Criticism grows over team’s surrender to inspired Limerick side
They will do so against a background of mounting criticism of the weakness of their challenge and a growing respect for the quality of the Limerick play under the inspired management of former Austin Stacks player Liam Kearns.
Despite the fact that they had played the previous week in the Division Two League final, which arguably drained them more emotionally because of the circumstances of their defeat, Limerick were clearly the fresher team in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. That poses obvious questions about the home side's mental and physical preparation, their approach to the game and their tactics or the lack of them on the day.
Graham Canty was an obvious loss but it would be fair to say the general view in advance of the game was that Cork would win without him as long as they would not under-perform. Such a view would have been largely based on the potential showed during the course of the league, in the absence of the Nemo Rangers contingent for the greater part of the campaign and newcomer Tom Kenny. He played at centre-forward, the position in which Michéal Ó Croinín impressed greatly during the League. Placed in the left corner on Sunday, he was slow to settle and, interestingly, wasn't given a run in the centre before making way for Colin Crowley.
Team captain Martin Cronin expressed some criticism of the referee after the game, saying he was 'disappointed' with him and pointing out that it wasn't a 'knee-jerk reaction' to the team's unexpected defeat.
Cronin was one of five Cork defenders yellow-carded in the course of the first half. A management source also expressed criticism of Brian White's handling of the game during the opening half.
That criticism was also based on the decision of White not to penalise the Limerick full-back for several fouls on Colin Corkery after both players had been yellow-carded.
It was also influenced to an extent by dissatisfaction with White's handling of their All-Ireland semi-final game against Kerry in Croke Park last year, when Corkery was sent off. So too were Fionán Murray and Tom O'Sullivan, who were both red-carded. Murray was subsequently exonerated on video evidence.
Cork's only previous defeat by Limerick in Fitzgerald Stadium in 1965, had been dramatic for different reasons. In the dressing room before the game, two players were withdrawn from the team one reportedly because he played illegally outside the county and another who was a victim of the county board's vigilante committee.
This was in the bad old days of 'the ban' on playing and attending 'foreign' games, which was repealed six years later.
Cork and Limerick met again in 1966, in Killarney, when they won 5-10 to 1-8. A member of that team was current selector Mick O'Loughlin. Yesterday, he admitted to be mystified as to the reasons for the team's collapse. All he could think of was "the effort that went in during the year".
"They just didn't perform on the day, so many of them at the same time,'' he said. "You'd imagine that two or three might not perform, but it happened to so many, including some of the 'big guns'. We could not have expected it.
"They were flying against Galway the previous Saturday in a challenge. They were beaten by a late goal after we put on six or seven players in the last ten minutes. The form was there," O'Loughlin said.
"It's impossible to put your finger on it. People have been asking if the Nemo players are tired after their All-Ireland club campaign. I don't know. All I know is that in all our matches in the League we were missing numerous players, six or seven all the time. Every fellow goes out to do his best, but in fairness it didn't work for these players on Sunday.
"But, I wouldn't want to take from Limerick's victory. You'd imagine that their involvement in the League final would have worked against them, but it didn't. They were a lot fresher than we were. The better team definitely won on the day.''
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