We’ll give qualifiers a right go, says disappointed Whelahan

LIMERICK manager Padjoe Whelahan said he was very disappointed following the narrow defeat: “Despite falling seven points behind we were always in the game. Losing by just a puck of a ball is hard to take.”

“We had chances, particularly in the first half when we were on top, but missed at least two goals. That’s something you cannot afford to do against a county like Cork. They’ll punish you every time.”

“Our game plan worked well for us in the first-half and we had Cork held in lots of areas, with the result they hardly got a shot at our goal.”

“However, conceding the goal in the second half was a real blow and we were chasing the game after that.”

“Had we placed Ollie Moran at centre back from the start things might have been different as he stopped everything going down the middle.”

“There are a lot of positives we can take from this game, we’ll regroup on Wednesday and give the qualifiers a right go.”

“I’m only five months down in Limerick and we are only two months playing competitive hurling. There is a lot more in this team, believe you me.”

Cork coach Donal O’Grady was keeping his feet firmly on the ground: “It wasn’t exactly a polished performance by our lads,” said O’Grady, “but we are in another Munster final and that is all that matters.

“It was a typical Munster Championship game played with great passion; I knew we would have to be focused coming up here because I knew we would get nothing soft. I’m a realist and knew from experience it was going to be very tough and we were prepared for that. I have no control over what our supporters feel but there was certainly no complacency among the players.”

“Limerick rocked us early on but we showed excellent composure and did very well to go in front with some excellent long range points.”

“Half-time gave us the chance to bolster the defence and midfield and it worked well for us. For the first 20 minutes of the second half we hurled with great confidence but again failed to drive home our advantage.”

“For some reason we sat back and allowed Limerick to come at us a second time. Credit to them for coming strongly late in the game and we were hanging on in the closing minutes.

He said he was pleased with Brian Corcoran’s display when introduced:

“Brian is a very experienced player to have on the line, every member of the panel is there to be brought on and Brian did a very good job for us.

While refusing to be drawn on any refereeing decisions, O’Grady did say that “hurling is a man’s game and the players are expected to hit and be hit. However, while saying the ref had firm control all through he claimed persistent fouling is not being punished properly.