Dialled-in Limerick find goal touch to hand Cork a first league defeat
NETBUSTER: Shane O'Brien of Limerick celebrates his goal. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor
In the space of a fortnight, Limerick have whipped the two All-Ireland finalists by an aggregate total of 24 points. The 15-point skewering of the champions followed here by serving Ben O’Connor his first defeat as Cork manager.
Whatever about where Cork and Tipp minds and bodies are at, Limerick are dialled in at present. They are the spring’s statement side.
To quickly get permutations out of the way, Cork will still reach the League decider so long as they take at least a point off relegated Offaly in their final round-robin outing. Limerick will join them if they overcome Galway.
The westerners and Tipp, mind, are still in the hunt for final involvement. A Galway win at the Gaelic Grounds in a fortnight will put them in the box seat for the second final spot.
What we had on this Saturday evening was an opening half of bite followed by a bitty second half that was malnourished for quality.
Tim O’Mahony sought to table said quality and silk on 57 minutes. What he found out is that March 7 is not the environment for fancy stuff. His attempted reverse handpass was intercepted. Cian Lynch launched a lengthy handpass to Cathal O’Neill. Goal Limerick. A 2-14 to 0-14 lead for Limerick.
Aidan O’Connor and sub Hugh Flanagan followed with a pair of white flags. The gap was eight on the hour-mark and the game was over.
Cork, having made eight changes from the Kilkenny win, four of whom were starting their first game of this League, were hurling nowhere near sharp enough or enterprising enough to claw back such a deficit.
The aforementioned Limerick 1-2 finished as a 2-5 burst. On 61 minutes, Limerick were awarded a penalty. Belated awarding seeing as Ciarán Joyce had pulled down Kyle Hayes earlier in the second half but got away with yellow and a free rather than black and arms outstretched.
Seán O’Donoghue’s first act upon introduction was to foul Gillane for the penalty Aidan O’Conor bounced into the net. The centre-forward finished with 1-11. With Gearóid Hegarty and Tom Morrissey swapping and tussling for the No.10 shirt to his immediate right, O’Connor has stitched his name onto the back of the centre-forward jersey with a series of influential and effective displays.
Nickie Quaid stopped Barry Walsh’s goal drive late on. He had similarly denied Shane Kingston in the first half. Cork operated with Brian Hayes and Alan Walsh as a two-person inside line. The lack of supply largely decided their imprint.
A one-sentence synopsis of the first-half would read as follows: Finally, some actual needle.
After Cork-Tipp and Tipp-Limerick gave us so little to even nibble on, this contest had a count of six yellow cards by the 26th minute. They were irritating and nettling each other. The dislike was very much mutual.
Tommy O’Connell, who stated in the match programme that James McClean is the sportsperson he’d most like to meet, was the first player on either side to see yellow. His challenge on the rampaging Kyle Hayes left the latter without his helmet.
Just over a quarter of an hour further on, Hayes returned the challenge with fervour. The pull was wild. O’Connell’s hurley went flying in various directions. The Midleton midfielder picked up one piece of debris and waved it in referee Seán Stack’s face.
Hayes saw yellow, the first Limerick player in the book. The Cork support in the crowd of 18,744 will argue that honour should have gone to Barry Nash four minutes earlier for his high tackle on Joyce.
The all-in afters to Hayes' pull saw Cork lose their initial free. Young Barry Walsh took off from the resulting throw-in. Kyle stopped him, Cian Lynch won the free. Lynch won another free - again inside his own half - in the following play. Aidan O’Connor retreated and converted.
The noise and the needle and the intensity continued to lift. A Micheál Mullins point effort dropped short finished with Dáire O’Leary receiving yellow at the far end and O’Connor again on target for a 1-8 to 0-9 Limerick advantage. The hosts had now clipped five of the last six scores.
Cork were back on level terms through Alan Walsh in first-half stoppages. The assist came from Brian Hayes, the All-Star forward finally seeing some possession deliberately sent in his direction.
Last word of the half went to the hosts. Gillane was fouled, O’Connor slotting his sixth free.
In stark contrast to Thurles a fortnight ago, Limerick’s scoring start was incredibly sparse. Shane O’Brien’s 80th second goal aside, they had to wait until the 11th minute for their first white flag and the 12th minute for their first white flag from play.
Barry Walsh’s busyness and Cork's general disruption of Quaid’s restarts were the chief characteristics in the visitors' 0-6 to 1-0 early lead. Cork fell behind on the half hour. They would not lead again. Cork won the yellow card count 6-3. Their winning form is otherwise finished. Nobody will read too much into such. All the reading is into Limerick.
Scorers for Limerick: A O’Connor (1-11, 1-0 pen, 0-7 frees); C O’Neill (1-2); S O’Brien (1-0); A English (0-2); C Lynch, A Gillane, H Flanagan, T Morrissey (0-1 each).
Scorers for Cork: T O’Mahony (0-7, 0-5 frees, 0-1 ‘65); T O’Connell, B Hayes (0-3 each); B Walsh, S Barrett (0-2 each); E Downey, S Kingston, A Walsh (0-1 each).
LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Finn, M Casey, B Nash; D Byrnes, W O’Donoghue, K Hayes; A English, C Lynch; G Hegarty, A O’Connor, C O’Neill; A Gillane, S O’Brien, D Reidy.
SUBS: C Coughlan for Hayes (temporary, 11-12); T Morrissey for Hegarty (51); H Flanagan for Reidy (58); D Langan for Finn (60); O O’Farrell for Gillane, D Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien (both 65).
CORK: P Collins; E Roche, D O’Leary, G Millerick; M Mullins, E Downey, D Cahalane; C Joyce, T O’Connell; B Walsh, T O’Mahony, S Kingston; S Barrett, A Walsh, B Hayes.
SUBS: S Harnedy for Kingston (40); N O’Leary for Roche (47); D Fitzgibbon for Mullins (53); S O’Donoghue for O’Leary (60); D Dalton for Walsh (65).
REFEREE: S Stack (Dublin).
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