Richie English takes a trip down memory lane to 2018

By John Harrington

Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final between Limerick and Galway naturally evokes memories of the classic encounter the two counties produced in the 2018 Final.

A young Limerick team that has since gone on to prove themselves to be one of the greatest to ever play the game delivered the county's first All-Ireland title in 45 years, but not without shredding their supporters' nerves along the way.

We take a trip down memory lane with one of Limerick's heroes on the day, tigerish corner-back, Richie English.

GAA.ie: Richie, the 2018 championship was John Kiely's second year in charge of the team. Did it feel like things were really starting to knit together for a what was a very talented, young group? It looked like the team grew as the championship progressed?

Richie English: Yeah, I think it kind of even started with the League, to be honest. There were such big matches in the League as well because there was such a big emphasis being put on the new format and getting up to 1A, the top division in the League. The game above in Galway was a big one for us and then we won the quarter-final in against Clare. After extra-time it went to a free-taking competition so that was kind of a big one even to win that. We lost to Tipp in the League semi-final but there were big games all the way through the League and we took a lot of confidence from that campaign, especially going up to Galway and playing well up there and getting a result against the All-Ireland champions. They beat us twice the year previously, bad beatings, so to show that we were after closing the gap a bit was good for us. And then the Munster Championship just took on life of its own.

After winning the U21 in 2015 and '17, the Limerick crowd were kind of sensing that there was something coming. We didn't get to the Munster Final but we beat Tipp in Limerick, beat Waterford, and drew with Cork. So there were big games all through the Munster championship leading into the All-Ireland championship.

GAA.ie: That draw with Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh must have been a big one in the team's development because you played with 14 men for most of the game and showed a lot of character?

RE: Yeah, that was the big one in the Munster Championship. We went down to Cork and really stood up to them. Cork were going for a second Munster title in a row and they were a good team. They had beaten us in a lot of games, a few bad beatings. That game was the start of the new Páirc Uí Chaoimh and it was just an unreal atmosphere down there.

We've had great atmospheres down there since in Limerick and Cork matches, but that day, like, it was real championship, there was a real bite to it. To get the draw at the end against a good, experienced Cork team with some brilliant plaeyrs at that stage, we really kind of sensed we're at this level now and we got a lot of confidence.

GAA.ie: You then beat Carlow in the preliminary quarter-final and then Kilkenny in the quarter-final. Kilkenny had beaten ye narrowly the previous year when the team was maybe a bit too inexperiened to win a game like that, so it must have been another confidence booster to turn the tables on them?

RE: Kilkenny were on top for so long and you were looking up at those Kilkenny teams. The players that were playing even that day, Richie Hogan, TJ Reid, all those players, they were all unbelievable players and legends. Playing against them then that day, it was an unreal game again, another game that's often shown as a classic game. It was really nip and tuck and we got such confidence again from winning that one.

We were just enjoying the whole summer. Even going down to Carlow, beating Carlow, I remember there was heatwave and it was just week on week hurling and we were just loving it.

GAA.ie: The All-Ireland semi-final win over Cork after extra-time was possibly the most dramatic game of all that year?

RE: Yeah, it was. The Munster group game was so good that everyone was expecting another big game and it was just nip and tuck the whole way. Cork were a really good side, you know, they had a lot more experience maybe in Croke Park at that stage. They played a few games there, an All-Ireland in '13 and a few semi-finals and they were after winning back to back Munster titles so were coming in with a lot of confidence. Limerick, I suppose, we just kind of took it that, look, we can just go up and enjoy ourselves because the year was so enjoyable so far and you wanted to kind of keep it going. You were earning your way to get another two weeks or three weeks training.

We had a great bond in the team that year and there was a great mixture of youth and experience with some fellas that had been there in semi-finals, and lost semi-finals. The likes Richie McCarthy, Seamus Hickey, Graeme Mulcahy and Declan Hannon, and Tom Condon. They had some experience as well, so there was a good scatter of that with the youth in the team. That day with (Shane) Dowling coming on and playing so well, it was just an unforgettable game and unbelievable to get over the line that day.

GAA.ie: You were a very young team but clearly didn't lack confidence that year. Did it just feel like things were really coming together behind the scenes with that management team of John Kiely and Paul Kinnerk, and even Caroline Currid as Performance Coach?

RE: Definitely, yeah. We knew things were going well but we didn't really sense that it was going to go that well. At the start of the year we had hoped we'd get towards the business end of the championship. Training was brilliant. The backroom team was second to none with all the work that we were doing. And then the matches between ourselves as well, there were such good players who came together between the players that had been there and the players that were coming through then as well. The games were so intense and training was so tough that you were just thinking that matches would surely be a bit easier. Not saying that they were, but there was just a good buzz around going to training, all the things we were doing seemed to be working on the field so we were getting a bit more confidence as the year went on.

GAA.ie: The games-based training that Paul Kinnerk was doing with ye, trying to get ye more comfortable with uncomfortable situations that might arise in matches, was that something different to anything you'd experienced from a coach before?

RE: Oh yeah, sure Paul is incredible. The training we were doing, even in 2017 we felt we were getting better. He had such experience from playing himself and then working with Clare for those few years. He'd already won an All-Ireland with Clare and he was relatively young as a coach at that stage. The coaching was just brilliant, all the coaches that were with him then as well, they just complemented each other so well. The game-based coaching and drills we were doing, it was like we were playing matches in training every day and you were just loving it. Playing games, putting yourself into tough scenarios, so you'd faced that already and you had that in the back of your mind that I've been in this situation before.

GAA.ie: Is there anything that sticks out in your mind about the prepration for the All-Ireland Final.

RE: The week before it we were just so excited. I had been to most All-Irelands myself over the years and you were always so envious of the teams that got to prepare for an All-Ireland. I suppose the backroom team had good experience then with Paul and Caroline and John had been involved with teams that had prepared for All-Irelands and we seemed to tick off all the boxes to do the right thing before the final. There was going to be a bit of hype but we didn't have to worry about anything as players, we just had to worry about getting our gear together, get to the train on time, and that was all the worries you had, really. The pressure, I don't know did we feel the pressure that maybe was on the outside. We were just so excited to see how could we put in that performance on the day as well.

GAA.ie: You did produce that performance because you settled into the game very quickly. You were 1-8 to 0-6 ahead by the 28th minute but had hit 10 wides by then. So you were dominant for most of that first half, if not quite as clincial as you might have liked.

RE: I just remember the first half, it went very quick. The game had started and it felt the exact same as other games had felt. We were in the battle and you kind of forgot about what game it was then. We were in the battle against Galway, we'd played Galway before, and you knew that Galway were going to come back because they had such good players. Joe Canning was after producing unbelievable performances for a few games, and then they had a good splatter of forwards and backs that were just after playing so well in the years leading up to it. You knew they were going to come back with something, and, by God, they did.

But definitely that first half gave us a bit of confidence that we didn't lie down straight away, that we started well. We got a scrappy goal from Graeme Mulcahy at the start of the game and that kind of settled you down. I remember Declan (Hannon) got a great point through the middle as well, and it just kind of settled us all down and we got into the game. That was the main thing, getting into it and getting started, you know.

GAA.ie: Shane Dowling's goal after 68 minutes put Limerick eight points ahead and it looked all over at that stage. But then Galway came with that incredible late comeback, scoring two goals in quick succession.

RE: When you see the goals go in in Croke Park it's just an unbelievable atmosphere. When there are such big scores in big games...it just felt like we had been doing all the right things but then they showed their experience. They didn't panic, they kept on getting those scores, they got a goal, and suddenly then the game was getting tighter and tighter as you were getting towards the finish line. Thinking back on the performances that Galway had showed before that final, they were a brilliant team, so, you know, it was always going to happen that they were going to come back into it as the game went on.

GAA.ie: What were those closing minutes like for you? You had kept Conor Whelan very quiet, he hadn't gotten a single score, but then scored the goal that started their comeback. You're subbed off after 72 minutes so have to watch the last eight minutes of injury-time from the sideline which must have been torturous, especially when they got it back to just one point and Joe Canning had that late chance to level it with a long-range free?

RE: You were disappointed to concede a goal at that late stage, but we had a fantastic panel with players like Richie McCarthy, Seamus Hickey, Tom Condon on the subs for the backs. The confidence you had in those fellas going in, they were idols for us growing up. Richie went on for Mike Casey and Tom went on for me and I just remember thinking they were so dependable.

For those last few minutes I was sitting on the ground behind the management, I didn't end up getting up towards the seats in the Hogan when I came off. I was sitting on the red athletic track up against the barrier and I was just looking out at the game, thinking, 'oh no, what's going to happen here now, this game is just getting tighter and tighter'.

You had such confidence in the lads but it was getting so close, you know.

GAA.ie: Because of what happened against Offaly in the 1994 All-Ireland Final, Limerick supporters must have been thinking is this happening again? The atmosphere was incredible in those final few minutes, you could just feel their nerves shredding and the weight of history seemed very heavy when Galway got it down to one point.

RE: It wasn't anything that was referenced before the match or anything, I don't ever remember fellas talking about it, but maybe people outside the team were talking about it.

The way the game was going then, we were after playing well, you know, and they were coming back into it. Galway were just coming like a train, you know, and it was just about getting over the line at that stage in the last few minutes.

It was just absolute elation then when the final whistle went.

I couldn't describe the feeling, it was unbelievable. Tom Condon came out with that ball and it'll live long in the memory to everyone from a lot of counties, but definitely people from Limerick, when he burst out with that ball and the game was over it was just unbelievable.

GAA.ie: Nice, I'm sure, to see a fellow member of the corner-back union get the glory in that moment?! Especially for someone who had been such a great servant for Limerick hurling for so many years.

RE: It was unreal. Limerick supporters loved that team that Tom would have played on for many years with the likes of Richie McCarthy and Seamus Hickey, the lads that were playing in the backs. They were such legends so for Tom to come out at the ball at the end...it was great to see Tom get those plaudits.

GAA.ie: The noise in the stadium was incredible when that final whistle went. Limerick people were waiting for this for so long and just lost their minds. What were those few minutes like?

RE: In previous All-Irelands you'd have had pitch invasions but it was great to have the space on the field to be with the players and backroom team that had been with you. I remember just meeting loads of the backroom team members and everyone was just bursting crying and losing control of their bodies. It's just unbelievable the images you can remember and just the noise of it. When you her 'Dreams' going up in the background and you knew this was the day, this was the moment. You'd heard all the other anthems from other counties going up at that stage and now it was us...it was just sheer joy, you can't describe those moments with words. You just lose control. People in the crowd were just bawling their eyes out crying. Some of them would have been there 45 years before that and followed Limerick through the bad times and the good. There would have been years when there was only one game and the year was over, it was just so hard. So to finally get over the line, you couldn't describe the emotion that was there, it was just unbelievable, you'd love to go back.

GAA.ie: What were the following few days like when you brought the Liam MacCarthy Cup back to Limerick for the first time in 45 years?

RE: It was special. We got to do good tour of the county for a few days. The homecoming in Limerick first, you couldn't have imagined the crowd that was there at the train station when we got off the train. You never imagined these things happening, you were just living in the moment. What happened in those days, where did people go, it just all seemed to be laid out for you, the next thing to do, the next place to go, the people you met, the enjoyment you had going around, it was unbelievable.

You got to go to different places in the county. We went to John's home in Galbally, and we went to Adare and we went to Effin to Nickie Quaid's pub, and we went to Richie McCarthy's pub in Blackrock. We just took a tour of the county for a few days, it was unbelievable. The crowd you met everyday was incredible and everyone was just watching the match over and over again. We must have watched the match 20 or 30 times, it was on a constant loop for weeks in Limerick.

GAA.ie: How special was the journey the team went on together after that, winning five All-Ireland titles in six years?

RE: The group of players just wanted a bit more, you know? There was always a want for more and more. When we got that feeling in '18, I think everybody loved that feeling. The year after then you had the focus of the Munster Championship first because we hadn't gotten over the line in Munster the previous year. There was always something else you were chasing and once you got over the line in the Munster Championship you were trying to get the All-Ireland every year, that was the focus then.

The group was just so enjoyable to be with. I think everyone was loving training and you can still see today fellas are just loving going to training, going playing matches, challenging each other. 2018 was just the start of the journey that a lot of those fellas are still on at the moment.

GAA.ie: It's incredible that 13 players who played for Limerick in the 2018 All-Ireland will probably play in Sunday's Final as well. That says a lot about the group.

RE: It does, yeah. Every year there were a few changes in the group with the sprinkling of youth that's been brought into the team to complement that core of players who have just developed so much. Fellas are just improving in different areas all the time, fellas are getting better, fellas are playing in different positions. Players that hadn't played are now playing great roles and other fellas had to change their roles. The group that was there in 2018 has just continued to lead it. Even with Declan leaving the team, you still have unbelievable leaders there that are pushing it every night in training and every match, you know.

GAA.ie: That leadership in the group really came to the fore in the All-Ireland semi-final against Clare when things weren't really flowing for much of the game but they still ground out the vicotry.

RE: They never panicked, they kept trying to do the right thing, and eventually they got there. That's the thing you're focusing on, we've been in these situations before, I can imagine players were thinking that. Teams throw everything at you in every game and a team isn't going to get to an All-Ireland semi-final without being a good team. Clare played unbelievable in the game and Limerick held with them and then continued to do the right thing over and over again and had the reward then at the end of the game. The final whistle was a relief but also satisfaction at the effort that was put in.

GAA.ie: Having not reached the All-Ireland Final for the past two years, I'm sure those Limerick players will really have their eyes on the prize again?

RE: The losses from 2024 and 2025 will have fuelled them. There was hurt there from those two years and you wouldn't be a competitor if you weren't envious of the team that wins on that day in July. Looking at that too, there's a want for more. There definitely is that want to get over the line and again and want to show themselves as that great team.

GAA.ie: How do you see the game going?

RE: It's going to be tough. Galway have shown so much this year, playing well in the League and then getting that Leinster title win, winning fairly handsomely for a finish. They've got great confidence of playing in Croke Park from those games. I think Limerick will get over the line, I just have great faith in the lads that they do the right thing. There will problems faced on the day, but I just think that looking at what you have and the artillery you have on the bench as well, you'd be hoping that they'll get their best performance on the big day and have enough to get over the line. Knowing the preparation that goes in with the management team as well, that would give me confidence that they haven't left any stone unturned anywhere in their preparation.