Limerick 3-19

Cork 0-20

JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS

WHILE Cork sustained their first defeat of the Division 1A campaign, it was not a result to cause alarm bells to ring.

Limerick took victory at TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night, but they were strong favourites given that their startling lineup had 13 of those who began the Munster final against Cork last July; by contrast, the Rebels had just seven from that evening and not all of them were in familiar positions.

Cork stayed with their hosts for much of the opening 50 minutes but an unanswered burst of 2-5 midway through the second half turned what was always a likely Limerick victory into an inevitability.

At one stage, they led by 12 points and might have pulled clear but instead Cork found a late kick to leave things looking somewhat more respectable.

Ultimately, it was a game Cork did not have to win: the avoidance of defeat at home to Offaly next weekend will still send them through to the league final. Little wonder then that, ahead of departing for warm-weather training in Portugal, manager Ben O’Connor could take more than a few positives from the evening.

‘Ah, disappointed with the result,’ he said.

‘We were well in it until the middle of the second half, they got on top of us then but we fought back well again in the last ten minutes.

‘Delighted with the performance, disappointed with the result.’

Cork's Seamus Harnedy breaks away from Limerick's Sean Finn and Kyle Hayes. (Photo: George Hatchell)

Given the strength and experience of the respective lineups, Limerick’s early goal – scored by Shane O’Brien from Kyle Hayes’s delivery – might have been a hammer blow for Cork but, while O’Brien and Aaron Gillane always posed a threat, Cork battled back well.

Two fine Barry Walsh points helped them to lead, though there was a let-off as O’Brien was pulled for over-carrying just when it looked as if he would find the net again. At the other end, a darting Shane Kingston run gave him sight of goal but he was crowded out and goalkeeper Nickie Quaid averted the danger.

The sides were level at that stage before Cork’s stand-in captain Tim O’Mahony put them 0-9 to 1-5 in front but Limerick finished the half well and Aidan O’Connor ensured that they had a 1-9 to 0-11 interval lead.

On the restart, Limerick were wasteful, though Cork did need Ger Millerick to make a good block on a kicked Gillane effort. While Cian Lynch pushed Limerick two ahead, Cork replied with a pair of nice Brian Hayes efforts, the second of them a lovely team move involving O’Mahony and Shane Barrett in the 43rd minute.

While that was the last time the sides were level, Cork remained in with a chance and, when they trailed by 1-12 to 0-13, a dangerous dropping ball from Eoin Downey might have yielded a goal for Brian Hayes or Alan Walsh but it didn’t fall kindly for either. Against that, Ciarán Joyce’s yellow card for a foul on Kyle Hayes could have been a black card and a penalty.

They came back to within one again after Shane Barrett’s point on 55 but O’Connor’s ninth point of the night was excellent and then O’Mahony was punished for a loose pass as Limerick broke quickly, with Lynch’s pass allowing Cathal O’Neill to drill a low shot beyond Patrick Collins.

They had moved seven ahead, 2-16 to 0-15, when Cork sub Seán O’Donoghue was penalised for holding Gillane as they battled for possession – a penalty accrued and O’Connor blasted his shot off the ground and in.

When sub Tom Morrissey scored soon after coming on, it was 3-18 to 0-16 and in danger of turning ugly but Cork did at least halt the slide in the closing minutes and might even have had a goal but Quaid saved well from Barry Walsh.

A point from the tireless Tommy O’Connell – his third – and O’Mahony dead balls did reduce the arrears somewhat by the end, leaving Cork looking ahead.

‘We have Offaly in two weeks’ time and we'll look after our own side of things again,’ O’Connor said.

‘It’s in our hands, we’ll be going out to win that, and if we do, we are guaranteed a league final.

‘If we were told at the start of the year that we’d have only been beaten in one game and only have to win one more game to get into a league final, we’d have taken that.’

Scorers

Limerick: Aidan O’Connor 1-11 (1-0 penalty, 7f); Cathal O’Neill 1-2; Shane O’Brien 1-0; Adam English 0-2; Cian Lynch, Hugh Flanagan, Tom Morrissey, Aaron Gillane 0-1 each.

Cork: Tim O’Mahony 0-7 (5f, 1 65), Tommy O’Connell, Brian Hayes 0-3 each, Shane Barrett, Barry Walsh 0-2 each, Shane Kingston, Alan Walsh, Eoin Downey 0-1.

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Mike Casey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Will O’Donoghue, Kyle Hayes; Adam English, Cian Lynch; Gearóid Hegarty, Aidan O’Connor, Cathal O’Neill; Aaron Gillane, Shane O’Brien, David Reidy.

Subs: Tom Morrissey for Hegarty (51), Hugh Flanagan for Reidy (57), Darragh Langan for Finn (59), Donnacha Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien, Oisín O’Farrell for Gillane (both 65).

Cork: Patrick Collins; Eoin Roche, Dáire O’Leary, Ger Millerick; Damien Cahalane, Eoin Downey, Micheál Mullins; Ciarán Joyce, Tommy O’Connell; Barry Walsh, Tim O’Mahony, Shane Kingston; Shane Barrett, Brian Hayes, Alan Walsh.

Subs: Séamus Harnedy for Kingston (40), Niall O’Leary for Roche (47), Darragh Fitzgibbon for Mullins (54), Seán O’Donoghue for O’Leary (59), Declan Dalton for A Walsh (65).

Referee: Seán Stack (Dublin).