Ferocity of Limerick's puckout press leaves Cork 'shellshocked'

All-Ireland champions Limerick cruised to their first victory of the Allianz League campaign

Sun, 06 Jun, 2021 - 12:00

Michael Moynihan, Gaelic Grounds

Allianz HL: Limerick 0-33 Cork 2-19

Pivotal contest or championship preamble?

Saturday night in the Gaelic Grounds was a contest in search of an identity right up to the throw-in, with Limerick and Cork’s upcoming clash in the Munster championship throwing a long shadow over the proceedings.

Cork began with 14 players aged 24 or younger, while Limerick had a dozen starters with experience of an All-Ireland final. Perhaps that was the identity issue taken care of: experience versus youth. Old dogs, hard roads. Pups and boreens.

The old proverb was certainly borne out on Saturday evening, as the home side gave a powerful first-half performance that served as the basis for an emphatic win.

Limerick’s lack of a win in the league until this weekend, not to mention their somewhat cranky form on the field, had raised some questions, but those were answered on Saturday evening.

Limerick began and continued with a powerful appetite for work, putting an aggressive high press on the Cork puck-out from the very start. It was a productive approach, as they turned Cork over several times on puck-outs and scored from many those turnovers.

The Limerick team celebrate after the final whistle

The visitors got no change out of Limerick’s strength in the contact area around the middle on the occasions they were able to carry the ball out of defence, and only for Jack O’Connor’s smart ground stroke, which yielded a goal when Conor Cahalane’s shot came off the woodwork, Cork would have been even further adrift at the break.

As it was, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey and Will O’Donoghue dominated the middle, with Lynch the key playmaker and link to the inside line. At half-time it was 0-20 to 1-7, with Limerick also guilty of ten wides: half of the Limerick defence was on the scoresheet, never mind the forwards.

“In the first half I thought our lads were a small bit shellshocked,” said Cork boss Kieran Kingston after the game.

“We said we’d play with the wind to see if it could ease us into the game a little bit, and it didn’t work out that way.

“We were probably lucky to be only ten points down at half-time, being realistic about it, though I thought we missed a couple of goal chances.”

Cork were better on the resumption, with sub Patrick Horgan keeping the scoreboard ticking over at least, while O’Connor added a second goal with a deft improvised finish from a very tight angle, but Limerick found their range at will, ending the game with 33 scores.

“An improved performance is the real message,” was John Kiely’s first impression of his side’s win.

“Week on week we have been improving and looking for those improvements. Again tonight, our work rate was up. Our use of the ball was much better. Our energy levels was much better, that's the bottom line.”

Both managers paid particular attention to those Cork restarts after the final whistle, and little wonder. Limerick’s incessant pressure, cutting down Cork options, was the platform for their victory, but as Kiely pointed out, the pressure his side exerted doesn’t happen by accident.

“That takes energy, that takes effort. It takes cohesion as a unit - you can’t have one or two doing it on their own, everyone has to be doing it.

“The lads worked hard there tonight and they got dividends from it.”

Kieran Kingston acknowledged as much: “Yes, they put huge pressure on our puckouts and got a lot of turnovers, got a lot of success from it.

“We changed it around at half-time and it worked better in the second half, but in the first half they got a lot of scores out of it. We contributed to that too, we had a lot of unforced errors.”

Limerick look to July with confidence, then. Some of the players to come back — Kyle Hayes, Gearóid Hegarty — will only strengthen John Kiely’s hand as the summer wears on.

The Limerick manager is too experienced a campaigner not to take some valuable lessons even from such a facile win as Saturday night, however.

Cork created at least six clear goal-scoring opportunities, and though the likes of Sean Finn performed some goal-line miracles to keep the Rebels at bay, other sides may be more clinical if those opportunities present themselves. Saturday evening may encourage those sides to create more of those opportunities.

Cork will take some comfort in the experienced players to come back but they will have more questions this morning to ponder.

The fact that some of their younger players found oxygen hard to find at Limerick’s operating altitude is disappointing but hardly a revelation. The fact that Mark Coleman was forced back to defending as opposed to operating as a creative force will be more of a concern for their management team.

Pivotal or preamble, did Saturday reveal a lot for other teams as well?

Scorers for Limerick: A. Gillane (0-10, 9 frees); T. Morrissey, C. Lynch (0-4); D. Byrnes (1 free, 1 65) (0-3); P. Ryan, P. Casey, C. Coughlan, C. O'Neill (0-2 each); A. Breen, D. O’Donovan, W. O’Donoghue, B. Nash (0-1 each).

Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (6 frees, 2 65s, 0-9); J. O’Connor (2-1); S. Kingston, D. Dalton (frees), M. Coleman (frees)(0-2 each); R. O’Flynn, C. Cahalane, D. Cahalane (0-1 each).

LIMERICK: B. Hennessy; R. English, S. Finn, B. Nash; D. Byrnes, D. Hannon (c), C. Coughlan; W. O’Donoghue, D. O’Donovan; T. Morrissey, C. Lynch, C. Boylan; P. Ryan, A. Gillane, P. Casey.

Subs: J. Boylan for Finn (48); C. O’Neill for Boylan (55); A. Breen and D. O’Connell for Ryan and Casey (59); R. Hanley for O’Donovan (66); G. Mulcahy for Gillane and R. Connolly for Hannon (68); C. O'Brien for C Cahalane (70).

CORK: P. Collins; S. O’Leary-Hayes, D. Cahalane, N. O’Leary; G. Millerick, M. Coleman (c), R. Downey; B. Hennessy, D. Connery; C. Cahalane, S. Kingston, R. O’Flynn; J. O’Connor, D. Dalton, T. Deasy.

Subs: P. Horgan for Dalton L. Meade for Connery N. Cashman for Downey (all HT); S. Barrett for O’Flynn (48); S. Twomey for Deasy (57); A. Connolly for Kingston (66).

Referee: A. Kelly (Galway).

Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (6 frees, 2 65s, 0-9); J. O’Connor (2-1); S. Kingston, D. Dalton (frees), M. Coleman (frees)(0-2 each); R. O’Flynn, C. Cahalane, D. Cahalane (0-1 each).

LIMERICK: B. Hennessy; R. English, S. Finn, B. Nash; D. Byrnes, D. Hannon (c), C. Coughlan; W. O’Donoghue, D. O’Donovan; T. Morrissey, C. Lynch, C. Boylan; P. Ryan, A. Gillane, P. Casey.

Subs: P. Horgan for Dalton L. Meade for Connery N. Cashman for Downey (all HT); S. Barrett for O’Flynn (48); S. Twomey for Deasy (57); A. Connolly for Kingston (66).

Referee: A. Kelly (Galway).

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