Limerick remain on course for a fourth successive Liam MacCarthy Cup victory after an impressive victory over Galway yesterday evening.
For the second season in a row John Kiely's side proved too strong for Galway, winning by a comfortable nine point margin.
It wasn't all plain sailing for Limerick however. After 25 minutes Galway lead by six points and seemed to be in control of the encounter.
It was at this point that Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Quaid went down with in an injury it what some believe was an apparent way of buying time allowing his side to regroup.
Has to be something done about this stuff. Goalkeepers at it all the time. Ref has a duty of care to treat any potential head injury seriously, people are playing on that in a really unsporting way that looks terrible. Gonna have to make them go off if they're treated to fix it pic.twitter.com/WCutG86Gts
— Cahair O'Kane (@CahairOKane1) July 8, 2023
Davy Fitzgerald on Nickie Quaid incident
Current Waterford manager and ex-Clare goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald would be familar with all the tricks in the book, and he called out Quaid's behaviour on co-commentary on RTÉ Radio One:
"Being honest I'd say Limerick are in so much trouble that he's just deciding to break up the play," he said.
"That's what I honestly see. I don't think that much happened to Nickie.
"He's done it once or twice in the championship already, he's just trying to break the play up."
After the game Galway boss Henry Shefflin admitted he felt that the incident had killed his team's momentum.
“Of course it did, we were all shouting, we felt it was. There’s no doubt about it, it did, but that shouldn’t impact, to be fair.
“They obviously just reset a little bit, the dragged loads of bodies out to the middle and just left Aaron or Seamus up top on their own and get the terms back because they are so powerful around that middle.
“Everybody knows that, you have to go out and play against it, but obviously they have the experience and the guile and they have the hurlers as well."
John Kiely played down what happened saying he didn't really notice it.
🗣️ '[Gearoid Hegarty] is not a great 6, but he's a great 7 though!'@LimerickCLG's John Kiely feels his side will need to continue to improve ahead of the All Ireland final, regardless of who their opponents will be | 🏑
🎙️ @ashoreilly
Hurling w/ @BGEGAA pic.twitter.com/NtRcA1LY8w— Off The Ball (@offtheball) July 8, 2023
"I can tell you this much, I don't honestly know what was wrong," he told Off The Ball's Aisling O'Reilly.
"He was one hundred yards from me and I had a lot on my plate at that stage. We were having some very deep conversations so I haven't a clue what went on there."
It's impossible to tell the extent of the impact it had on the flow of the game but one thing that is for certain is that Limerick were ultimately full value for their win.
They will now face Kilkenny or Clare in the All-Ireland final in two weeks time.
SEE ALSO: Anthony Daly On Galway's Implosion: 'No Leaders; Meltdown In The Puckout'
