Limerick boss John Kiely spoke of the impact injured star Cian Lynch had on the group in the build up to yesterday’s All-Ireland SHC final.

An ankle injury suffered in training ruled out the Patrickswell ace out of the showdown with Kilkenny at Croke Park but it didn’t prevent him from carrying on his vice-captain’s role and speaking to his team mates last Friday night.

"Yeah, he spoke to the group, finished off our piece on Friday night. He's involved in everything we do; he's our vice-captain so he's there always, at all times, and the boys are all there for him as well obviously," Kiely told Sky Sports GAA.

"It's hugely disappointing for him to have had the season he's had - sent off in the Fitzgibbon Cup final, tears his hamstring badly, misses 10 weeks, comes back, does all the rehab, gets himself back in a position to play in an All-Ireland final having had the year he had, and for him to experience an absolutely freak injury in training seven days out... you're not going to be racing down the road into a bookies when you have that kind of luck for yourselves!

"So listen, it was heart-breaking for him, everybody was so disappointed for him. But being the man he was, he absolutely committed to everything we did all week, and the boys committed to making sure that they weren't going to let him be the reason that people might say, 'That's why you lost that final'."

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