Another year has passed and Limerick are still making light work of any opposition to their five-in-a-row quest. While they only overcame Tipperary by a single point last night, the stark difference in their quality was considerable, with a last-minute goal decorating the scoreboard for Tipp.
If Limerick's ruthlessness is a consistent, then so too is Cian Lynch's prominence at the centre of their attack. The Patrickswell man scored 0-2 last night but proved crucial to the commendable 26 points John Kiely's men put on the board, in what was his first game back in 2024.
Lynch's efforts last night earned him a deserved man of the match award, with the difference in his hurling compared to this point last year very noticeable. Something Joe Canning picked up on, saying he'd noticed a considerable difference in his physical appearance from 2023.
He’s the Man pic.twitter.com/o3zHbiQu26
— Limerick GAA (@LimerickCLG) March 10, 2024
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Joe Canning points to physical difference in Cian Lynch
Speaking on RTE Radio 1 this afternoon, Canning gave an engaging insight into where Limerick are at the moment, saying the only chance you have to beat Limerick is putting pressure on Gearoid Hegarty and Cian Lynch, suggesting Cian Lynch had dropped a bit of weight and looked a lot faster.
One thing about Cian Lynch last night, I think he looked a little bit slimmer for some reason and he looked a lot faster and nimbler on his feet last night than he did maybe last year. So I thought it was interesting from my view not to say that he was too big, there's not a pick on him.
I wouldn't be surprised if he's not in the gym as much as he used to be, he just looked really nimble last night.
Whether there's any truth to Lynch ditching some of the gym in favour of being faster it's hard to say, but any suggestions of a faster Cian Lynch could have inter-county matches quaking in their boots come the championship.
Speaking about his own performance last night, Lynch mentioned that they'd been training particularly hard and pushing themselves.
Cian Lynch and Donnacha O Dalaigh reflect on Limerick's Allianz Hurling League defeat of Tipperary #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/TOYubPoaNS
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) March 9, 2024
This time of year we're training hard the last two months and lads are pushing each other even this man here beside (Donnacha O Dalaigh) me is just pushing the barrier every night for training.
Lynch was also impressed with the impacts some of the youngsters like O'Daligh were having on the squad,
Yeah it's unreal, there's a good batch of new lads after coming in this year from 18-24 and pushing all the likes ourselves who are there the last few years. That's what you need, you need freshness and need lads to keep pushing and their condition there is class.
Lynch and Limerick have now booked their spot in the league semi-final and brought themselves one step closer in their quest for five All-Irelands in a row.
With Cian Lynch in the form of his life and the conveyor belt that is Limerick hurling still churning out new players, it will take serious improvements from another team to mount any sort of genuine challenge to their supremacy.
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