A visibly emotional Seamus Hickey nearly broke down in tears during a post-match interview in which he was named man-of-the-match following Limerick’s narrow defeat to Kilkenny in the All-
Ireland semi-final at Croke Park.
The Limerick corner-back appeared to be on the verge of tears as he spoke to RTÉ shortly after the final whistle.
Struggling to come to terms with his side’s second successive All-Ireland semi-final defeat, Hickey said he and his teammates were in a tough place after the narrow loss.
“It’s raw now at the moment, it’s just very raw. We literally poured ourselves out out there. This is a tough place to be for us. We felt we wanted redemption this year, we wanted to come to Croke Park and do ourselves justice and basically represent ourselves and the ability we have,” he said.
Despite his own disconsolation, he also expressed his admiration for Kilkenny and his desire to see them do well in the final against either Cork or Tipperary.
“The cliché of moral victories is long since empty for this group of players but I’ve the height of respect for Kilkenny... we went ahead twice and they had the crucial scores so you know, I’ve the height of respect for them and I wish them the best in the final,” added the corner-back.
Hickey, who lined out at wing-forward during last year’s championship but has returned to more defensive duties this season under new manager TJ Ryan was awarded the man-of-the-match accolade by the Sunday Game panel of Cyril Farrell and Donal Óg Cusack with the latter saying it was the Limerick man’s third game in succession in which he’d excelled.
Former All-Ireland winning manager, Farrell also lauded Hickey’s contribution saying, “From the first minute to the 72nd minute, one man stood out above all and that was Seamus Hickey from Murroe-
Boher. He caught ball, he blocked ball; he really drove Limerick forward from the back. For a lad that’s after coming back from a bad injury, he stood out for the seventy minutes”.
The Limerick defender wasn’t the only one who felt the game was who felt the game was one of the tougher encounters they’d witnessed in some time with Kilkenny manager Brian Cody expressing a similar opinion, along with Richie and Brian Hogan.
“It was a really tough game, ferocious rain fell there at different times but you know it was fantastic game and we came out on the right side of it but Limerick were outstanding as well, I thought. They really pushed us every step of the way and no matter what happened they kept coming,” said Cody.
Cody’s opposite number TJ Ryan echoed Hickey’s thoughts in the aftermath of the game too, saying that his players were shattered by the defeat.
“I’ve just come from a dressing room that’s absolutely desolate; the lads are exceptionally disappointed. We gave it our all, we prepared exceptionally well, and I knew training had gone well over the last number of weeks. I was expecting a huge performance and to be fair to the lads they gave it their all,” the Limerick boss concluded while also praising their conquerors Kilkenny.