Pride is restored, insists Pad Joe

Hurling boss Pad Joe Whelahan believed his side had restored pride in Limerick hurling with their fine battling performance against Cork in yesterday’s hard-fought Munster semi-final.

But Limerick must rely on the All-Ireland qualifiers to progress once again after suffering a 1-18 to 2-12 defeat before 31,163 spectators at the new-look Gaelic Grounds.

Limerick are due to be back in action on June 19 when the first round of All-Ireland qualifiers are set to take place.

The draw for the qualifiers is set to take place a week before.

Afterwards Limerick team captain TJ Ryan was critical of referee Seamus Roche for his handling of the game.

Ryan described some of the decisions given against Limerick as "terrible".

But Garryspillane clubman Ryan was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card following an incident involving Cork’s Jonathon O’Callaghan early in the first half.

The incident, which was caught by TV cameras, may come under the scrutiny of the Games

Administration Committee.

Afterwards manager Whelehan said Ryan had suffered a broken tooth moments earlier.

“TJ (Ryan) had his tooth broken at that stage,” Pad Joe Whelehan said.

“It was two sixes, really. He got a bad belt. It’s a man’s game. It’s Munster championship hurling.

“We are disappointed with the result. We did everything right in the first-half.

“I know the referee pretty well. We did find it hard to get frees. I felt our two corner forwards should have been awarded a few.

“We will be back. The team is improving. We have only been together for five months and playing competitive hurling for two months. There are a lot of positives we can take from the game.

“We will go back training on Wednesday night. I think we restored a bit of pride today. There is a lot more in this team.”

While captain TJ Ryan was disappointed with the referee’s performance, he stressed that it was important for Limerick to focus now on the All-Ireland qualifiers.

“The result is disappointing. We put a huge amount of work into preparing for the game,” Ryan said.

“There is no point in whinging. We have to pick it up and focus on the qualifiers. We have come a long way and did a lot of things right today.”

To cap a disappointing day for Limerick supporters at the re-vamped Gaelic Grounds yesterday, Munster and All-Ireland champions Cork also emerged victorious in the intermediate semi-final on a 1-21 to 1-10 scoreline.

Cork led by 1-10 to 1-5 at half-time.