Four All-Ireland wins later, Tom Morrissey traces much of Limerick’s successes back to their quarter-final defeat of Kilkenny in 2018.
Leading by a point that day with five minutes to go, the Shannonsiders were suckered by a Richie Hogan goal.
A young Limerick side may have been expected to wilt in the Thurles cauldron but memorably responded with five points, to Kilkenny’s one, in the closing minutes.
Since then, they’ve only lost one knock-out Championship game, to Kilkenny as it happens the following year, and have collected four of the five All-Ireland titles on offer.
“Who knows where we would have been if we didn’t respond in the way we responded and if we maybe ended up losing that game,” said
Morrissey of the 2018 encounter ahead of Sunday’s Allianz NHL final rematch.
“We were a young team coming through and hadn’t beaten any of the big guns in a knock-out game in a long, long time in the Championship.
“To do it in the nature that we did it, having led for so long and having went behind and then to pull it back and go ahead again and get the result.
“I suppose the rest of what happened in 2018 is history. Yeah, I think it’s absolutely been a strong reference point and a bearing for where this team went.
“Winning that game gave this group a huge amount of confidence going forward. It just seemed to bounce us on to another level.” Morrissey was among the Limerick players that struck crucial late points in that game five years ago.
He was also there the following year when Kilkenny gained revenge with a semi-final win at Croke Park. Again, Morrissey looks on that as a landmark afternoon in the overall development of the team.
“I’m sure some people are of the opinion that it could have been the best thing for us,” said Morrissey of the one-point loss.
“After winning the first All-Ireland in 2018, not winning the following year maybe just snapped us back to reality and showed us that we weren’t world beaters.
“We went on to win the league and the Munster title in 2019 and maybe complacency had set in.
“That [defeat to Kilkenny] maybe just reaffirmed and grounded us that we’re not world beaters and taught us that if we’re not switched on
and haven’t got the right attitude on a certain day, we can be beaten. That paid huge dividends for us going forward.
“It’s definitely a thing that you learn from your mistakes and that was a lesson that we learned.
"Thankfully I suppose, we’ve made good of that lesson.” With all of that history between the teams, and last year’s MacCarthy Cup decider
still fresh in the memory too, Morrissey rubbished the suggestion that it doesn’t really matter to Limerick if they win on Sunday, given that
their primary goal is retaining the All-Ireland.
“It’s not like we’re wrapping ourselves in cotton wool or minding ourselves for two weeks down the line and the start of the Munster
Championship,” said Morrissey.
“That’s not what this team has ever been about.” Morrissey’s strong form in attack – he has played in every game and contributed 0-24 – is
part of the reason they’re chasing another title. “I’m very happy that I’ve got the minutes under my belt,” said Morrissey.
“Training is brilliant and of a very high standard and competitive but nothing beats that confidence you get from putting in a good
performance in a match going into the summer.”