John Cleary accepts flat showing if Cork are ready for Killarney

Cork manager Cleary accepted his side were off-colour in defeating Limerick.

Cork manager John Cleary in conversation with Limerick manager Jimmy Lee after the Munster GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match between Cork and Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile

Falling as this game did between the rock of potential League relegation and the hard place that is their impending visit to Fitzgerald Stadium, yesterday was as good an afternoon as any for a flat and somewhat insipid Cork showing.

Cork had to be at full spring throttle to rescue themselves from a three-game losing League start. They’ll have to be at full championship throttle on April 20 to record the county’s first Munster victory over Kerry in Killarney since 1995. This provincial quarter-final required neither and Cork’s display bore testament to that truth.