Anthony Daly: An overdue statement performance from Cork but can they back it up come Championship?

Cork's Daire O'Leary of Cork is tackled by Conor Boylan of Limerick during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A match at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. 

In our Irish Examiner podcast every Monday, one of our standout lines from the introductory montage is taken from that famous, or infamous, Aherlow-Nenagh Tipperary county football final in the early 1990s, which was immortalized by the buzzing commentary of Eddie Moroney, who was subsequently christened 'Effin Eddie'.

‘There’s a small bit of a needle there,’ says Eddie in the introduction. Shortly into yesterday’s game in the Gaelic Grounds, that line came into my head because the air was shot through with the smell of bad blood.

It reminded me a lot of the way it used to be between ourselves and Tipperary in the late 1990s when the relationship was fueled by enmity and bitterness. It’s only natural that Cork wouldn’t like Limerick after the heartbreak they’ve endured at their hands over the last few years. Last year’s All-Ireland final hammering was nearly the last straw but there comes a time too when a team has to more or less state loudly that enough is enough.

The half-time whistle was nearly needed because things were getting slightly out of control. It wasn’t all out war, but it had the potential to get really nasty if those two red cards had come earlier in the half.

And still, a couple of more players could have walked, and both sides could have ended with 13 men. Sean Twomey was lucky to escape with a yellow card for his challenge on Declan Hannon, who replied with interest, while Will O’Donoghue could also have walked on a second yellow for a chop down on Sean O’Donoghue.

You’d have to be impressed with Cork. There was nothing to be learned from coming here half-baked. If they didn’t bring war after last year’s final, you’d have been asking serious questions of them. But they played like a team still carrying that hurt, a side eager to exorcise some of the demons from last August.

Cork will have been delighted going home on the bus I’m sure that somewhere in their subconscious the players and management will have been thinking, ‘Jeez, we’ve poked the bear now, what will they be like in seven weeks?’ Limerick will be savage but at least Cork know now that, not only can they run around the bear, they can stand up to him too.

Cork really announced their intent early in the game, particularly around the middle of the first half. In one sustained period of play, there was a continuous set of rucks that Limerick normally dominate but Cork fellas were repeatedly coming up with possession and charging forward in waves.

Cork did all their talking on the pitch. They stood up to Limerick, but they were faithful to their style and gameplan too. Their first goal was vintage Cork – a long diagonal ball from Robbie O’Flynn outside Patrick Horgan, who won it and created the opening for Shane Kingston to rifle it past Barry Hennessy. It’s not often that Limerick are hit for 1-6 without reply but that was how hot Cork’s form was when the game was there to be decided.

Even though Limerick trailed by 14 points at the break, I still thought the second half was enjoyable. The music was booming from the loudspeakers at half-time. Limerick rolled the big guns off the bench. The decibels rose amongst the home support. Even though they got a clipping and lost a third successive game, Limerick have such a profile now as the game’s top side that every match they play now feels like an event.

Limerick will still be disappointed with the performance, especially when they were forced to haul off so many of the guys John Kiely said in his TV interview beforehand that they had the utmost trust in. In many ways, it was contradictory because the reliable fire-brigade of reliables was summoned once the building was on fire.

Cork absolutely dominated all the key areas, but you’re still left wondering about the mind-games, especially from Limerick. Of course they want to keep Cork down but how long can you stay bating a crowd either before they eventually rise up? Can you keep the pedal pressed to the gas either, which Limerick have been doing since 2018? I also felt Limerick looked leggy, which may suggest they’re in the middle of heavy training.

Aaron Gillane tapping over a 20-metre free in the second half when Limerick needed a spark, when a goal was required, said more than enough. If that happened in the championship, is Gillane tapping that over the bar? Absolutely not.

Cork though, were transmitting their own discreet signals too just to remind Limerick of what they’re capable off, and of the power and pace they have in reserve. If you’re a Limerick defender out on your feet after chasing these speedsters around the place for 50 minutes and then you see two more sprinters, Conor Cahalane and Jack O’Connor arrive in, how head-wrecking is that prospect? Conversely, if I’m Kieran Kingston I’m thinking, ‘Here ye go now boys, catch us if ye can because we can roll this speed off the bench all day long.’ 

But it’s still only the league. We were all talking about how impressive Galway were against Limerick two weeks ago and they were beaten by Wexford by six points in Salthill yesterday. That’s just the league for you. Galway burned it up in last year’s campaign and then blew up over the summer.

Winning the league would take a certain amount of pressure off Henry Shefflin but in his TV interview before Galway played Limerick, Henry was already talking about Wexford in Wexford Park on April 16th in the first game of the Leinster round robin. Cork play Limerick on the same day in Munster. For those four teams, that’s the only date that mattered, irrespective of what happened yesterday, or what was going to happen.

Cork’s performance was still a statement. It may still take them another year or two to win an All-Ireland but there is a real quality panel emerging. Some of those young players, especially Ciaran Joyce and Daire O’Leary, were top of the discussion after yesterday, but one of the main talking points over the weekend was the referees clamping down on illegal hand passing.

If we can get that application of the rule right which leads to more legal handpassing, great. But if we’re going into the championship with this raft of frees in every game, it’s going to be difficult to watch. It’s either stamped out with consistent consistency of application throughout the league or else this whole area is going to be a cloud hanging over the championship in the two weeks before it starts.

What is certain for now though, is that Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be rocking with the noise and hysteria of ten Ed Sheeran concerts in seven weeks time. You could even see that in the body language of the players in the handshakes after the game yesterday. They know full well what’s coming down in April, and in possibly another couple of championship meetings before the season is over.