BLUE WONDERS
Magnificent Dublin stun Tribesmen
See page 70-71
A DAY when the hurling Championship crackled and fizzed with life and dramatic plot twists as supporters streamed back through the turnstiles and the players seemed to respond in kind.
After Dublin created the first shockwave by taking apart the idea that Galway are best placed to tackle Limerick’s dominance, and Kilkenny and Wexford served up an extra-time thriller, there was so much to savour at Semple Stadium where the atmosphere restored a bit of soul to the game.
This one was designated a pilot event for the return of supporters and the 2,400 supporters in attendance lent a brilliant bit of atmosphere to a game that was played at breakneck pace.
Cork brought an electric running game that posed the champions so many more problems than the eightpoint deficit might suggest. Nickie Quaid’s first-half penalty save from Patrick Horgan was a key moment, given that it followed the sin-binning of Peter Casey. Instead of surging into a four-point lead, Limerick outscored Cork by four points to two when down an extra man and then stunned Cork with two goals just before the break via Darragh O’Donovan and Kyle Hayes.
That left Cork playing catch up till the end and though they stayed full of running and could have really made it interesting if they had been more accurate, a late flourish of points from the champions saw them through to the Munster final.
The winners will play Clare or Tipperary on Sunday, July 18, while the backdoor safety valve of the qualifiers beckons for the losers.
The clash in styles was obvious from the opening exchanges, Cork playing it around short at the back and working the ball through the lines so as to try and get at the champions with their pace.
Cork’s gameplan was paying dividends. Corner-back Niall O’Leary went on the overlap and took the ball down the throat of the Limerick defence at electric speed. When he gave the expected handpass to the Cork numbers on his shoulder, the ball went to ground only for Shane Kingston to pick it up in the blink of an eye and find enough space to score past Nickie Quaid.
That was the key strike in an intriguing opening quarter in which Cork took a 1-3 to 0-4 lead into the water break. Tim O’Mahony was doing well going man-to-man with Hurler of the Year Gearoid Hegarty while Ger Millerick was covering loads of ground.
Limerick had a goal chance in the 19th minute when Hegarty finally found some space and went galloping in on goal only for Mark Coleman to stick his hurl in and knock the ball to ground – quickest to react was Cian Lynch who swept the ball just wide of the post.
Lynch and Hegarty were becoming more influential, but Cork’s running game was really unnerving Limerick. Diarmaid Byrnes picked up a yellow for a clothesline style tackle on Seamus Harnedy. That was one reason why he watched Conor Cahalane fly by him before Peter Casey stepped in and Cahalane went to ground. It looked an innocuous challenge by the Limerick forward and a harsh decision by referee Paud O’Dwyer to send Casey to the sin-bin for 10 minutes and award a penalty.
Patrick Horgan’s strike was hard and low to Nickie Quaid’s left. The Limerick goalkeeper read it and made an important save.
But Limerick lifted their game while down a man, actually outscoring Cork by four points to two in that period, Lynch pinging two super scores, Gillane landing a free and Flanagan hitting another. Tim O’Mahony’s score though was a wonderful example of Cork’s free running and patience in working the ball to the extra man but with the sides level at 0-10 to 1-7 approaching half-time, Limerick hit Cork with two goals that must have felt like a pair of body blows.
First, Darragh O’Donovan’s shot deflected off Sean O’Donoghue and into the Cork net. Then Kyle Hayes came marauding forward and cut inside to slide a low shot to the net.
Cork were suddenly staring down the barrel of a 2-10 to 1-7 deficit after so much good work.
When Will O’Donoghue, Diarmaid Byrnes and Peter Casey added points, it looked like Limerick were ready to steam into the distance. Again though, Cork kept hurling away, Patrick Horgan bombing over a couple of important frees, Shane Kingston flashing a point over the bar after another pacy move, and Robbie O’Flynn getting his name on the scoresheet.
Jack O’Connor continued to be a livewire presence up front for Cork
and he arrowed over his third point from play.
Limerick’s go-to men were also showing the way for the favourites and Hegarty intercepted a Collins puck-out to fire his second point to go with an earlier cracker from the sideline. That last score meant Limerick kept a six point cushion at the second water break, 2-16 to 1-13.
When Darragh Fitzgibbon went on a run from midfield and finished it off with a point, Cork were still alive, especially when substitute Shane Barrett added another.
Fresh legs off the bench meant that Cork were still full of running, just missing too many opportunities, Eoin Cadogan sliding one wide with time to steady himself.
Limerick too were guilty of a string of wides that would have made the game safe and needed Diarmaid Byrnes to show them the way from distance before Cian Lynch added the first of a late run of four points in injury time to put a flattering look on the scoreboard. Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, R English, B Nash (D Morrissey 56); D Byrnes, D Hannon, K Hayes; W O’Donoghue, D O’Donovan; G Hegarty (D Reidy 65), C Lynch,
T Morrissey (C Boylan 46); A Gillane (P Ryan 66), S Flanagan (G Mulcahy 57), P Casey.
ScorerS: A Gillane 0-6 (6fs), K Hayes 1-0, D O’Donovan 1-0, P Casey, C Lynch D Byrnes (1f) 0-3 each, G Hegarty, S Flanagan 0-2 each, G Mulcahy, D Reidy, W O’Donoghue 0-1 each.
YeLLow card: S Flanagan 13; D Byrnes 22, P Casey 25, W O’Donoghue 31, G Hegarty 32, C Boylan 69. Sin-bin: P Casey 25. wideS: 9 (11) cork: P Collins; N O’Leary (S O’Leary Hayes 51), D Cahalane, S O’Donoghue; E Cadogan, M Coleman, T O’Mahony; D Fitzgibbon, G Millerick; C Cahalane (S Barrett 44), S Harnedy (L Meade 50), R O’Flynn (A Cadogan 55); S Kingston (A Connolly 69), P Horgan, J O’Connor.
ScorerS: P Horgan 0-5 (5fs), S Kingston 1-1, J O’Connor, D Fitzgibbon 0-3 each, S Barrett 0-2, T O’Mahony, S Harnedy, R O’Flynn 0-1 each.
YeLLow card: D Cahalane 33. wideS: 7 (8) referee: P O’Dwyer (Carlow)