Christy O'Connor on Limerick v Galway: All-Ireland final experience will be difference at Croke Park

Sixteen days before their All-Ireland semi-final against Clare, the Limerick squad gathered in the Gaelic Grounds that morning for an early start.

After a training session, they had breakfast and then boarded a bus for Killarney. Even before their training weekend had begun in the Kerry town, Limerick had already got a head start.

After arriving in Killarney, much of the afternoon was spent around analysis, team-meetings and bonding. After training the following day, the squad travelled to Fitzgerald Stadium to take in the blockbuster Armagh-Kerry football game.

By the time Kerry were running away with the match in the second half, the fascination with some of the supporters had turned to the gang in the stand laden down with All-Ireland medals than the action on the pitch.

Limerick were merely following routine. Prior to their All-Ireland semi-final in 2022, 2023 and 2024, Limerick had also travelled south two weeks out from those matches because they had a four-week lay-off after winning a Munster title.

They were denied that time and opportunity after losing last year’s Munster final to Cork. 

But it was also a shock to their system, and their routine. And then Dublin caused one of the biggest shocks in championship history when sensationally taking them out in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

That defeat hit Limerick hard. Really hard. Especially when Dublin had been reduced to 14 men early in that match. 

It also forced John Kiely, his management and the players into some serious introspection. Were they prepared as well as they could, or should, have been?

They lost three championship matches, even if one of those (the Munster final) was on penalties. The last time that happened was in 2019 when Limerick lost twice in Munster before being ambushed in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny.

That match was a massive turning point in the direction of that Limerick squad as they returned to win four All-Irelands in succession. And last year’s defeat to Dublin was a similar landmark moment.

It was the first time since 2017 that Limerick had failed to win a trophy under Kiely. So Kiely’s side went back to basics again, from the very start of this season, by winning the Munster League.

Winning a trophy with loads of internal competition for places is how Kiely has always liked Limerick to roll. And they have kept rolling ever since by winning the National League and the Munster championship.

Yet despite the increasing maturity of some of the younger players, the amount of mileage on Limerick’s clock asked the question if Limerick could continue to roll in the same manner that they routinely used to?

Grind it out

They have kept rolling on, but in a different way. One of Limerick’s greatest strengths in their pomp was their capacity to grind down teams while keeping the scoreboard moving.

They haven’t been consistently racking up as many scores in this championship. Limerick have only averaged 1-21 (identical scores) in their last two games against Cork and Clare.

Their average shot count in those matches was 40. They’d have wanted their average conversion rate in those games to be far higher than just 55%. Yet Limerick have been grinding and wearing teams down like never before.

In the second half of the Munster final against Cork, Limerick only conceded 1-6, with Brian Hayes’ sensational goal the only score Cork managed from play. In the second half of the All-Ireland semi-final against Clare, Limerick only leaked 1-3, just 0-1 from play.

So in their last two second halves of hurling – in extremely tight games decided by just one score – Limerick have only coughed up 1-1 from play. Staggering.

It feels like an age now since Galway scored 0-22 in the second half of their league game against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds in March. In what was effectively a league semi-final, Limerick needed to scramble a late goal-shot off the line to stamp their ticket to a final against Galway.

It was clear to everyone that night that there was something completely different about Galway this year. Because there has been.

Their performance against Cork two weeks ago was a masterclass, but it has been a masterclass in smart and strategic management from Micheál Donoghue with how he has rebuilt this team after such a disastrous championship in 2025.

Impatient

Galway supporters have never had much patience. The only future for them is always now, but there was an acceptance that managing a heavy period of transition while simultaneously trying to make Galway more competitive was going to involve a certain degree of pain.

There was even more potential for agony and discomfort when Donoghue rolled out a new defensive/counterattacking style. Yet this summer has been relatively painless. The only championship match Galway lost was against Dublin in Salthill. But Donoghue’s side returned with a vengeance when the sides met again in the provincial decider; Galway won by 14 points; the 4-29 they clocked was the biggest score ever recorded in a Leinster final.

There were 10 changes to that starting team to the side which bombed against Kilkenny in the 2025 Leinster final. 

The inconsistency that contaminated Galway’s form last year has been replaced by the surety of consistency throughout this championship.

After Donoghue’s first term ended in 2019, Galway were continually accused of not having an identity. And now that they have finally rediscovered it through predictable consistency and a nice blend of youth and experience, nobody is in any doubt that the side Donoghue has reconstructed is built to perform on the biggest stage.

And they will need to deliver their biggest performance yet on Sunday to beat Limerick.