Gillane ‘over the moon’ after League Final win:
By John Harrington
They say the League is quickly forgotten once the championship starts, but the goal that Aaron Gillane scored for Limerick in today’s Division 1A Final victory over Cork will live in the memory banks for a long time
When and his marker Seán O’Donoghue both raced towards an incoming ball midway through the first-half Gillane showed great sleight of hand and foot to touch it behind O’Donoghue and turn onto it all in the one fluid movement.
The flick left O’Donoghue stranded in no-man’s land and Gillane bearing down on goal. He rose the ball into his hand and buried his shot from the 21-yard line to the back of the net.
It was a moment of pure hurling genius, but man of the match Gillane, was staying humble when he spoke to GAA.ie after the game.
“It might be one in every 10 times it comes off,” he said with a smile. “It might be nine times out of 10 times you miss the ball and you look like a complete fool altogether. Luckily enough it came off today so I’m happy with that.
“I enjoyed the game. I was lucky enough with a couple of balls that came in, they broke the right way for me. Another day that mightn’t happen at all. I’m over the moon. The most important thing is to get the win for the whole team.
“It was a tough game and just getting over the line is the most important thing. It’s good to be able to get a very competitive run out like this coming into the championship but it’s going to go up a notch again in a couple of weeks. We’ll just go back to training on Tuesday or Wednesday and hit the ground running again.”
Limerick looked like they could win this match easily when Gillane’s goal pushed them 1-11 to 1-2 ahead, but a second quarter comeback from Cork meant a gritty second-half performance was required by the Shannonsiders to eventually get the job done.
“The way we finished out the game and the way we started the second-half is very pleasing for us,” said Gillane.
“It feels like the game has gone to a whole new level altogether in terms of speed, strength and everything. The lads coming off the bench are due all the praise because they really pushed us over the line at the end.”
Limerick have hurled throughout the League like a team keen to prove a point after last year’s All-Ireland SHC quarter-final exit to Dublin, and Gillane wasn’t inclined to disagree.
“We have a point to prove to ourselves,” he says. “We’re going out trying our best every day. We’re pushing ourselves in training. It’s ourselves we have to prove a point to and I’m actually looking forward to the championship now. Roll on the 26th.”
After the match Limerick manager, John Kiely, paid tribute to Gillane who he believes is still getting better at the age of 30.
“I think he’s very focused on continuously improving,” said Kiely. “That guy does an incredible amount of work that you never see, in terms of his preparation before games, his studying of the video footage. He wants to contribute as much as he can for the group.
“He takes his hurling extremely seriously. He knows that the smallest of margins make the difference. From our perspective, to have him in there leading that group, we’re lucky to have him and we expect him to do that.
“There’s an expectation there that him, at this stage in his career, is able to lead that line, is able to drive that and drive the standards in terms of preparation for it as well. Delighted with his contribution. He knows there’s more there. He knows that himself.
“He had a couple of opportunities he could have got away with and got a few more bits out of it. He’ll be happy with what he got but he’ll be disappointed with a few of the bits that got away from him.”