The Limerick footballers stepped out of the shadow of their more illustrious hurling counterparts this year with a series of impressive championship displays which included an emphatic victory over Meath. Limerick captain Kieran O'Callaghan, who missed the All-Ireland qualifier campaign, was delighted with the team's progress and feels a place in the Munster final is highly achievable in 2009. In a year when the Limerick hurlers proved a major letdown after reaching last year's All-Ireland final, their lesser-known but equally dedicated football counterparts made people sit up and take notice with their impressive championship form. Undoubtedly the highlight of the footballers' season was their sensational All-Ireland qualifier trouncing of once mighty Meath at the Gaelic Grounds. The incredible win was orchestrated by teenage sensation Ian Ryan, who scored a whopping 3-7 and was duly nominated for the Young Footballer of the Year award. Sadly for Limerick, they couldn't replicate that performance the following week against a revitalised Kildare with John Doyle's second half goal proving all-important for the winners. Earlier, in the Munster championship, Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's young side defeated Tipperary before losing to Cork in heartbreaking circumstances. But overall, they had much to be enthused about and with the controversial Munster championship seeding system dispensed with, they are looking forward to the new season with real optimism. "There was lots of progress made this year and hopefully we'll be able to build on that in 2009," says Limerick captain Kieran O'Callaghan. "We were devastated after losing to Cork, but we learned a valuable lesson and took that into the Meath game where we gave our best performance in years. Even though Meath were the favourites, we had been going well in the training and knew we could take them. "It was the best win I was ever involved in as a Limerick player and made up for all the disappointing days I've had, especially against Cork at both senior and under 21 level. Please God, we'll have more days like that to look forward to and that we'll continue to make progress. With Kerry and Cork on the same side of the Munster draw next year, we have a great chance of reaching a Munster final and that's what we'll be aiming for," adds the 22-year-old Ballylanders forward, who sat out the games against Meath and Kildare after picking up a 'dead leg' in a challenge match against Wexford. There was little to suggest that Limerick would make an impact on the championship after they struggled to retain their Division 3 status. But according to O'Callaghan, the appointment of Donie Buckley and Mike McGeehan as physical trainers was instrumental in transforming their fortunes. "The two lads made a big difference after they took on the training about a month before we played Tipperary in the first round of the championship. Up until then, our results hadn't been great and we were lucky enough to stay in Division 3. "A few things went against us in the league like injuries and the fact that we had two wasted journeys to Fermanagh and Down (both games were postponed at the 11th hour due to fog and a water-logged pitch respectively). But it was proven afterwards that Division 3 was quite a strong division with Wexford, Fermanagh, Down and ourselves all having good championship runs." The Shannonsiders opened their league campaign with a victory over Louth before losing to Sligo by a point. They drew with eventual All-Ireland semi-finalists Wexford in their next outing, but further losses to Longford and Down left them needing to beat Leitrim in their last game at Kilmallock to avoid relegation and banishment to the Tommy Murphy Cup. In the event, Limerick eeked out a 1-9 to 0-11 victory to preserve their status and send the visitors down instead. Limerick's Munster championship first round clash with Tipperary at Fermoy was an entirely forgettable affair with neither side impressing. However, as Mickey Ned O'Sullivan pointed out afterwards, getting the right result is all that matters in championship football and Limerick, after being four points in arrears at half-time, achieved that by running out 1-8 to 1-5 winners. The game was as drab a Munster championship opener as you could wish to see. To illustrate the point, both teams could only manage one score when each played against the wind. It took Limerick 36 minutes to register their first score of the game, while Tipperary's solitary second half score came after 33 minutes. Helped by a Barry Brogan goal, Tipp led by 1-3 to 0-0 as the first half drew to a close. But in injury-time, Limerick struck for a goal when Seanie Buckley finished to the net after Padraig Browne's initial effort had been blocked. It was a crucial score in the overall context of the game as a four-point deficit, rather than seven, didn't look insurmountable for Limerick who had wind advantage to come. Three points in succession by Ian Ryan, including a superb effort from a sideline kick, tied the game for the first and only time in the 47th minute. After Sean Kiely produced an excellent save to deny Philip Austin a goal in the 50th minute, Limerick reeled off three more points without reply to seal the win. The Shannonsiders were much improved in their semi-final meeting with Cork at the Gaelic Grounds and looked on course for a famous victory when they led by three points with just two minutes remaining. But in a dramatic finale, Cork scored two goals to win 2-9 to 0-12 and leave the home side heartbroken. Limerick made the brighter start and led 0-3 to 0-1 after 13 minutes. But the Rebels rallied strongly in the second quarter to take a 0-6 to 0-5 lead into the interval. The underdogs' hopes appeared to suffer a setback when Seanie Buckley was red-carded in the 41st minute, but they dug deep and when Stephen Kelly fired them into a 0-12 to 0-9 lead with time running out, they looked home and dry. But two goalkeeping errors by Sean Kiely, who earlier made a marvellous save to deny Daniel Goulding, paved the way for the two late goals - scored by Goulding and Graham Canty - that broke Limerick hearts. Limerick bounced back from that disappointment in sensational fashion when they crushed Meath 4-12 to 4-3. Indeed, the scoreline flattered the shell-shocked Royals who had trailed by all of 20 points midway through the second half before a late rally yielded four goals. No one in the 4,526 attendance could have foreseen what was to come when the sides lined up for the throw-in. Right from the start, Limerick served notice of their intentions and after missing some glorious chances, the floodgates opened with Ian Ryan's first goal from the penalty spot after 11 minutes. The St. Senan's clubman struck for his second major when he palmed John Galvin's rebounded effort to the net and completed his hat-trick shortly after half-time. A fourth goal from midfielder Galvin gave the Shannonsiders an incredible 4-11 to 0-3 lead before Meath salvaged some pride by scoring four late goals - two of them coming from substitute Joe Sheridan. O'Callaghan remembers: "After the Cork game, we took a week off and that helped us to get over the disappointment. Then we drew Meath in the qualifiers and we had no problem motivating ourselves for that one. I wouldn't say we are nine points a better team than Meath - it was more a case of everything going right for us on the day." Limerick drew another Leinster team, Kildare, in the next round and with home advantage once again, were widely expected to continue their winning ways. But in a much closer affair, John Doyle's goal 10 minutes from the end proved decisive as the Lilywhites claimed a 1-11 to 0-11 victory. Superbly led by vice-captain John Galvin at midfield, the Shannonsiders raced into a 0-6 to 0-3 lead after 20 minutes and Kildare were on the rack. However, the scores didn't come as freely as they did the previous Saturday night and after Ken Donnelly kicked Kildare first score in 13 minutes, only a point separated the sides after 25 minutes. Kildare might have been level, but some dreadful shooting cost them before Limerick finished the half strongly to lead by 0-8 to 0-5 at the short whistle. The home side extended their lead to four points early in the second half, but as fatigue began to creep in, Kildare reduced the arrears to 0-9 to 0-10 before Doyle's goal gave them the necessary spur to go on a win a pulsating contest. O'Callaghan, who dismisses the notion that Limerick were uncomfortable with their new-found favouritism, believes they will only get better in the year ahead, pointing to the team's low age profile as an indicator to their potential. "Apart from Stephen Lavin, Johnny McCarthy and John Galvin, the rest of the lads are very young. The average age of this year's full forward line (Ian Ryan, Ger Collins and O'Callaghan) was just 20, while James Ryan, who played centre forward, is only 21. There is huge potential in the team and with Mickey Ned back for another year as manager, there is no reason why we can't continue to improve." The young plasterer is also confident that Limerick will hold onto Ian Ryan who, not surprisingly, has been attracting the attention of Aussie Rules clubs. "Ian is training to be a teacher and I'd be very surprised if he didn't stay at that. He is an exceptional talent and it would be an awful shame if we were to lose him." Tweet

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