Limerick early season form based on years of hard work

Top of Division 3 and on course for a pivotal promotion after two games, the Limerick footballers are enjoying the unlikely situation of being the in-form senior team in the county.

While the hurlers endured an opening day defeat, Billy Lee's footballers made it two from two with a big win in Antrim.

Former Limerick defender Pa Ranahan says a huge focus on physical conditioning has helped the current team make a fine start to the 2022 season.

Ranahan feels those areas are the biggest factors in a county like his - where hurling is primarily the main focus - sustaining its development.

And whilst welcoming the principle of the Tailteann Cup, he says offering a backdoor into the same year's Sam Magure series would be a massive carrot for all teams in the bottom two tiers.

Limerick currently top Division 3, having beaten Longford and Antrim in successive weeks.

Ranahan was one of the county’s stalwarts for almost a decade – and he reckons the emphasis on conditioning and athleticism has allowed the Limerick team to express themselves fully this season.

He made his championship debut under Mickey Ned O’Sullivan against Cork in 2007 and his inter-county career ended against the same opposition in the 2016 qualifiers.

The Ballysteen man has been part of the county’s underage academies since then. He travelled to watch the team play Antrim at the weekend and says not enough credit is being given to managers at that level.

"This is year seven of our underage academies that were started by Paul Kinnerk, but very few have come through that system yet because they would still be too young. But hopefully they will come through in the next year or two.

"And that is crucial because Billy Lee has already mentioned the gap that lads have to make