Limerick sharpshooter Sean Kelly Studying to attain his PHD Doctorate in Chemistry at University College Dublin, leading gaelic games sharpshooter Sean Kelly would like nothing better than to be the Limerick engineer of Tipperary's Munster senior football championship exit on May 16th next. A veritable catalyst of so many past Newcastlewest and successful county football experiments, sending his Munster neighbour's chances of a resurgence down the tubes is the Kelly and Limerick brief for the forthcoming first round clash. Though the record books show that Kelly's crew have always had their problems with the Premier County down the years, Limerick's versatile frontman is confident that the gaelic football laboratory that is John O'Keeffe has got together a winning formula to book his charges a place in the provincial semi final. From his Dublin training base, the 26 year old science student spares little thought for the haughty reputations of Tipp stars like Peter Lambert or Brian Burke. Very good players, Kelly admits, but he's used to mixing it with the very best of gaelic football. For some time, it transpires, the Newcastlewest speed merchant has been adding a spring to his step courtesy of mid-week training sessions in the company of among others, Kerry duo Dermot Hannafin and Anthony Gleeson, plus Mayo's Dermot Flanagan, all of whom have blossomed under the supervision of Michael O'Muircheartaigh. Mention of the two Kerrymen revives memories of Limerick's clashes in recent seasons with the Kingdom. For the neutral, distant observer of the Limerick/Munster football scene echoes of the counties clash in the 1991 provincial senior final, continue to reverberate with a large question mark and talk of missing boats surrounding Limerick's track record since. Who better to provide us with Limerick's inside track than the county's ace sharpshooter cum emergency midfielder. "To be honest, I don't really think we deserved to win the 1991 final against Kerry. We missed too many chances and we lacked a free taker on the day, plus Kerry's midfielder partnership of Mike Galway and Stephen Stack added to our downfall that day," explained the six foot plus, thirteen stone, most time forty yards playmaker. Ironically, the one-time sparkling dual player reckons that Limerick's performance in the penultimate round match of the 1992 Munster championship was easily their best display over the course of his by now seven year stint with one of the so-called members of the 'weaker' counties brigade. As a tearaway half forward that day against Jacko and the match favourites, Newcastlewest's best was especially prominent in providing the Kingdom with a nasty shock. Kelly's overview of last year's semi final dual could rightly be judged as to be as accurate as his right peg in full swing. "We should have gone through to meet Clare in the final and I can only say that our passage through would have been fully deserved. We dominated the second half and should have wrapped up the game. I remember hitting the butt of the upright with about ten minutes to go and on another day one of our lads might have picked up the rebound instead of the ball being cleared. Luck just wasn't on our side that day," recalled the long serving Limerick stalwart whose father Jack was a member of the county senior side which went down to Kerry in the Munster senior football final of 1965, on a 2-7 to 2-16 scoreline. Born and reared in Newcastlewest, the young Kelly began his gaelic games playing career from a position of excellent guidance, supervision and support. Greatly encouraged, of course, by his father, there were others too around the home patch who seen to it that the eagle-eyed youngster would be well groomed at juvenile level and onwards. A hurler from the top drawer, but with a preference for the big ball game, he initially blossomed under the tutelage of Denis O'Grady, while men like hurling bulwark Moss Brouder plus Pat Condon and Noel O'Connor left the blossoming talents of young Kelly truthfully spoiled for sporting guardians. Working hard at perfecting his hurling prowess and naturally excelling at gaelic football, Sean, at first, shone in defence in both codes. In the company of similarly talented players and peers at the club then like Billy and Joe Lee, Liam Keane and John Daniher, good times were had by all involved at underage level at Newcastlewest. Underage titles were won in both codes with gay abandon, titles at under eighteen grade earned on the double in fact. In addition to the rich pickings on the club front, there was equally exciting and rewarding duties fulfilled at College level. At the gaelic games bastion that is Saint Ita's Secondary School in Newcastlewest, Sean Kelly continued to prosper, both on the academic and sporting arenas and like most of his twenty or so dual code contemporaries, continued to live the good life, particularly in the hurling sphere where a brace of senior A Limerick College Championship medals were scooped. Instrumental in guiding Newcastlewest's underage troop ahead of near neighbours Saint Kierans and Claughan in the honours stakes, Sean Kelly was always most at home in the gaelic games arena, despite the obvious temptation to exhibit his rare skills with one or either of the two soccer teams in Newcastlewest. Like the majority of the sports friendly youth in the approximate five thousand local populace, Sean maintained his loyalty to the hurling and football fraternities in the town and wouldn't all local gaels plus a certain Kerryman called John O'Keeffe be glad of it too! A panelist on the Limerick senior football squad since 1986, Kelly had by then already established himself as a county under 21 player of note. Unfortunately beaten by would be All-Ireland finalists Kerry in 1987 by a single point, there was however, no little measure of consolation for the Newcastlewest schemer that same year when the club careered to their first ever county senior football appearance. Meeting hot favourites and former champions, city side Claughan, Kelly and company not alone upset the form to book their first ever title success but followed up some three weeks later to clinch the county under 21 championship crown. Sadly the year was to emerge as a good bad one for the keen, lean versatile attacker with the nose for a half chance. A disastrous knee injury would sideline Sean from the autumn of '87 through to the spring of the following year as a thesis on cruciate ligament damage seemed more likely to be his specialist subject rather than the vagaries of gases and liquids. Apart from the odd swelling of his left knee, these days his reconstructed joint is holding up well, and save some jovial jibes about his link up with such other sporting notable knee victims as Ruud Gullit and Paul Gascoigne, looking after his ligaments is done subconsciously thankfully now. Reflecting back on that super initial senior success in '87 with Newcastlewest, Sean can readily identify the reasons just why further similar success wasn't again recorded until last season. "Easily ten of the senior side in '87 were under 21 and so the team was relatively young and inexperienced. However, the real reason why no great success followed on was because the team lost five forwards almost immediately after the '87 season. Through emigration and injury, the club lost the services of Michael Doherty, Kevin O'Grady, Sean Gleeson, Pat O'Connor and myself, of course. It wasn't that great a surprise than that we lost out in the first round of the championship in '88. In effect, it took us five seasons to rebuild and recover from being decimated earlier," remarked the UCD student. Excusing himself from competitive sport in '89 and part of 1990 due to exam and study commitments, Sean rebounded in the best possible fashion when hitting 2-1 against Kerry in the aforementioned 1991 Munster final. Now joined by four other clubmen on the current county panel, he is quite adamant that where Clare gained inspiration from Limerick's provincial assault in '91, Limerick can likewise take a leaf out of Clare's 1992 production to rattle the south's football status quo once more. "John O'Keeffe received a big boost with the coming in stream of the open draw system and he has used this to help generate unprecedented interest among the players. A few years ago it would have been unheard of for the likes of Donal Fitzgibbon, Timmy Cummins, Tom Browne, Eoin Sheehan and myself to be travelling down from Dublin every Wednesday." Above all though, Sean heartily believes that the team manager's training programme will see to it that the missing piece in Limerick's football jigsaw will be put in place. "We have always ad enough self belief but John has instilled in us the fitness and discipline that we might have ben short over in previous years. We owe him a lot and I hope we can repay him for giving us renewed impetus." The perfect foil for such proven quality Limerick servants as Paddy Barrett, Eugene Leonard and Paddy Ives, Newcastlewest's Sean Kelly is unlikely to bend the knee to any defender this summer! Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 30th April l1993 Tweet

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