JOHN KIELY is still solving Limerick’s keeper conundrum with two NHL games to go.
The Treaty suffered a huge blow when three-time All-Star stopper Nickie Quaid suffered torn cruciate knee ligaments last November.
The injury forced Kiely to recall former hitman Shane Dowling into the squad as a goalie.
The Na Piarsaigh man retired from inter-county hurling in 2020 due to chronic knee trouble, but reinvented himself as a stopper with his club.
Dowling played in their 1-27 to 0-18 cruise against Galway on Saturday night as Shane O’Brien starred with 1-3, and was one of 12 Limerick scorers.
He has been used on rotation with Jason Gillane in the league so far, with Conor Hanley Clarke also in the mix.
The 2014 All-Star made a fine stop to deny Brian Concannon a goal in the second half but had very little to do otherwise, as the Treaty ran riot to banish their round 4 loss to Clare.
And Kiely insists his goalies have work to do before making a final decision on his number one for the championship.
He said: “Listen, everybody knew when we came back this year that this was going to be a piece that was going to have to be resolved.
“And listen, the boys have gone at it with gusto. We’ve three keepers in at the minute.
“They’re working extremely hard with their coaches. We couldn’t be happier with the effort that they’re all putting in.
“Everybody’s putting their shoulder to the wheel and from our perspective as management, they’ve done really, really well.
“Having said that, even on Saturday night, Shane would be the first to say there were a few balls he underhit, a few balls he overhit.
“There’s work-ons there for him. Yes, there were lots of positives there.
“But it’s the same for the other guys. They got lots of positive moments out of their time as well.
“But at the same time, work-ons as well. So listen, as a group, they’re working hard, they’re pushing each other and that’s all I can ask of them.
“And I think it’s been great for the group overall.”
OPEN CASEY
Peter Casey made his long-awaited return from his horror ankle break last April, scoring a point off the bench.
But his brother, Mike had to go off after 8 minutes when he failed to recover from Conor Cooney’s dangerous challenge and could be a doubt for Saturday’s refixed clash with Kilkenny at Nowlan Park.
Cooney was only booked for the tackle, but was sent off after the restart for a similar hit on Barry Murphy as Galway’s three-game winning streak came to a halt.
Injured stopper Quaid, 35, looked on from the stands and has been a huge reason behind their success under Kiely, as they won five All-Irelands in six seasons in 2023 and their sixth Munster title in a row last summer.
The Effin clubman has resumed light training but is unlikely to feature in the championship, as they start their Munster SHC campaign against Tipperary in Thurles on April 20.
And Kiely hailed his drive to get back on the pitch, even though the summer will probably come too soon.
He said: “Nickie is working very, very hard and has from almost day dot, to be honest, once he got over the operation, within two weeks he was doing a bit of recovery.
“It’s going extremely well. He’s working extremely hard. He’s back hitting a few balls again.
“He still has a long, long way to go. There’s no two ways about that.
“But listen, he’s pushing the envelope and we’re assisting him in doing that. The medical team are doing fantastic work with him.
“As a whole, I think that whole department is in a really good place and they’re all pushing each other extremely hard. Only good things can come from a group like that.”
LIMERICK: S Dowling; S Finn, M Casey, B Murphy; C Coughlan 0-1, K Hayes 0-1, B Nash 0-2; A English 0-1, W O’Donoghue; C O’Neill 0-4, C Lynch 0-1, T Morrissey 0-2; A Gillane 0-6, 4f, S O’Brien 1-3, A O’Connor 0-4.
Subs: V Harrington for M Casey 9mins (blood); P Casey 0-1 for Lynch 48, E Hurley for Hayes 50, D Reidy 0-1 for O’Donoghue 53, G Hegarty for O’Connor 57, E Stokes for English 66
GALWAY: D Fahy; S Morgan, F Burke, D Morrissey; P Mannion, G Lee 0-1, M Garvey; C Fahy, T Monaghan 0-1; K Cooney, T Killeen 0-1, David Burke; C Whelan, C Cooney 0-6, 3f, 1 65, A Burns.
Subs: B Concannon 0-1 for Burns HT, C Mannion 0-7, 6f, for D Burke 44, J Cooney for K Cooney 47, S Linnane 0-1 for Whelan 48, TJ Brennan for Morgan 66
REFEREE: J Owens (Wexford)
