Other Sports Press Releases E-mail Cregan not surprised by U21's win by Brendan Larkin AS Limerick bask in the glory of All Ireland hurling success following Sunday's exciting victory by the county's under 21 team, the win over Galway didn't surprise senior coach Eamon Cregan. Amused at Galway being clear favourites to win, Cregan said many people seemed to have missed out on the fact that 14 of the under 21 squad had played at various stages with the senior team, and that kind of experience proved invaluable last Sunday. However there is a big gap between under 21 and senior and while Cork bridged it fairly quickly they had a very strong core of experienced seniors available to them. What I'm hoping now is that we have a similar core of experienced senior players who will bring on the younger lads, but there are no guarantees. It's a big jump from under 21 to senior and not every player is going to make it.
Every county needs a win to keep the spirits up.
Being a realist, Eamon Cregan accepted that not all the 14 players who got a run with the seniors last year will eventually make it to senior ranks. Various reasons, like going abroad, giving up hurling altogether and not having the necessary commitment, will come into play. Already seven of them, Timmy Houlihan, Willie Walsh, Brian Geary, Sean Lucey, Brian Begley, Mark Keane and David Stapleton, are involved at senior level, and on the evidence of Sunday's display there could be a few more added. There is great credit due to David Keane. The under 21 triumph couldn't have come at a more opportune time for the Limerick County Board.