JOHN KIELY feared Peter Casey might not play for Limerick again — but the Treaty chief hailed his comeback king after Casey’s winning return last night.
The Na Piarsaigh hitman suffered a horror ankle break in Limerick’s Munster SHC win over Tipperary last April.
But he has since recovered from that KO blow and was given a standing ovation after coming off the bench in last night’s rout of Galway.
Casey then scored a point and looked as sharp as ever as the Treaty trounced Micheál Donoghue’s Tribes at the Gaelic Grounds.
It left Kiely beaming with pride as he admitted: “Many of us leaving the Gaelic Grounds that day never thought we’d see him in a green jersey again.
“It’s great to see him back but I think he’d be the first to put his hand up and say he needs plenty of games to get up to the match pace and get the sharpness going.
“Peter has spent a long time recovering from his injury last year and it’s been a piece of work to get it right.
“I must credit the medical team with the work that they’ve done with him and the effort that he’s put in to get himself back on the pitch again.”
The Treaty were men on a mission after Clare beat them in their own backyard last weekend.
And they vented their fury on Galway last night in some style.
The rampant hosts had 12 different scorers — including returnee Casey.
But that was only after Kiely recalled the cavalry as Seán Finn, Kyle Hayes, Will O’Donoghue and Tom Morrissey came back into the fold.
Shane O’Brien scored an impressive 1-3 during a mesmerising first-half display as Cathal O’Neill and Aidan O’Connor both managed to hit a further 0-4 from play.
Barry Murphy also held Galway skipper Conor Whelan scoreless from play, while Shane Dowling impressed from his puckouts as injured Nickie Quaid looked on from the stand.
But the 2023 All-Ireland champions were dealt a blow after eight minutes when Mike Casey was clattered by Conor Cooney’s high challenge.
The St Thomas’ man only received a yellow for the tackle.
And it left the Limerick defender seeing stars as he exited the pitch.
And Kiely hopes his key defender will be fit for their re-fixed clash with Kilkenny next weekend.
He said: “Mike is OK. He was a bit groggy coming off. That’s just the way it was. He saw it for what it was.
“We move on. I haven’t seen it back so I can’t say if it was a red card.
“Hopefully he’ll recover quickly and we’ll get him back on the pitch as soon as possible.
“But he’s doing OK and is in good spirits.”
https://twitter.com/CraicOfTheAsh/status/1898469268741910597
Cooney got his marching orders eight minutes into the second half though when he flew in with a similar challenge on Murphy and picked up a second yellow.
Limerick surged 1-12 to 0-8 ahead by half-time and bullied Galway without breaking sweat.
O’Brien devoured their defence with 1-3 as Fintan Burke failed to get to grips with him and the Kilmallock man ran riot.
He was one of eight Limerick scorers in the opening 35 alone as Aaron Gillane, O’Connor, Colin Coughlan, Barry Nash, Hayes, Adam English and O’Neill all split the posts.
The Tribes coughed up too much possession and got their first warning two minutes in when English was allowed to run through on goal and Darach Fahy saved his low drive.
But Cooney’s high challenge on Mike Casey was the talking point of the half and he was lucky to stay on the pitch, much to the bemusement of the Limerick sideline.
The Treaty led by a single score at that point before Gillane, O’Neill and O’Brien stretched their lead.
O’Brien then left Fintan Burke for dead to hand Limerick a five-point advantage.
He tortured the St Thomas’ defender again with his well-taken goal.
A sweeping Limerick move started off with Dowling’s puckout and it finished with English’s ball broken down by Gillane — and O’Brien did the rest.
Galway never got going and had NINE first-half wides as Whelan, Conor Cooney, Michael Garvey, Padraic Mannion, Tom Monaghan, Kevin Cooney and Gavin Lee were all guilty of missing the target.
Remarkably, Limerick had the same tally of misses. But they created far more chances to go in seven up.
The Treaty were able to control the second half without exerting too much pressure and kept their composure to wear Galway down.
Conor Cooney and Tiernan Kileen were the only starting forwards to score for Donoghue’s men.
And after Conor Cooney was sent off, Cathal Mannion was deployed for his first appearance of the year after surgery on his Achilles.
The Ahescrath-Fohenagh man took over free-taking duties and finished his night with 0-7.
But his team were second best by far as Limerick kept on turning the screw.
Dowling made his only save of the night when he deflected a Brian Concannon shot over the bar but that was a rare sniff at goal.
PETER PRAISE
O’Neill, O’Connor and Gillane stretched Limerick’s lead before Hayes went off to a rousing ovation.
And Peter Casey then came on to an even bigger one before announcing his arrival with a super score.
Tom Morrissey added another before David Reidy pointed with his first touch to stretch their lead to 14 points.
Gearóid Hegarty was then thrown into the mix for good measure.
The game started to fizzle out as Gillane and Cathal Mannion swapped scores from frees.
Nash then put the tin hat on an emphatic Limerick win to move on to five points in the NHL Division 1A table. The Treaty have two games left.
Galway had secured their top-flight status thanks to their now crucial fifth-round win over Wexford.
But the manner of their performance will worry boss Donoghue nonetheless given Limerick’s dominance.
Their sloppiness in possession, some poor shooting and their openness at the back is a major concern even at this early stage of the season.
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 blood 9 mins for M Casey; 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 h-t; C Mannion 0-7, 6f for D Burke 44 mins; J Cooney for K Cooney 47; S Linnane 0-1 for Whelan 48; TJ Brennan for Morgan 66.
REFEREE: J Owens (Wexford).
