Mickey 'Ned' O'Sullivan's three year term as Limerick Senior Football manager ended with the narrow defeat to Kildare in the GAA Qualifier at the Gaelic Grounds.

In the immediate aftermath of the loss, he was non-committal as to his future with the county. "I've completed my term and it's now up to the powers that be to decide what the future holds," he stated.

"I'll have to sit down with the backroom team before making any decisions about my future involvement. I'm happy with the progress the team has made since I came in. We are coming from a very low base, but I would like to think people will sit-up and take notice of Limerick football." O'Sullivan inherited a relatively new batch of players when he arrived after the glorious chapter that was there under Liam Kearns.

He brought in many new players, the most recent of which was a real find in teenager Ian Ryan, as such giants of the game on Shannonside in John Quane and Muris Gavin retired after tremendous service to the county side.

Sources close to O'Sullivan are of the view that Kerry's 1975 All-Ireland winning skipper is keen to remain in charge, as are his fellow selectors and new trainer Donie Bukley of Castleisland. The players too are hugely supportive of O'Sullivan and are pleased with the obvious forward steps made under his stewardship.

No decision on whether or not O'Sullivan will stay with Limerick will be made by the County Board in the immediate future.

Serious championship victories for Limerick have been thin on the ground over recent times but there was genuine optimism around that O'Sullivan's charges could follow-up on their fantastic success against Meath with another win over Kildare.

"We had the chances to win it," admitted O'Sullivan," but it wasn't our day. Fair play to Kildare they worked extremely hard and came very strongly towards the end.

"I'm extremely proud of the efforts our lads made. They gave it their all but came up that bit short. We had a lot of injuries because of the closeness of the games, but I'm not making that an excuse for our defeat."

Limerick duo Stephen Kelly and Paudie Browne were only declared fit enough to play shortly ahead of the fixture, but both were forced to retire before the close of the action. Kelly, however, was dramatically re-introduced for towering Jim Donovan at the very end.

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