Cork 1-30; Limerick 2-27
(AET - Cork win 3-2 on penalties)
Two down and possibly an All Ireland final clash to come. Limerick won the head-to-head in the Munster round robin, but in this decider it was the Rebels who emerged victorious, not in regulation time, not with extra time – but on penalties after an absorbing Saturday evening at the Gaelic Grounds in front of 45,000 fans.
Seven Up is still only a drink and not Limerick’s achievement of achieving seven Munster titles in succession. But boy there wasn’t a whisker between the pair as they went to war for the guts of an hour and a half in this greatest of all provincial contests.
Imagine losing after being level no less than 15 times over the course of the game; fortunately for us and Limerick, they can re-enter the race for Liam MacCarthy with a quarter-final game and hope that the ultimate revenge will be to beat Cork at the later stages.
Cork left the same ground 20 days previously with their tails between their legs, humbled after a 16-point drubbing by the men in green. They brought that hurt and that humiliation to play on Saturday where players would die rather than give up the ball to a Limerick opponent.
You sense that those emotions of loss are now with Limerick and Manager John Kiely won’t be slow in winding them up for a crack at another MacCarthy success.
Cork, as stated, were full of fire and brimstone from the off, even if they only led by four points 1-14 to 1-10 at the interval after having a substantial wind at their backs. Limerick looked to be playing a cuter game and when the lively Aidan O’Connor struck for a goal, they were back in it. Indeed Shane Barrett’s goal was needed to give the supporters in red a belief that they had a buffer to go down to the wire with their opponents.
Some felt it wouldn’t be enough and those fans were nodding sagely when the recently introduced Shane O'Brien hit the net shortly after replacing O’Connor and we waited for the Treaty boys to kick on.
That’s where Cork’s pride and spirit came into play - they went toe to toe, stick to stick and heart to beating heart with Limerick to make it a pulsating tit-for-tat battle and when sub Peter Casey put them ahead with a minute left, it looked like that might decide the issue.
The incredible 36-year-young Patrick Horgan had one more act before departing the field when he levelled the game at 2-19 to 1-22 with the door opened for the additional 20 minutes play.
Limerick played with the wind in the first half of extra time but still the game was finely balanced with no more than a few scores between the sides.
Waterford ref Thomas Walsh's legs gave out shortly after that as Wexford’s John Owens took charge of the whistling.
It did nothing to stop the fizz of the game and when the unmarkable Aaron Gillane was on target with a late free, the game finally looked over. Cork though had no sense of surrender in their demeanor and Darragh Fitzgibbon showed nerves of ice to land a 65 to take the final to a novelty and maybe unfitting method of decision.
During that time, we learnt that Cork’s bench was stronger than we thought as the likes of Conor Lehane, with a brace, and Shane Kingston added scores to send the game into sudden death.
The same players and Alan Connolly scored in the penalty shoot out before former Limerick captain Declan Hannon followed sub Barry Murphy and reintroduced Tom Morrissey in failing to find the net with their shots.
Hannon’s failed effort signaled a huge Cork swarm onto the pitch and it felt as if something tangible had been lifted. Will those same supporters reprise such post match delight down the line? We wait in total anticipation of another summer of majestic hurling fare. After the energy sapping night, the Rebels get a four-week break until a Saturday All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary, Laois or Galway.
For Limerick, there is less chance to recover as within the next two weeks, they will have to out-perform in their quarter-final the best from Dublin or Kildare.
If there is consolation for Kiely, he might have the easier assignment as Tipp or Galway would provide much stiffer opposition than Dublin, the latter of whom are still quite a way off the top table, despite improvement this season.
Cork: P Collins; D Cahalane (0-1), E Downey (0-1), S O’Donoghue; C O’Brien, C Joyce, M Coleman; T O’Mahony (0-1), D Fitzgibbon (0-4, 0-1f, 0-1 65); D Healy (0-3), S Barrett (1-3), S Harnedy (0-2); P Horgan (0-7, 0-4f), A Connolly (0-1), B Hayes (0-1) Subs: R Downey for O’Brien (54), T O’Connell (0-1) for O’Mahony (59), S Kingston (0-3) for Connolly (65), R O’Flynn for Harnedy (68), N O’Leary for O’Donoghue (72), C Lehane (0-2) for Horgan (73), B Roche for Healy (80).
Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, M Casey; D Byrnes (0-1f), K Hayes, B Nash; A English (0-3), W O'Donoghue; G Hegarty (0-2), C Lynch, T Morrissey (0-2); A Gillane (0-9, 0- 7f), A O'Connor (1-1), D Reidy (0-3) Subs: S O’Brien (1-2) for O’Connor (42), P Casey (0-1) for Reidy (55), C O’Neill (0-1) for T Morrissey (55), D O’Donovan (0-1) for O’Donoghue (65), D Hannon (0-1) for Byrnes (70), B Murphy for M Casey (70), Seamus Flanagan (Blood sub for Lynch).
Refs: T Walsh (Waterford) and J Owens (Wexford).
GAA results and fixtures
Munster SHC final
Limerick 2-27 Cork 1-30
AET (Cork win 3-2 on penalties)
Leinster SHC final
Kilkenny 3-22 Galway 1-20
Joe McDonagh Cup final
Kildare 2-26 Laois 1-19
Tailteann Cup Preliminary quarter-final
Sligo 1-27 Carlow 2-19
Wexford 5-23 Antrim 2-21
Westmeath 3-26 Laois 1-15
Offaly 2-25 New York 1-12
Ladies All-Ireland SFC
Waterford 1-13 Dublin 1-13
Meath 3-8 Armagh 2-11
Galway 1-13 Tipperary 0-7
Kerry 0-13 Mayo 1-4
All-Ireland MFC quarter-final
Offaly 4-7 Mayo 3-13
Fixtures
Saturday 14 June
All-Ireland SFC Round 3
Armagh v Galway, Kingspan Breffni, 6.30pm - GAA+
Dublin v Derry, Pairc Esler, 6.30pm - GAA+
Roscommon v Cork, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 4.15pm - GAA+
Kerry v Meath, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 4.15pm
All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals
Kildare v Dublin, TBC, TBC
Laois v Tipperary, TBC, TBC
Tailteann Cup quarter-finals
Limerick v Wexford, Gaelic Grounds
Fermanagh v Sligo, Brewster Park
Kildare v Offaly, Cedral St Conleth's Park
Wicklow v Westmeath, Aughrim
All-Ireland MHC semi-final
Waterford v Kilkenny, Wexford Park, 7.35pm - TG4
Sunday 15 June
All-Ireland SFC Round 3
Tyrone v Cavan, Brewster Park, 4pm
Donegal v Mayo, Dr Hyde Park, 4pm - RTE
Monaghan v Down, BOX-It Athletic Grounds, 2pm - RTE
Louth v Clare, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 2pm
All-Ireland MHC semi-final
Cork v Clare, FBD Semple Stadium, 1pm - TG4
Tailteann Cup quarter-final draw
Fermanagh v Sligo
Wicklow v Westmeath
Kildare v Offaly
Limerick v Wexford
