LIMBERING UP NICELY
Champions up and running with comfortable win
LIMERICK’S All-ireland defence is up and running after burning off Cork to ease into the Munster final.
The game was effectively decided by goals from Darragh O’donovan and Kyle Hayes just before half-time, turning the contest on its head after Cork had caused problems for the champions in the first half.
And while it may have been comfortable by the finish, it was far from a polished performance as Limerick spilled 20 wides with Cork also wasteful, finishing with 15 themselves.
The win puts Limerick through to the provincial decider against Tipperary or Clare on July 18 as they chase a first Munster threein-a-row since winning four on the trot during their golden era of the 1930s – which this team is increasingly threatening to surpass.
Limerick were tripped up by Cork when launching their last All-ireland defence in 2019 but, having beaten then champions Tipperary in their first outing as champions last year, it’s the first time that the Liam Maccarthy Cup holders have started with a victory since Galway beat Offaly in 2018.
The Treaty looked threatening early on as they struck for two points in the opening three minutes but they were sluggish for much of the first half with their accuracy a little off and Cork’s confidence grew.
Niall O’leary charged upfield from corner-back in the 16th minute and though Seamus Harnedy failed to grasp his handpass, the bobbling ball fell to Shane Kingston who struck for the game’s opening goal and Cork were in front for the first time.
They led 1-5 to 0-6 come the 22nd minute when Conor Cahalane ran down Limerick’s central channel only for Peter Casey to stop him in his tracks abruptly. With the challenge having occurred just inside the 20-metre line, referee Paud O’dwyer invoked the new sin bin/penalty rule and Casey had to leave the field for 10 minutes.
Patrick Horgan struck the penalty crisply but Nickie Quaid made a tremendous save and, from there to halftime, Limerick didn’t look back.
With Cian Lynch’s influence growing, they outscored Cork in the 10-minute period for which they were a man down by 0-4 to 0-2 and within seconds of Casey re-entering the fray, Lynch set up O’donovan for a goal, his shot deflected to the net off Sean O’donoghue’s stick.
Limerick smelt blood. Pushing upfield, wing-back Hayes was picked out by Aaron Gillane and he brilliantly added a second after cruising around Tim O’mahony.
The half-time whistle was blown and, out of nowhere, Limerick were 2-10 to 1-7 in front having been staring down the barrel of a five-point deficit and a 10-minute numerical disadvantage as Horgan stood over his penalty not long before. Notably, Limerick pushed the boundaries with their discipline in the first half with O’dwyer brandishing yellow cards to five of their players. It looked like it could get ugly for Cork with Limerick
hitting three of the first four points in the second half but the Rebels kept in touch, replying with three-in-a-row though, bar a Jack O’connor effort that flew over Quaid’s crossbar, they didn’t really threaten to get the goal that they needed to reignite the contest.
Gearoid Hegarty’s second point kept Limerick’s six-point lead intact by the second water break.
In what was never a riveting contest to begin with, the quality dropped noticeably in the final quarter as both sides were wasteful but that suited Limerick fine, with Cork unable to build momentum.
Not for the first time, they got some impetus from their bench with Graeme Mulcahy and David Reidy clipping a point each as Limerick saw out the game by hitting the last four points without reply to seal their biggest Championship win over Cork since 1996.