By John Harrington

Limerick hurler Peter Casey has urged the county’s supporters to show some patience.

He’s convinced the Shannonsiders have so much top young talent in their ranks right now that it’s only a matter of time before they make a big breakthrough.

The mood in the county is subdued ahead of Sunday’s Munster SHC Semi-Final against Clare after a League campaign that ended with a convincing semi-final defeat to Galway.

But Casey is convinced he and his team-mates are capable of giving their fans something to really shout about in the near future.

“The one thing that I'd be telling everyone, just to be patient. We were in three Minor (Munster) Finals, we won the All-Ireland U-21, but it's a building process.

“You see the likes of Cork this year, they've a few young lads and are building again. Waterford two or three years ago were kind of like ourselves.

“They built and now they're one of the top four or five teams in the country.

“I think we will get there, it's just about being patient.”

Classy corner-forward Casey is typical of a precociously talented generation of young hurlers emerging in the county. 

In the space of a few weeks last year he captained Ard Scoil Ris to a Harty Cup Final success and then scored three points for his club Na Piarsaigh when they defeated Cushendall in the All-Ireland SHC Club Final. 

He won a Munster minor medal with Limerick in 2014, an All-Ireland U-21 medal in 2015, and still has two years left in the U-21 grade. 

Most of that 2015 All-Ireland winning U-21 team have since graduated to a senior panel that includes nine players who are still U-21, but bringing through so many young players at the same time presents some obvious difficulties. 

Most successful teams have a nice blend of youth and experience, and underage success is no guarantee of the same in the senior grade.

Limerick senior manager John Kiely appreciates the quality of these up and coming Limerick hurlers better than most having also managed that All-Ireland winning U-21 side.

But he’s realistic enough to know he needs the older guard like Nickie Quaid, Richie McCarthy, Declan Hannon, Seamus Hickey, Shane Dowling, Graeme Mulcahy, and James Ryan to remain pillars of the team rather than lean too heavily on his young stars.

“That's the toughest part, to just get the balance right,” agrees Casey. “There are eight or nine young lads that are on both panels, the U-21 and senior, so it is a balancing act.

“Look, John has been involved with the U-21s for the past few years as well so he knows all about that. I think the one thing that John and the lads have brought in is that they've brought a bit of craic to it as well.

“It's my first year and I was nervous going in at the start, but I've really, really enjoyed it.

“I thought I'd be getting flogged every training and it'd be really tough and that matches would be tough too because you'd be marking the best corner-backs in the country, but it's been really enjoyable and I do think I'm improving. That's all you can ask for really, isn't it?”

Galway’s form since beating Limerick in that League semi-final has cast a more sympathetic light on the result, but it was still a sobering reminder for Limerick’s young players that they have a lot to learn at this level.

They were physically dominated by a bigger, stronger, Galway side, and never really looked like they had the conviction to turn the game around when Galway opened up a lead in the second-half.

Casey admits they were second-best, but thinks they’ll learn an awful lot from the experience.

“I think it was a learning process more than anything, yeah,” he says. “To be honest I just think it was a bad day in general. I don't think Galway hurled too well either and we obviously didn't hurl too well in front of our own crowd.

“We started alright and stuck with them for a while - I think we bought it back to two points - but I think once they got the goal it just killed us.

“That's what we have to rectify most - how we respond when we go behind like that. Or when we're dealt a blow, how we respond to it.

“I think the last few (challenge) games we've done quite well, so, yeah, we're all really looking forward to the fourth of June.”

Clare are the bookies favourites going into Sunday’s Munster semi-final, but matches between these two rivals are rarely predictable.

Were Limerick to beat Clare it would be a massive moment in the evolution of their new-look team because big championship wins accelerate the development of young hurlers quicker than anything else.

Cork’s victory over Tipperary in the Munster quarter-final proved that anything is possible in the province this year, and Casey is quietly confident the Shannonsiders can cause an upset.

“We are underdogs, but Clare haven't played too many games lately and didn't get a chance to express themselves in the latter stages of the League," he says.

“They only had the relegation play-off against Dublin in which they played very well, to be fair.

“I think rightly so Clare will be favourites, but I'd be fancying ourselves well. There's always only a hop of the ball between the two teams when we play each other.

“There's not much between any of us. That's the beauty of the All-Ireland and Munster Championships, that anyone can beat each other on any given day.

“Yeah, look, I wouldn't be fearing anyone, I wouldn't be backing away from anyone.

“You'll see what it will do for Cork, how big it was for them to beat Tipperary.

“Who knows, if we can overturn Clare, how much of a lift that would give to the Limerick lads as well.”

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