John Kiely: Today should be a Dublin story, not a Limerick one
Limerick manager John Kiely has said that the post-mortem of their shock All-Ireland quarter-final defeat must not ignore the brilliance of a Dublin side who rocked the championship despite playing with a man less for over 55 minutes.
Despite a bright start from Niall Ó Ceallacháin's heavy underdogs at Croke Park, they looked in real trouble as Chris Crummey was red carded for a high tackle on Gearóid Hegarty just 15 minutes in.
However, backed by an increasingly vociferous crowd, they earned a famous 2-24 to 0-28 success to set up a semi-final date with Cork.
"Listen, I think it's more about the Dublin performance than it is about ours, to be honest," Kiely told RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"They were super. Even at 14 men, you wouldn't have missed the 15th man not being on the field being honest about it.
"Breaking ball, they were there, their aggression levels were brilliant, they were super in the tackle, they were accurate – they were just at a higher level of performance than us today.
"They deserved their win completely and hats off to Niall and his team, they had them absolutely on the money. Congratulations to them."
The defeat means that Kiely's side will be absent from two All-Ireland finals in a row, the first time that has happened in his nine-year rein.
For the manager, the signs were there from early on.
"Our energy levels were that bit down, I could see it after 10 minutes, I could feel it from the group after 10 minutes," said Kiely, who said that the pre-match noise of an excepted comfortable Treaty win never seeped into the dressing room.
"They deserved their win completely"
A magnanimous John Kiely praises Dublin before giving his take on where it went wrong for his Limerick side in the All-Ireland quarter-final: https://t.co/9P5wJQ795L pic.twitter.com/4daNZDnzwP
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 21, 2025
"It's hard to know why that is because everything we did for the last two weeks and this morning would have led us to be very happy with where we were in our preparations.
"Ultimately, I think it's not about us today, it's about Dublin."
Opposite number Ó Ceallacháin's golden run continues. Having guided Dublin club Na Fianna to a first-ever All-Ireland title at the same venue in January, he now has the chance to bring the county to a first final since 1961.
However, he cut a composed figure afterwards despite the possibilities that have opened up for his side.
"To win that game against a team like Limerick, with the level they have been at for so long, is an incredible achievement.
"To do so having obviously gone down to 14 so early in a game like that and on a day like that with the sun beating down – the energy expended from the boys and the lads who went in from the line, I'm just very, very proud."
"Absolutely delighted and very proud"
Dublin hurling manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin reacts to his Dublin side's famous win over Limerick at Croke Park: https://t.co/9P5wJQ795L pic.twitter.com/uJT6hWlgDI
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 21, 2025
On losing Crummey, the manager said that tactics didn't get them through their numerical disadvantage, instead pointing to good old values like desire and work-rate.
"It's not tactical, what it comes down to is the boys inside, how deep they dug, the hunger that was there, ground ball after ground ball.
"It looked like our boys wanted it more even with four on three or three on two at times in rucks on the ground.
"It's a complicated game, we've worked a lot on the small bit but in the cold light of day it's that stuff that the whole thing comes down to."
The Dublin boss also sounded off by adding that their eyes would not be taken off the task at hand by the goodwill coming their way after the result.
"Once we were out of Leinster it's a new competition. Four games, two down, two to go."
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