‘Satisfaction and joy’ for triumphant LimerickImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, John Kiely led his side to All-Ireland success ByDavid MohanBBC Sport NI journalist at Croke ParkPublished34 minutes agoWith the Limerick players back in their dressing room, joined by the Liam MacCarthy Cup for the first time since 2023, the cheers were audible from the media interview room.This is not just another win, a sixth since 2018, but having suffered the agony of their 2024 semi-final defeat ended their ‘drive for five’ hopes, plus last year’s ignominious quarter-final exit at the hands of 14-man Dublin, there was an obvious sense this one meant a little bit more.Success had been the only currency they knew and when it was taken away, it left a huge hole and a lot of hurt.That was washed away with a dominant display as they reproduced their calling card: a display of precision, power and absolute ruthless efficiency to seal title number 13 in the county’s history.As manager John Kiely emerged from a jubilant dressing room, his overriding emotion was “great satisfaction, a shared sense of joy”.”I was part of 1994 and 1996 [finals Limerick lost] and the hurt never leaves you, scars you. Those days never go away, so just sheer joy [today],” he stated.”You want to see the team achieve their potential and I just felt the last two years, we left a bit of ourselves after us and just didn’t produce the quality in those key moments to get over the line.”We were up against great opposition today and they will come again, but look at Clare, Cork, Tipperary and Waterford brought great challenges in their own right in the Munster Championship, so it’s always difficult.”That [final score] may have shown a margin between the teams but it’s one we earned by sheer application and quality we earned, the intensity we brought to the game and we were relentless. When we got chances, we took them.”Figure caption, Highlights: Kerry win All-Ireland in styleWhile Limerick weren’t at their most ruthless best in previous games, they saved their best for last as they starved Galway of oxygen, lured them into traps and punished time and again.Name-checking team coach Paul Kinnerk, psychologist Caroline Currid and the medical team led by Adrian O’Brien, Kiely insisted it was a team effort to return the Treaty back to the summit.After two years away, there was a renewed sense of desire in the Limerick panel and a “relentless” approach paid off as they swept the board in 2026.”I’m so happy for the lads,” Kiely continued.”To produce that level of performance in a final takes great satisfaction, but it takes an incredible level of preparation.”The players have worked tirelessly from the 15 November when we got together and there has never been an occasion I was unhappy with application in training and it’s been incessant. We took five days off over Christmas and after that I don’t think we took more than two or three days of a break.”They have been relentless in their work and there is an incredible sense of unity in the group.”‘Privilege’ for Byrnes to win another titleImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Byrnes scored four points in Limerick’s winIt was Kiely’s sixth title as manager which the bulk of this current team have helped deliver.Diarmaid Byrnes chipped in with four points on a day in which Limerick hit the heights they always felt they could reproduce after a couple of difficult championship campaigns.”The last couple of years we were putting ourselves in positions to get back into a final but it didn’t go our way,” the Patrickswell man stated.”We’ve been on a long, successful road and one we’ve all enjoyed, but comparing it to 2018 – they’re all equally as special.”Sharing a dressing room with those lads is a privilege.”Related topicsGaelic Games
