Limerick 3-26; Cork 1-16
In Spring our sporting fancies often turn to dust when put under the microscope of red-hot championship examination.
Thus Cork, everybody’s tip not just to win Liam MacCarthy this year but to do so at their ease, appeared but a shadow of their early season selves as they were humiliated by a ravenous Limerick squad which had got back its hunger after suffering its first year of iron rations in 2-24.
When it came to dissecting the reason for such an outstanding performance at a packed Gaelic Grounds on Sunday with almost 43,000 bedecked in a colorful sea of green and red, Limerick manager John Kiely pointed to that exact “appetite and enthusiasm” as the reason they went through their double conquerors from last season in this Munster SHC round-robin shootout
Said Kiely: “The lads worked really hard. We hadn't a great league from a consistency point of view. We had a lot of injuries, but we saw it as an advantage, because it meant we had to delve into the group as a whole.
“Some of our players came out of the league with very little game time but we had a great camp and everything started to fall into place very quickly.
“We've had a great 10 weeks. Lads have worked really hard. They're very fresh. They just have that appetite and enthusiasm for the game back again. That's all I want for these guys is to enjoy their hurling and enjoy days like today.
“We have made a lot of progress. There are other guys on the panel now that need to take their opportunities as well now and keep the pressure on the lads for their places.”
In fairness to the Cork boss Pat Ryan he called it as he saw it.
“Limerick were at a higher pitch than us. Their work-rate was way higher than ours. They bossed the game from the beginning. We'll try and put this to bed now and move on to Waterford next week. That's probably winner-takes-all with who comes out of Munster. So it's a great chance of redemption for our guys.
“It's up to our lads now to show a bit of character. We're back in front of our home fans at Páirc Uí Chaoimh against Waterford so that's going to be a huge game. We'll be ready to go. We'd a big travelling support today and we owe it to them to put in a better performance,” he emphasized.
The game was over as a contest almost before Cork supporters had a chance to cheer on their team with Limerick’s Aaron Gillane in for an early goal and two points to settle his own side. This he did and the relentless nature of the home side’s dominance with the wind saw them go in at half-time a mere 15 points ahead, 2-18 to 0-9. A measure of Cork’s ineptitude in this moiety was the fact that they were restricted to five points from play.
Obviously, they could only get better on the changeover - but not much if the truth be told as Limerick continued to punch holes in the Rebels defense while dealing with the opposing forward line which had created goal chances in all their previous matches.
Indeed the only one that came their way this time around came via a 20m free which Pat Horgan, surprisingly wayward with a number of frees, lashed to the net to give his side a glimmer of hope midway through the second half.
That faint shaft of light was quickly extinguished when Limerick went up the other end and Gillane was held in the square with Liam Gordon having no hesitation in awarding a penalty which the forward confidently dispatched to the corner of the net…. Game over.
Gillane ended the game with 2-7 to his credit but it was the likes of Tom Morrissey with five points from play, Gearóid Hegarty with three and powerful midfielder Adam English with 1-2 who helped extend the damage from every corner of the pitch.
The nature of the current hurling format though means there is a chance or indeed two at redemption for Cork. Should they win on Sunday against Waterford, they will be in the Munster final, almost definitely against who? That’s right, Limerick again.
Even if they lose that second encounter with the Treaty, there is a good chance they could go on in the Liam format and come across their neighbors once more in the final stages. So, they can get a poor showing where they only scored seven points from play in the 70 minutes out of their system.
Indeed, hindsight might yet show that Sunday’s defeat is the best thing that could happen to Pat Ryan for he can now get his charges’ feet back on the ground and slowly build them up to a crescendo again.
HOW THE TABLE STANDS WITH ONE ROUND REMAINING
Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, M Casey (0-1); D Byrnes (0-1), K Hayes, B Nash; A English (1-2), W O'Donoghue; G Hegarty (0-3), C Lynch (capt.) (0-1), T Morrissey (0-5); A Gillane (2-7, 0-6f, 0-1p), S O'Brien (0-1), D Reidy (0-1) Subs: D O’Donovan for Will Donoghue (temp37 minutes – 40), C O’Neill (0-2) for Morrissey, S Flanagan for O’Brien (both 51), P Casey (0-2) for Reidy (59), C Coughlan for Mike Casey (67), Aidan O’Connor for Byrnes (68), Barry Murphy for Dan Morrissey (72)
Cork: P Collins; N O’Leary, E Downey, S O’Donoghue; C Joyce, R Downey (capt.) (0-1), M Coleman; T O’Mahony, E Twomey; D Dalton, D Fitzgibbon (0-1), S Barrett; P Horgan (1-10, 1-9f), A Connolly, B Hayes (0-1) Subs: B Roche (0-1) for Dalton (8 mins injured), C O’Brien for R Downey, S Harnedy (0-2) for Twomey (both half time), D Cahalane for O’Leary (55, injured), R O’Flynn for Connolly (56)
Ref: L Gordon (Galway).
Sunday 25 May
Leinster SHC Round 5
Wexford v Kilkenny, Wexford Park, 2.00pm
Dublin v Galway, Parnell Park, 2.00pm
Offaly v Antrim, O'Connor Park, 2.00pm
Munster SHC round 5
Limerick v Clare, Gaelic Grounds Limerick, 4pm
Cork v Waterford, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 4pm
