Anthony Daly: A show of Rebel resistance but ammo too for Limerick

MATCHWINNER: Shane Kingston of Cork celebrates with teammates after the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A match against Limerick at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

In Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening, the guttural and deafening roar that erupted at the final whistle just seconds after Shane Kingston had landed the winning point was like a thunderous war-cry. It’s only February. It will be a long year yet but the emotion around the stadium felt like a strong show of resistance – on and off the pitch – from the long-term suffering Cork have endured at Limerick’s hands for so long now.

The supporters are always going to get carried away but Pat Ryan and the Cork players will appreciate this win for what it was – a good fighting display against a team with much less training done than Cork, along with being devoid of more than half of their starting team.

In so many other ways, John Kiely got everything he would have wanted from the fixture, and more; Cian Lynch made just his second appearance since last April; a raft of new players got their opportunity to put their hands up; and Kiely and the players were thrown some lethal ammunition from the Cork supporters to load into their guns when they seek to administer more hurt and payback later in the summer.

Nobody wants to hear booing or jeering at a GAA game. We’re not soccer. It’s not in our DNA – it shouldn’t be – so it was surprising to hear the mob spewing some venom when Cian Lynch came on in the second half.

I don’t know whether it was aimed at Cian or Gearóid Hegarty, who was being substituted, but it was no way to treat two of the greatest players of this generation, both of whom have won Hurler-of-the-Year during three of Limerick’s last four All-Ireland wins. Can you imagine how Limerick will use that stuff ahead of when the sides meet again in May?

Cork deserved to win but they really had to, especially given the amount of work they’ve done compared to Limerick at this stage of the season. In that regard, the Limerick tail-off, when only scoring seven points in the second half is fully understandable.

Cork’s workrate was far higher in the second half compared to the first but Cork were also far more direct after the break. Patrick Horgan certainly seemed to have the better of Richie English while Robbie O’Flynn was also a very effective target man. I just hope Robbie’s ankle injury is not as bad as initially feared because he was on fire.

Both goals came from long direct balls, both of whom were brilliantly finished by O’Flynn and Declan Dalton.

I was somewhat surprised at Horgan’s comments during the week, which I felt were unnecessary. I’m sure Pat Ryan wasn’t impressed either but Horgan backed them up with a brilliant display.

Ryan will know that he can’t tolerate the deficit in tackle count between the first and second halves but he still has loads to be pleased about. Ciarán Joyce is growing into a really fine player, a guy who looks set to own that number 6 jersey for a decade. Behind him, I was also very impressed with Eoin Downey.

The scoring fade-out apart, Kiely won’t be too concerned. Adam English looked good in patches. So did Colin Coughlan. Limerick appeared sharper than this time last year. They had chances to put the game beyond Cork late on and just didn’t take them. The Barry Murphy experiment at midfield didn’t really work but Limerick have so many options now that this fighting performance was as good as Kiely could have expected.

Apart from Willie Maher in Laois, it was a good weekend for new managers, none more so than Micheál Donoghue in Dublin. Aside from all the big names they have lost, Dublin didn’t have Danny Sutcliffe while James Madden only came on as a sub. Ronan Hayes was only on the field for a handful of minutes before having to go off again.

Micheál will be delighted with some of the new faces, especially Chris O’Leary, the former Cork player who is now with Lucan Sarsfields. Conor O’Donoghue from Erins Isle was also impressive, while Joe Flanagan from Naomh Barróg had some good moments.

It looked after 16 minutes that it could go all wrong when Dublin trailed by 1-5 to 0-0 but they dug in and found a way. On the other hand, part of Micheál might be disappointed too that they didn’t take the two points considering Waterford finished with 13 men. Jack Fagan can have no complaints with two yellow cards but Stephen Bennett was a little unlucky as it seemed to be a reaction to being held. By the letter of the law though, it was a red.

Waterford may have got lulled into a false sense of security when they were ahead by so much so early, which can often happen. But you’d expect them to kick on and win from that position against such an inexperienced side.

Waterford were wasteful. Calum Lyons came up the field on four occasions and put four shots wide. They also ran the ball a lot, which was evident in the Munster League. Whatever way Davy Fitz wants his side to play will take time to implement and, while he’ll feel they should have won the game, getting a result with 13 men isn’t a bad day’s work either.

Davy ran the bench, bringing on Austin Gleeson, Dessie Hutchinson and Jack Prendergast who got a magnificent point that looked like winning the game late on.

Despite all the big names Waterford had on the field, Cian Boland and Alex Considine were outstanding. Considine was a huge target man but both he and Boland showed in front of their men all day long. Eoghan O’Donnell also thundered into the game when Dublin brought him out from full-back.

Getting a point was precious for Dublin because there’s no doubt that some of the teams ranked below them will be targeting the Dubs this spring. One of those sides, Antrim, pushed Kilkenny close on Saturday but just didn’t have enough, as you’d expect.

Billy Drennan was Derek Lyng’s main man with the Kilkenny U-20s and he looks set to be given plenty of opportunities to make some kind of a mark with the seniors this season. Padraig Walsh did well at number 6 and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where Derek leaves him, especially when Padraig probably feels more naturally suited to the half-back line.

Antrim are always hard to beat in Corrigan Park but it’s going to be a tough league for Laois and Westmeath. Liam Cahill and Tipperary will be delighted with the huge score they put up, just like Brian Lohan will be with the 4-27 Clare accumulated against Westmeath.

Aidan McCarthy and Mark Rogers, who didn’t really feature last year because of injury, racked up big totals. Davy Conroy from St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield also scored 0-5 from play, so he’s another option.

Aside from Pat Ryan and Cork, the team and manager probably most happy from the weekend is Henry Shefflin and Galway. Wexford missed too many chances but Galway controlled the second half.

It’s still only the first week of February but every manager and management is assessing every little for evidence to hint at what might be to come down the line. That’s not always about results either because managers are looking for stuff from every angle. 

Just ask John Kiely.