Peter Casey
By John Harrington
This evening’s Bord Gáis Energy Munster U-21 Hurling is a shot at redemption for many of the Limerick players preparing to do battle with Cork.
A large chunk of the team were also part of the senior panel that made an early exit from the All-Ireland Championship after defeats to Clare and Kilkenny, including classy corner-forward Peter Casey.
He showed flashes of promise in his first year that suggests he can make a big impact at the highest level for years to come, but as much as this year’s senior campaign was a learning process for him and his fellow U-21 players, it also felt like an opportunity missed.
“Yeah, I think a bit of both,” Casey told GAA.ie. “I think we will get better from it, but I also think it was a missed opportunity. It was a similar sort of game against Clare as well. We just couldn't quite get in front and push on in that game either.
“If we had gotten in front of Kilkenny down in Nowlan Park going into the last 15 minutes it might have gone differently, but instead we were always two or three points down and we couldn't really claw it back.
“There are positives to be gained from it. It's a very young team and we pushed Kilkenny very hard in Nowlan Park which is a good sign. But in the future we want to be winning below in Nowlan Park, and that's the plan.
“It was my first year this year and I hope anyway I've improved a bit. There were definitely a lot of lessons learned from going to Nowlan Park and playing in front of 30,000 people on Munster semi-final day below in Thurles against Clare.”
Casey admits one silver lining from their early exit from the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship means they’ve been able to prepare more assiduously for the U-21 campaign than would have been possible otherwise.
With players like Casey, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey, Barry Nash, Aaron Gillane, Kyle Hayes and Ronan Lynch in their ranks, this is one seriously talented generation of young Limerick hurlers.
Peter Casey
They were many people’s favourites to win the All-Ireland title before a ball was ever pucked this year, and there’s a good deal of expectation being put on their shoulders by a Limerick hurling public ravenous for some silverware.
“It's important to get that bit of success at underage every chance you get,” says Casey.
“Cork are going for three Munster titles in a row after winning the minor and senior and will bring a massive crowd with them.
“I'm sure there'll be a good Limerick crowd there on Wednesdsay night as well. We're Limerick's last team in any competition this year so that brings a little bit of pressure. But, look, I don't think the players read too much in to that.
“At the end of the day when the players cross the white-lines on Wednesday night it's going to be helter-skelter and we'll just try to enjoy it.”
Limerick go into this evening’s final against Cork as favourites, but Casey and many of his team-mates know from bitter experience that counts for little.
They were also hotly fancied to beat Kilkenny in the All-Ireland Minor Final three years ago but came up short, so there’s little chance of them getting carried away with themselves.
“Exactly, we were were favourites in the All-Ireland minor final three years ago in Croke Park against Kilkenny and there's still a good crop of lads from back then involved with this team,” says Casey.
“I wouldn't be putting us under too much pressure though. We've been taking it one game at a time and at the outset we weren't looking beyond Tipperary in the quarter-final, then it was Clare, and now it's just Cork. We're not looking past that, and we're just really looking forward to the game.
“At the end of the day hurling is a game of instinct and you don't know what's going to happen. All you can do is just prepare as best as you can and to be fair to management they're doing very well. We're well prepared so hopefully on Wednesday night we'll get the job done.”
