Nothing learned about Cork from brief Limerick interrogation
Colm O'Callaghan of Cork is tackled by Iain Corbett of Limerick during the Munster GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match between Limerick and Cork at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Limerick’s Division 4 League success fuelled the notion that Cork would be subject to a pre-Kerry interrogation. The interrogation lasted all of 25 minutes. Cork did not sweat their short interview room stay. Cork came back down the road no wiser about themselves.
Saturday evening at the Gaelic Grounds sat in a green and gold shadow. Saturday evening, above all else, was a preamble to April 19.
Everything Cork did and didn’t do was measured against their waiting Munster semi-final opponents. Would the positives trouble Kerry? To what extent would they punish the red mistakes made here?
For the third game in succession - the first time since February 2023 - Cork kept a clean sheet. But what if it had been David Clifford, and not James Naughton, that had half a sighting of goal inside the opening 10 minutes? What if it had been Dylan Geaney, and not Peter Nash, that was played inside the cover for a far more clear-cut green flag opportunity on 28 minutes?
Cork, with a two-point-friendly wind behind them, led only by the minimum after 20 minutes. They were not panicked by such a slender 0-7 to 0-6 lead, nor did they seek to rush shots on account of the elements behind them. Would the same composure have been present if the colour of the opposing shirt had gold running through the green?
Nothing, you see, took place in isolation. Everything took place with April 19 in mind.
The comfortable nature of Cork’s win, brought about by the 25th minute dismissal of Limerick’s championship debutant Seán Clancy and Cork’s tripling of their lead in the following seven minutes, meant there was no need to dwell particularly long on the result when in the company of John Cleary afterwards. The conversation went quickly onto Kerry.
The Cork manager made two core points regarding Kerry’s visit. The first was that Cork would have to be better than they were here. The second was his certainty they would be better than they were here.
“There is no point beating around the bush, Kerry are the top team in Ireland at the moment. We saw what they did above in Croke Park. They seem to be getting used to the new rules big time,” Cleary began.
“Look, we face a big, big challenge. But all we can do is learn from today, dust ourselves down, and get ready for Páirc Uí Chaoimh in two weeks' time. But we would need to be better than that. I've no doubt we will be better than we played tonight. Whether it is good enough to beat Kerry is another question.”
The third successive clean sheet was mentioned to Cleary. A good habit to be developing. But what he seemed more interested in was their satisfactory game-management for the third outing in succession.
Against Louth, they led by 15 early in the second half. Against Cavan, they led by seven late in the first half. Against Limerick, they led by nine at the break. All three games were managed out to successful conclusions.
“Naturally enough I’d prefer if we were more ruthless [in the second half], but look, it was a lesson for us from previous games how we managed it, and we didn't kick it away and we didn't go for the jugular with the chance of being turned over and them going down the field. So I'd be happy about the way we managed it, definitely, in the second half.
“I hope we will be standing here in two weeks and saying we have a clean sheet again. It is pleasing because we had our difficulties in the middle of the league and as it turned out, if we had beaten Down, which we should have, we'd have probably got promotion.
“We are in between, really, challenging the top, top teams and being that small bit behind. Two weeks' time will tell us a lot as to where we are.”
As we said at the top, nothing new learned here. What was known and reinforced was Brian O’Driscoll’s unheralded ability at raising orange flags. Two inside the opening six minutes brought his total to eight for 2025. Cork won Limerick’s first two restarts and pointed from both. Prioritising prompt kick-passes inside, such as Mark Cronin’s to Brian Hurley for a 17th minute point, unlocked space and green flag openings quicker than their running game. Cork didn’t prioritise them enough.
Kerry will interrogate all of the above, and more. The interview room stay will run beyond 25 minutes.
B O’Driscoll (0-6, 2 tp), M Cronin (0-6, 2 tpf, 0-2 frees); B Hurley (0-4, tp, 0-1 free); C O’Callaghan, P Walsh (0-2 each); M Taylor, S McDonnell, C Óg Jones, C O’Mahony (0-1 each).
J Naughton (0-7, 2 tpf, 0-1 free); P Nash (0-1 free), E Rigter (tp, 0-2 each); C McSweeney, P Maher (0-1 each).
MA Martin; N Lordan, D O’Mahony, S Brady; B O’Driscoll, R Maguire, M Taylor; I Maguire, C O’Callaghan; P Walsh, E McSweeney, S McDonnell; M Cronin, B Hurley, C Óg Jones.
S Powter for R Maguire (HT); R Deane for McSweeney (46); C O’Mahony for Hurley (52); C Cahalane for Walsh (63); M Shanley for Lordan (66).
J Ryan; D Buckley, C McSweeney, M McCarthy; B Coleman, I Corbett, R Childs; E Rigter, T Childs; P Maher, J Naughton, S Clancy; C Fahy, P Nash, D Ó Siochrú.
J Hassett for Coleman (46); T Ó Siochrú for R Childs, D O’Hagan for Fahy (both 52); D Neville for D Ó Siochrú (56); J Baynham for Nash (63); D Murray for T Childs (69, temporary).
D O’Mahoney (Tipperary)
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