Munster mayhem: Cork are champions after dramatic penalty shoot out in Limerick

REBEL ROAR: Cork skipper Robert Downey lifts the Mick Mackey Cup after their thrilling win on penalties over defending champions Limerick at LIT Gaelic Grounds. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Munster SHC final: Limerick 2-27 Cork 1-30 (AET, Cork win 3-2 on penalties) 

Cork are the Munster SHC champions for the first time in seven years after putting their 16-point defeat to Limerick last month well and truly behind in a historic final in TUS Gaelic Grounds.

For the first time in Liam MacCarthy Cup history, a final went to penalties and when Darragh Fitzgibbon’s opening penalty for Cork was saved by Nickie Quaid things looked tight for the visitors.

However, Barry Murphy sent his strike wide and Tom Morrissey’s hit was saved. After Alan Connolly converted his penalty, Limerick needed to make their next but Declan Hannon’s effort dribbled wide and the realms of red in the 43,580 crowd were in raptures.

On the back of their wily replacements Shane Kingston and Conor Lehane, Cork drove for the finish but their toil seemed to be in vain when Damien Cahalane committed a tired foul on Shane O’Brien.

Aaron Gillane capitalised yet that was not the end. Nickie Quaid touched a ball out for a 65 and Darragh Fitzgibbon arrowed the placed ball between the sticks to force the unprecedented.

EYEDS ON THE PRIZE: Cork target man Brian Hayes secures possession with Limerick's Dan Morrissey in hot pursuit during Saturday's exhausting Munster SHC final at the Gaelic Grounds. Pic: Laszlo Geczo, Inpho

The teams couldn’t be divided at the turnaround of extra-time either. Opting to play with the wind for the first half of extra-time, Limerick went two up through substitute Declan Hannon in the opening seconds and Aaron Gillane converting a free he won.

Referee Thomas Walsh had to retire with cramp and was replaced by stand-by official and linesman James Owens. With a Darragh Fitzgibbon free and a Kieran Kingston angled point, Cork were back on level terms and then Lehane, who had won the free, broke a ball to himself and found his range.

After Kyle Hayes and Gillane wides, the latter sent over a free to make it 2-22 to 1-25 at the interval. Both teams went ahead in the second period and all the scorers were substitutes.

Kingston’s third point in the 88th minute was cancelled out by Cathal O’Neill after he had sent a strike wide before Cahalane’s foul on Shane O’Brien gave Limerick what seemed to be the match-winning free. But Fitzgibbon was able to send the Munster final into unchartered territory.

Cork's Diarmuid Healy and Barry Nash of Limerick chase possession. Pic: John Sheridan/Sportsfile

In the absence of a blistering start in normal time, a typical power quarter by Limerick was expected after the break as they trailed by four points. However, it wasn’t until the introduction of Shane O’Brien that they drew level in the 47th minute. Cork were caught sleeping with a Gearóid Hegarty free finding Gillane who controlled the ball and fed O’Brien to finish emphatically.

Limerick were unable to build on it, though. Five times Cork went ahead and each time Limerick cancelled out the lead. Darragh Fitzgibbon was the ringmaster in helping to keep Cork’s noses in front but another Limerick alternation, Darragh O’Donovan, broke that pattern in the 69th minute.

When Kyle Hayes blocked down Patrick Horgan’s shot, it seemed the initiative was with Limerick only for Hayes’s namesake Brian to aerobically push the ball out to Horgan for the equaliser in the second minute of additional time.

There was time for Gillane to fling a free wide, Ciarán Joyce to do the same after Adam English had gifted him the ball and O’Donovan mishit an effort at the posts before Walsh called for the ball and the teams returned to their dressing rooms.

As they did last month, Cork won the toss but Shane Barrett on this occasion elected to be backed up by the breeze and their half-time lead of four points, 1-14 to 1-10, told some of that tale.

All the same, it didn’t tell anything about how Cork operated a shoot-on-sight policy for a large portion of the half and posted nine wides and dropped a couple of shots short. Or the goal chances that went abegging outside Barrett’s 27th minute goal. Or the dubious tackling Limerick’s full-back line were getting away with towards the end of the half.

Cue the half-time row between management members involving the managers as well as selectors Liam Cronin and Wayne Sherlock. Cork were getting little but then Limerick only won their first free in the 17th minute.

Cork began well but the unnoticed runs of Tom Morrissey were undoing a lot of their good work and the Ahane man had two points inside the first nine minutes and struck two wides in the first 11.

Back-to-back Diarmuid Healy points put Cork on a solid footing although Cian Lynch was masterful in the air when he strayed over to both wings. Seamus Harnedy, who was finding plenty of space himself, struck his second point to put Cork 0-8 to 0-5 ahead in the 18th minute but there was a let-off for Cork when Eoin Downey was adjudged not to have fouled Adam English when the Limerick midfielder made for goal.

Limerick forgot about that quickly when O’Connor batted a goal in the 20th minute. Eoin Downey could have done a lot better in preventing him though and Patrick Collins’s attempt at a denial wasn’t much to write home about either.

Brian Hayes had a goal attempt kept out in the 24th minute but he made amends less than three minutes later when he had the wherewithal to absorb a foul while passing out to Barrett who found the net and Cork were back in front, two ahead.

Collins kept out Hegarty soon after and Cork scored two of the next three points to lead by three. However, Walsh was giving them little close to the Limerick goal in the way of frees.

Hayes had another attempt stopped in the 33rd minute and Horgan’s hurley was held as he tried to follow it up. Cork did send over the next three scores to lead by five prior to David Reidy’s third of the half ending the period.

Penalty goals for Limerick: D. Byrnes, A. Gillane.

Penalty goals for Cork: C. Lehane, S. Kingston, A. Connolly.

Scorers for Limerick: A. Gillane (0-9, 7 frees); S. O’Brien (1-2); A. O’Connor (1-1); D. Reidy, A. English (0-3 each); T. Morrissey, G. Hegarty (0-2 each); D. Byrnes (free), D. O’Donovan, D. Hannon, P. Casey (0-1 each).

Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (0-7, 4 frees); S. Barrett (1-3); D. Fitzgibbon (0-4, 1 free, 1 65); D. Healy, S. Kingston (0-3 each); S. Harnedy, C. Lehane (0-2 each); D. Cahalane, T. O’Mahony, A. Connolly, B. Hayes, E. Downey, T. O’Connell (0-1 each).

LIMERICK: N. Quaid; S. Finn, D. Morrissey, M. Casey; D. Byrnes, K. Hayes, B. Nash; A. English, W. O’Donoghue; G. Hegarty, C. Lynch (c), T. Morrissey; A. Gillane, A. O’Connor, D. Reidy.

Subs for Limerick: S. O’Brien for A. O’Connor (42); P. Casey for D. Reidy, C. O’Neill for T. Morrissey (both 55); D. O’Donovan for W. O’Donoghue (65); D. Hannon for D. Byrnes, B. Murphy for M. Casey (both e-t); T. Morrissey for G. Hegarty (79); S. Flanagan for C. Lynch (temp 90+1 to 90+3); D. Byrnes for C. Lynch (80+4).

CORK: P. Collins; D. Cahalane, E. Downey, S. O’Donoghue; M. Coleman, C. Joyce, C. O’Brien; T. O’Mahony, D. Fitzgibbon; D. Healy, S. Barrett (c), S. Harnedy; P. Horgan, B. Hayes, A. Connolly.

Subs for Cork: R. Downey for C. O’Brien (54); T. O’Connell for T. O’Mahony (59); S. Kingston for A. Connolly (65); R. O’Flynn for S. Harnedy (68); C. Lehane for P. Horgan (70+3); N. O’Leary for S. O’Donoghue (72); B. Roche for D. Healy (e-t h-t); A. Connolly for M. Coleman (inj 84).

Referee: T. Walsh (Waterford).