John Kiely hails win over ‘one of the top teams in Ireland' as Limerick boss reveals turning point behind Cork win
LIMERICK boss John Kiely hailed his side for surviving a gloomy spring to roast Cork with a performance that hinted at another prosperous summer.
Kiely's men thrived in the heat of the Gaelic Grounds as they avenged the 2024 defeat to the Rebels that ruined their chances of claiming a fifth All-Ireland SHC title on the spin.
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Aaron Gillane scored two goals as Limerick beat Cork
Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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John Kiely hailed his side for igniting their championship campaign
Credit: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
The Treaty chief said: 'We got beaten by Cork twice last year.
'They are one of the top teams in the country. You're at home in the Gaelic Grounds in the Championship and you only have two games here so we have to deliver on days like today.
'You have to deliver — you just have to. There's no out on it. We had too much work put in.'
After a dismal National League campaign that included losses to Clare, Kilkenny and Wexford, the Limerick gaffer cited his side's pre-Championship trip to Portugal as a turning point.
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Kiely said: 'We had a difficult spring with injuries. If you saw the last two rounds of the league we had here against Wexford and above in Kilkenny, we were struggling.
'The cancelled Kilkenny game really hurt us.
'It upset our whole schedule and it took us a long time to recover from it and we never really did until we got away.'
Kiely was full of praise for centre-back Kyle Hayes, whose man-of-the-match performance was encapsulated as he put his body on the line to deny Séamus Harnedy a stoppage-time goal.
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He said: 'You just can't give an inch and every ball matters.
'Kyle's leadership was just tremendous at the back. The block he made for the shot on goal, his response to that ball and then winning it back.
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'I thought he was just exemplary. His discipline was through the roof and he's an example to all the other lads on the field.
'He's in a great vein of form and long may it last.'
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With their place in the All-Ireland SHC series now secure, Limerick also have one foot in another Munster final as they chase a seventh title in a row.
They close out their round-robin campaign on Sunday with a home game against All-Ireland champions Clare, whose hopes of getting out of Munster are already over.
But Kiely insisted: 'All we can do is control what's in front of us.
'Every game outside on that pitch matters to us.
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'It doesn't matter who we're playing on any given day.
'We'll work hard to get back here and be as right as we can for the weekend.
'There are two points to play for and we'll go after them with all our might.'
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