Shane Kingston: 'I wouldn't be looking at games from two years ago. Teams evolve, hurling evolves'

Cork's last couple of championship performances against Limerick have proven they have no scar tissue from that crushing All-Ireland final loss in 2021.

Thu, 04 Jul, 2024 - 08:57

John Fogarty

There are a lot worse things to be known as but super sub is obviously not how Shane Kingston wants to be considered.

Yet a convergence of stage and opposition on Sunday and the fact he hasn’t been able to win his place back in the team since a hamstring injury ruled him out of April’s Munster opener against Waterford means it’s difficult to shake off the moniker.

In Cork’s last All-Ireland semi-final three years ago, he delivered a hefty seven points in that extra-time win over Kilkenny having been introduced just over six minutes into the second half of normal time. Four points down, his presence tilted the game in Cork’s favour.

A 62nd minute replacement against Limerick in May, his speed of thought and foot and audacity won his side a 73rd minute penalty, which Patrick Horgan dispatched to the net to send the home support into raptures.

Receiving Patrick Collins’ rapid puck-out, he didn’t have a goal in his head, only that he had to make his way to the Limerick goal as quickly as possible. “I think when I got the ball there wasn’t really a chance for goal, to be honest. I don’t know, I just put the head down and I ran. Things opened up so I just kept running.

“It all kind of happened in a matter of seconds. I wasn’t really thinking at the time and if I was, it wouldn’t have turned out the way it did. It was instinct really, to be honest.”

It was on the back of that dazzling display against Kilkenny that Kingston won back his starting place for the 2021 final against Limerick. His fourth-minute goal cancelled out Gearóid Hegarty’s one a couple of minutes earlier and initially appeared like it settled Cork. As it turned out, they poked a bear, trailed by 13 at the break and 16 in the end. It was a chastening day on Jones’ Road.

“Yeah, it’s a lonely old spot all right,” he admits. “We lost there in ’17, lost there in ’18. In 2021. So yeah. We’ve only won one game, against Kilkenny, there. You just want to express yourself when you get the opportunity to go out into Croke Park.”

Kingston playing for Cork against Limerick in 2022.

Their last couple of championship performances against Limerick since have proven Cork have no scar tissue from that crushing loss. “I suppose look, other people might be different but I wouldn’t really be looking back on games from a couple of years ago,” insists Kingston. “Our team has evolved, Limerick’s team has evolved, hurling itself has evolved.

“So I wouldn’t be looking at those games too much. The last time we played in Croke Park was the All-Ireland final in 2021, where we didn’t do ourselves justice or express ourselves on the day. So, you’d be doing your best to rectify that performance.

“Obviously, we’re on four wins in a row, which is great to build momentum. Fellas are a bit older and bit more mature. You’d be hoping that would stand to you when you’re going into the semi-final.

“It’s a big day, a big occasion. There’s going to be a lot of people there. You’re hoping fellas are a bit more mature than they were a couple of years ago. There are no hang-ups from that game.”

The Douglas man doesn’t play down the gauntlet of facing Limerick in Croke Park but he stops short of saying it is more difficult facing them there. “The challenge is, it’s a huge task no matter where you’re playing. But any Munster team is a huge task. We’ve seen how the games have gone the last couple of years, that anyone can beat anyone on any given day. But we’re well aware that we have a huge task on our hands.”

One thing he can say almost for certain is the game won’t follow the same script as their meeting in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. “Look, no two games are the same really. We’ll be trying to finetune and tweak a few bits ourselves and you’d be looking at the opposition team and trying to see what they might potentially do on the day, how can you try break it down or counteract things that they’re doing.”