Pat Ryan: 'It was an honour for us to come up here and fight'

The Cork boss praised his side's effort in overturning the reigning Munster champions. 

Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship Final, TUS Gaelic Grounds, Limerick 7/6/2025

Pat Ryan admitted Cork had practised no penalties ahead of their dramatic shoot-out with Limerick on Saturday night.

He said he couldn't be more proud of his side’s reaction after the 16-point hammering they shipped against the same opposition last month and that there was an onus on the Rebels to bring the fight to Limerick.

“None, none,” he said, referring to the penalties.

"All the lads are practising a lot on their own, I think. We had really good confidence in them. Eoin Downey probably practised more penalties than anyone!

“Patrick (Collins) is really talented. But, look, that's Patrick's job and Patrick's did a job for us.

“But look, it was an honour for us to come up here and fight. We didn't fight the last time we came up here and the lads, look, obviously they worked really hard, we fought really hard. It just took penalties to separate us and we're just delighted to get the trophy.

“We know that we're a good team. But it's the same with every other team, there's loads of good teams out there and it's all about the attitude you bring and whether you're going to fight. We fought today.

“We were missing a couple of fellas, a couple of bodies came on and sometimes that actually freshens up the team. I thought the lads came off the bench today and did a fantastic job. Robbie O'Flynn, Tommy O'Connell, Shane Kingston. You know, in fairness, that was great for us.

“Again, having the ability to bring on Niall (O’Leary) and Rob (Downey), it was huge. It was a step up for us. We picked up one or two yellow cards. The fellas were cramping and tiring. It was the same as Limerick were, but we were delighted to get the win and it was vital that we represented the jersey properly today and we did.” 

Four points up at half-time in normal time after playing with the wind. Was it going to suffice?

“We were just going to have to fight. We put pressure on them all over the place and they put pressure on us all over the place. But look, we were in the game today.

“From the throw-in, we were engaged. Cian (Lynch) was on top of Ciarán (Joyce) at the start, but Ciarán was everywhere. Cian's a super player and I thought, look, Ciarán, as the game went on, got on top there as well. But that's what you have to do. You have to put really good teams under pressure and you take your chances, then whether you win or not. I suppose the key thing was that the guys stayed composed and responded when Limerick had the goal to go ahead.

“And then we got the goal five minutes later. We had a couple of other opportunities that we probably didn't take. Actually, coming up to the end of normal time, obviously we got the equalising score from Darragh (Fitzgibbon). We got it, but we missed two or three chances at that stage.

“Shane Kingston had broken free there and Ciarán probably took a shot at it. He was inside and, I don't know, Brian Hayes could probably have given the ball across to Sham (Séamus Harnedy) as well in that goal opportunity. But, look, these are things that happen. Our fellas fought hard and that was the key for us today.

“We're all fighting tooth and nail for the calls. The game is so fast. Thomas (Walsh) is a fantastic referee. We're fighting for calls. John Kiely’s fighting for calls. That's just the nature of it. I thought, look, in fairness to the referees that are there at the moment, they're all doing their best. They're all trying to do it in an honourable and straight way.

“There were a couple of calls that we went against but I heard John shouting for plenty of scores that didn't go his way. That's just the game. Credit to them. Credit to the officials. James Owens came on then, which is tough for him, but he did a good job as well.” 

A place in the All-Ireland semi-final is secured.

"It is one less game. Probably three or four weeks off. It's probably going to take a bit of managing now. That's something that we haven't accounted for before. Limerick have plenty of experience of how they deal with that. That's your four weeks off to manage properly and probably get a bit of advice from fellas that have done it before.” 

The new Munster champions will be eager to prove themselves again.

“We have no doubt in the character of our fellas. We have no doubt in the ability that they have. I think everybody has said that. You have to go and prove it every time.

“I'm here three years. We thought that performance three or four weeks ago was gone out of this team. As I said, I genuinely take a bit of blame for that. I probably wasn't driving the bus as much as I could have been. Sometimes you're managing and not leading.

“Definitely our management team probably led a bit the last three weeks a bit more. Donal O’Rourke’s doing a fantastic job with the coaching. Absolutely fantastic coach. Really, really good coach. It's great for us.”

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