No F-words needed as the Limerick Green Machine finds final gear

John Kiely doesn't lower himself to using the F-word. That’s four, as in 'four All-Ireland titles in a row’.

In a fortnight, Limerick could become only the third team in the history of hurling to complete the feat.

"That’s been there since the day we left here last year. That was always going to be there as a question: could it be done or will it be done?" mused the manager after his side’s 2-24 to 1-18 victory over Galway in Saturday's semi-final.

"I’ve often said it to the lads, they don’t need any further success to demonstrate to them or me or anybody else that they are a great team.

"That is something that obviously is a point of focus. But you can’t concentrate on the finishing line. You have to concentrate on the piece of work in front of you. And we’ve done that very successfully right throughout the season.

"All we’re worried about is, can we win the next match? We’ve enough to worry about to be honest, besides that. When you’re losing the likes of Sean Finn, Declan Hannon, Cian (Lynch) has had injuries – we’ve had a lot to contend with. We’ve had a barrage of really strong challenges coming at us in the Munster championship.

"We haven’t had time to look very far down the road at all, only take it week to week, session to session and be the best we can in those moments. Not wish it away on ourselves either."

Despite the eventual nine-point winning margin, not an overly flattering one, Limerick looked in trouble early on. After 26 minutes, they trailed Galway by six points. Diarmaid Byrnes got one back but they were fortunate not to immediately concede a second goal.

"Obviously yeah, you're going to be concerned at that stage," Kiely admitted. "We were playing second fiddle at that point. Galway were setting the terms of