'Hurt is going to be God awful' says John Kiely as Limerick reign ended by Cork

John Kiely insisted that five-in-a-row pressure played no part in Limerick’s first Championship knockout in five years.

And the Limerick boss said that the pain will be “God awful” as history slipped through their fingers with Cork edging a classic All-Ireland semi-final on a 1-28 to 0-29 scoreline.

“I don’t think it had any bearing on us at all, to be honest with you,” said Kiely of the drive for five. “We felt light about all that all year. We were very committed to going after the 2024 Championship.

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“When you’re on the road as long as the lads are, on a winning run like they have been, of course you’re going to come up against opportunities for the opposition to beat you. Of course you are.

“But we gave ourselves an opportunity to win it too. It wasn’t that we didn’t have the opportunity to win the game today. If we were beaten by 10 points you’d say, ‘Something’s wrong here, we didn’t give ourselves an opportunity to win the game’.

“We could have won by two or three but we didn’t and, you know, that’s just the way it is so no, no concerns about the weight of that on the group.”

However, the age profile of the group suggests that there is more in Limerick yet, with just four of the starting 15 aged over 30.

“Well, listen, the group of guys that are inside in that dressing room are incredibly dedicated.

“They shape their world around hurling, where they choose to live, where they choose to work, where they choose to go to college, they have shaped their world around this group, this team. There's an incredible togetherness and unity within the group and, they're going to hurt now, there's no doubt about that.

“The hurt is going to be God awful. I have no doubt, but it is what it is. We haven't tasted defeat very often, but any time we have, it has tasted very sour.”

“So we just have to go through that now, the group will reflect obviously, individually, collectively. There will be a lot of time for that. But I suppose, listen, today is not for that consideration. I think that will take quite a bit of time.”

A sellout crowd, a record for an All-Ireland hurling semi-final, descended on Croke Park and Cork boss Pat Ryan acknowledged that the hype will be enormous as the Rebels chase a firs title in 19 years against Clare on July 21.

“It would be impossible to quell it down in Cork, to be honest with you,” said Ryan.

“We get confident after winning a Tiddlywink match. So look, from our point of view, it'll be just minding it from ourselves. And look, it's hard.

“Look, fellas are amateur men. They're going into schools, they're going into work, they're going into their families. But from our point of view, look, we know the job's not finished and that'll be our attitude.”

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