Limerick avoid rout but Rebels in easy march

NOT quite the ritual disembowelling that many had anticipated, but Cork still had 13 points to spare over Limerick in the Munster SHC semi-final in Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday.

The right ingredients – brilliant sunshine, a beautiful playing surface – didn’t entice the punters after a winter and spring of discontent in Limerick, and a paltry crowd of 13,638 made their way down the Marina.

For their money they saw a reasonable contest early on. Limerick got on the scoreboard first, and led until the seventh minute through Paudie McNamara and Andrew Brennan points, but Patrick Horgan and Jerry O’Connor pulled Cork level.

Then came the first twist in the game, when Horgan won a penalty on eight minutes. The Glen Rovers man got up and goaled from 21 metres himself, as he’d done against Tipperary in the previous round.

Cork duly extended their lead with long-range points, and looked well in control. Their half-back line gave them a good attacking platform while ahead of them Cathal Naughton and late call-up Lorcan McLoughlin (who started instead of the injured Tom Kenny) were busy all through.

Cork were five points ahead when they missed a chance to kill off the game in the 20th minute. They won another penalty – Horgan the man fouled again – but his shot was well saved by ‘keeper Tadhg Flynn.

However, any hope of that sparking a revival faded when Cork outscored Limerick four points to two in the following nine minutes, Cathal Naughton and the two O’Connors stretching Cork’s lead to seven points as the half wound down.

Then came two pivotal moments. Limerick won a 30th minute penalty which Paudie McNamara took only to see Donal Óg Cusack block his shot.

In injury time Limerick suffered a mortal blow when Sean Herlihy, having won a free for his side, got a straight red card for retaliation.

It was 1-10 to 0-6 at the break, and though Limerick weren’t beaten, there was a sense that Cork would be able to raise their game if necessary, and they showed as much on the resumption.

Much as they had done in defeating Tipperary, Cork came out of the blocks fast in the second half, outscoring their opponents four points to one in the ten minutes after the break.

By the 46th minute the scoreline was 1-14 to 0-7. The two O’Connors, Gardiner and man of the match Niall McCarthy all found the target, with only Thomas O’Brien replying for Limerick.

The game fairly petered out after that. With 14 men Limerick were always going to struggle to create openings up front, and as Cork deployed the mobile Shane O’Neill as the spare man, their opponents found little room to manoeuvre near goal.

Credit Graeme Mulcahy for working a sight of the opposition goal with ten minutes left, but his crisp shot was saved by Cusack, even though Thomas O’Brien scored the resultant 65.

The match had long ceased to be a contest when Cork substitute Paudie O’Sullivan set off on a solo from the 45-metre line through the heart of the Limerick defence, producing a clever finish for a goal on 68 minutes; his captain Kieran Murphy added a point to bring Cork’s total to 2-19 before the final whistle.

Limerick can take some solace from yesterday’s game. By the 64th minute, even with 14 men, they had scored six second-half points to Cork’s eight, and it was little wonder they ran out of energy in the last five minutes as a result of being short-handed.

If midfielder Thomas O’Brien had been on the frees in the first half they might have been even closer, while in Kieran O’Rourke at corner-back and Graeme Mulcahy up front they also had two of the game’s better performers.

However, any doubts about the effects of months of conflict between players, officials and management on Shannonside were dispelled by the large banner draped over the wall at the Blackrock End of the stadium yesterday.

The banner called on the Limerick County Board to sort out the problems which have resulted in most of last year’s senior hurling team opting out of action this year, but that particular standoff shows no sign of resolution.

Cork have different issues to address ahead of their Munster final date with Waterford. Their manager Denis Walsh was frank after the game, saying that his side’s appetite for the breaking ball would have to improve for the provincial decider, though he was hopeful that defender Brian Murphy and midfielder Tom Kenny would both be fit to face the Déise.

The muted build-up to yesterday’s clash wouldn’t have helped Cork either, and Walsh will be hoping that a full Semple Stadium will bring the best out of his players.

He won’t be alone. A crowd of less than 14,000 won’t cause much mirth among Munster Council delegates (particularly after the Bank Holiday Monday debacle of Waterford-Clare, which had an even smaller attendance). Waterford-Cork, the saviour of the Munster hurling championship so many times in the last decade, will have to ride to the rescue again in three weeks’ time.

Cork: D Og Cusack; S O'Neill, E Cadogan, B Murphy; J Gardiner (0-1), R Curran, S Og O hAilpín; L McLoughlin (0-1), C Naughton (0-1); B O'Connor (0-3, 1f), J O'Connor (0-3), N McCarthy (0-5); K Murphy (0-2), A O hAilpin, P Horgan (1-2, 1pen). Subs - S Murphy for B Murphy (33), M Cussen for A O hAilpin (49), P O'Sullivan (1-1) for Horgan (49), G Callanan for Naughton (54), R Ryan for S Og O hAilpin (62).

Limerick: T Flynn; S O'Neill, D Breen, K O'Rourke; S O'Riordan, B O'Sullivan, P Browne; T O'Brien (0-6, 3f, 1'65'), A Brennan (0-1, f); P McNamara (0-1, f), J O'Brien, S Herlihy; G Mulcahy (0-3), A Owens (0-1), R McKeogh. Subs - L O'Dwyer for O'Riordan (24), C Mullane for McNamara (ht), P Russell for McKeogh (ht), N Quaid for Brennan (44), A O'Connor for Owens (59).

Ref - James Owens (Wexford).