It ain't all bad in Division 1B.
Limerick may be in the semi-finals of the National Hurling League, facing Galway this weekend but they will still be plying their trade in Division 1B next year after finishing behind both the Tribesman and the rejuvenated Wexford.
And their manager, John Kiely, knows that the people of Limerick would love to see his side compete in the top tier.
“There’s a lot of people that would be very anxious to see Limerick get promoted to 1A and to have the marquee teams coming to Limerick or us going to them for the matches in the springtime,” he said, speaking on The GAA Hour on Monday, in the wake of their impressive win over Cork at the weekend.
You can listen to Kiely's interview from 15'50" or continue reading below.
Yet, Kiely believes that playing in Division 1B isn’t the worst thing for Limerick
“Is it something that we feel is a major stumbling block for us? Absolutely not,” he said.
“We’ve had a great chance to use the younger players in the matches that might be more suited to them to give them a chance to bed down and get a bit of experience.”
And the one time corner-back was bullish about his team's prospects going forward after their third place finish in Division 1B.
“I think the league has served us very well as a group of players and management and we’re looking forward to the knockout stages and delighted to have gotten the win yesterday,” said Kiely.
“It’s another step in the right direction but we have a lot of steps to take and hopefully we can put in a good performance against Galway and see where it takes us from there”
Limerick’s clash against Galway will take place on April 16 at home in the Gaelic Grounds, as they hope to reach their first league final since they beat Clare in the Division 2 final in 2011.
Listen on Soundcloud, or subscribe on iTunes, and check out the line-up for the GAA Hour Hurling Show here...
1' Wooly tells us all he was right about Division 1B
3' Obligatory Ger Loughnane mention
5'30" JJ Delaney on Wexford showing Kilkenny no respect
8'30" Wooly takes issue with Diarmuid O'Keeffe's hair
10'45" Paddy Stapleton tells club goalies all over the country to get in shape
15'50" John Kiely interview
33'20" Analysis of Wexford's win over Kilkenny
48' Lads attempt to analyse the "complete farce of a game" that was Galway v Waterford
1'02" Performance of the week
