Counihan: we expected it to be tough

CONOR COUNIHAN enters the Páirc Uí Chaoimh boardroom ready to play his trump card.

His team’s desperate struggle to defeat Limerick in yesterday’s Munster final had not featured in any pre-match opinions.

Their crushing dismissal of Kerry at the semi-final stage had left Cork emphatic favourites yet Counihan’s men stumbled rather than sailed over the finishing line here.