Dan Morrissey of Ahane in action Kilmallock in the 2020 Limerick SHC.
By John Harrington
The pot is coming nicely to the boil in the Bon Secours Limerick Senior Hurling Championship with Friday evening’s clash of Patrickswell and Ahane likely to go a long way to determining the make-up of the knock-out rounds.
Both teams have two points after three-rounds in Group 1 and defeat for either would make it very difficult for them to achieve a top four finish.
The structure of the Limerick SHC seems the top two teams in Group 1 qualify directly for the semi-finals with the third and fourth place finishers playing quarter-finals against the top two teams in Group 2.
Doon on eight points and Na Piarsaigh on six points are already through to the semi-finals with Kilmallock (currently on four points), Patrickswell, and Ahane in contention for the two quarter-final spots.
Ahane need to win on Friday to keep their hopes alive with a win for Patrickswell ensuring they and Kilmallock advance to the quarter-finals.
The ‘Big Four’ in Limerick club hurling in recent years have been Na Piarsaigh, Kilmallock, Patrickswell, and Doon, so the challenge facing Ahane is to break up that monopoly.
Limerick defender Dan Morrissey will be key to their effort on Friday, and hopes the upward graph the team has been tracking in recent years will see them soon make a breakthrough.
“We've come fifth in that Senior A group for the last few years so it's just trying to break in among those top four teams,” he says.
“Look, we're not that far away. In the last few years particularly we've come very close to beating a few of them. Maybe one win will give us the confidence that we need to drive on then.
“2004 was the last time Ahane won it. It's a long time ago now. Look, I'd love to win a county championship before I finish up. There are young lads coming through but I suppose you need a bit of luck as well. Sometimes you need other teams not to be going so well and obviously for our team to be firing on all cylinders.
“We've definitely made progress over the last few years. I remember going back six or seven years ago, we were getting some trimmings off the likes of Na Piarsaigh and Kilmallock, losing by 20-plus points, whereas we've been very competitive with a lot of the top teams in the last few years. Maybe we just need one break to get a win and give us a bit more confidence."
Limerick hurler Dan Morrissey in attendance to mark the 10-year anniversary of Samaritans as the GAA Mental Health Partner at Croke Park in Dublin. Through the partnership, GAA players and former players team up with Samaritans volunteers from across the country to reduce the stigma around mental health and encourage anyone in need to seek help. For information contact s.stack@samaritans.org. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
If Ahane are to lower Patrickswell’s colours tomorrow they’ll need to somehow limit the influence of Aaron Gillane who has been the most prolific forward in the club championship for the last number of years.
Morrissey might well be given the task of man-marking him, and knows only too well it can be a thankless one.
"I'm still trying to figure it out!,” says Morrissey. “Look, he's phenomenal. I suppose it's the movement that he makes and the type of ball that he's able to win. You give him a ball into space and he'll be out in front of his man. But he's also well able to win his own 50-50 ball on the edge of the square. How he's developed into the player he is over the last number of years is just down to himself and the dedication.
"We're well used to each other now at this stage, marking him in most training sessions. The Well, they have three Hurlers of the Year so they're a serious outfit. But we haven't been too far off them in the last couple of years. They had a great win against Mungret and I don't think many people expected them to win by as much as they did. I'm sure it'll be a good battle and hopefully we can come out the right side of it."
Whether or not they get the better of Patrickswell on Friday, it does look like Ahane have a bright future ahead of them.
Significant work at underage level has yielded good results that should be transfer to the senior grade before too long.
"Yeah, we’ve great numbers,” says Morrissey. “They won the Limerick Féile this year so they were in the National Féile again in hurling and football.
“Ladies football and camogie too, we actually got through with the four teams and the numbers are great. Even at adult level we have three adult teams. We have a Junior B team for the last three or four years as well. At training every night you have the bones of 30 lads down and there's great work going on in the underage as well.
“You nearly have representatives on every underage county team, which is important because you need to have a few coming through every year. You're always going to lose a few at senior level through immigration and maybe lads moving to Dublin for work and things like that, so it's kind of important that you have one or two minors coming through every year."