Limerick survive Cork fightback to record third win in a row

[team1]Cork[/team1][score1]2-21[/score1][team2]Limerick[/team2][score2]0-29[/score2][/score]

Second-half goals by Shane Kingston and Aidan Walsh weren’t enough to deny free-scoring Limerick from a third consecutive win in Division 1, Group A.

The 11,212 crowd in Páirc Uí Chaoimh were treated to excitement towards the end as Cork had turned around a 0-17 to 0-11 half-time deficit to lead by three points in the 53rd minute when Walsh caught a Patrick Horgan free and lashed the ball to the net.

Limerick’s resilience was tested but it stood out to what was thrown at them.

Aaron Gillane registered the two scores that followed that goal and the sides were level twice in the final 10 minutes.

Horgan’s 15th free of the afternoon put Cork a point up in the 66th minute but that turned out to be their last score of this affair, which was pockmarked by heavy officiating.

Kyle Hayes, Diarmaid Byrne (65) and Gillane’s 11th free in total paved the way for another Limerick victory, their first over Cork since the 2018 All-Ireland semi-final.

Limerick ruled the first-half, their first 11 shots successfully dissecting the posts. By half-time, they had 10 scores from play to Cork’s two, Shane Kingston in the eighth minute and Declan Dalton in the 23rd the contributors.

Twice in the first 10 minutes, Limerick manufactured two-point leads only for Cork to draw level on both occasions. But the visitors fired over the next four scores, three of them from play. Horgan hit back with a brace of frees but Limerick’s response was again emphatic with another four more unanswered points.

Seán Cleere’s refereeing was frustrating at times so much so that Diarmuid O’Sullivan’s reaction to one of his decisions prompted the man in the middle to send the Cork selector to the stand.

Cork cut the margin to four points when Dalton scored his point from play but Limerick again pushed on with another four scores without reply, all of them Gillane frees and one of them earned after a glorious pick-up by Cian Lynch.

Horgan did close out the half with two more frees but the six-point difference hardly flattered Limerick.

Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (0-17, 15 frees, 1 65); S. Kingston (1-1); A. Walsh (1-0); D. Dalton (0-2, 1 sideline), B. Cooper (0-1).

Scorers for Limerick: A. Gillane (0-13, 11 frees); D. O’Donovan (0-3); C. Lynch, S. Flanagan, P. O’Loughlin, K. Hayes (0-2 each); W. O’Donoghue, D. Dempsey, G. Hegarty, T. Morrissey. D. Byrnes (65) (0-1 each).

CORK: P. Collins; S. O’Leary-Hayes, E. Cadogan, C. Spillane; M. Coleman, R. Downey, T. O’Mahony; B. Cooper, D. Fitzgibbon; L. Meade, R. O’Flynn, S. Harnedy; D. Dalton, S. Kingston, P. Horgan (c).

Subs for Cork: A. Walsh for L. Meade (h-t); C. Lehane for D. Dalton (57); C. Joyce for T. O’Mahony (66); C. Cahalane for R. O’Flynn (70).

LIMERICK: N. Quaid; S. Finn, M. Casey, A. Costello, D. Byrnes, D. Hannon (c), P. O’Loughlin; C. Lynch, W. O’Donoghue, K. Hayes, G. Hegarty, D. O’Donovan; A. Gillane, D. Dempsey, S. Flanagan.

Subs for Limerick: T. Morrissey for G. Hegarty, G. Mulcahy for D. Dempsey (both 56); D. Reidy for C. Lynch (60); B. Nash for P. O’Loughlin (64); D. O’Connell for S. Flanagan (67).

Referee: S. Cleere (Kilkenny).