliver really good quality ball inside.
“But full credit to my lads. We knew there was going to be a kick in Limerick. They're not Munster and All-Ireland champions for no reason. Look, overall our first 35 minutes of play was as good as we've ever played.
“I thought we were outstanding. We were well on top in all sectors. Took some really good scores and still had eight wides.
“A game of two halves and unfortunately LImerick got the momentum, the crowd got behind them and we really had no answer to them in the second half.”
The game potentially hinged on referee Paud O’Dwyer only yellow-carding Limerick’s Aaron Gillane for what appeared to be a strike with the hurley on Tipperary defender Cathal Barrett in the second half though Sheedy said: “I'll have to look at that back. Obviously, the ball was thrown in so it looks like there was a strike of some sort, but look overall, Paud O'Dwyer and his officials done a super job on that game. It was really intense heat.
“Fair play, they let water in from time to time to give the players a break. It was breathtaking stuff, it was a wonderful, wonderful game of hurling.”
