Player ratings: Connolly key for Cork, Casey and O'Brien lead Limerick challenge

There were some big performances in both red and green at Supervalu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Cork’s Alan Connolly celebrates the final whistle. Pic: Morgan Treacy/Inpho

Patrick Collins: Monster delivery to Hayes led to Connolly’s goal. Super stop from Peter Casey. Should have done better for the late goal alright. 7.

Seán O’Donoghue: With Aaron Gillane absent, he was on Peter Casey. O’Donoghue was strong defensively but also a reliable outlet for short puck-outs which led to three direct assists. 7.

Ciarán Joyce: Injured in the opening exchanges. Replaced by Damien Cahalane. N/A.

Niall O’Leary: His usual Limerick assignment on David Reidy. Shackled him and also very tidy in possession. 8.

Mark Coleman: Found Cathal O’Neill, who sliced over four from play, very hard to nail down. Yet hurled a lot of ball himself too. Did win an absolutely vital puck-out and free in added time to put Cork back ahead. 6.

Rob Downey: Very much a holding centre-back. That allowed Aidan O’Connor pick off 0-3 in the first half but he was fairly peripheral in the second. Came out with some crucial breaks when the game was in the melting pot. 7.

Eoin Downey: Given the thankless task of man-marking Gearóid Hegarty, who fired over two glorious points but he really grew into the job. Struck a good point in the second half. 8.

Tim O’Mahony: Heavily involved and able to secure possession when Cork were shipping water. Tied down Cian Lynch before the red card. 8.

Tommy O’Connell: In the thick of the action in the second quarter, after Adam English caused early problems. Rock solid second half and scored for good measure. 7.

Darragh Fitzgibbon: Grabbed three clean puck-outs, arrowed over three great points and fouled for a pair of frees, including the leveller after 69 minutes. Kept Kyle Hayes honest for the most part and RTÉ Man of the Match. 8.

Shane Barrett: Brilliantly stuck his first-half goal to ignite Cork. Motored well all the way to the finish line. 7.

Barry Walsh: As in Thurles, he made a few early mistakes but didn’t let it faze him. Fouled for two first-half frees and came close to a goal in the second half. 6.

William Buckley: Full of energy again. Fouled for two converted frees and stuck a neat point in the first half. Scored another in the second half but should have had two more. 6.

Alan Connolly: Savage work to set up Barrett’s goal. Very calm finish for his own green flag. Only missed one free and iced two vital ones in added time. 8.

Brian Hayes: Cork looked to find their target man regularly on puck-outs and in play and by the break, he’d two points and was fouled for a free. Set up 1-2 in the second half and forced Nickey Quaid into a fine save. 7.

Subs:

Damien Cahalane: On early for Joyce, marking Shane O’Brien, who hit 0-3. Broke his share of long deliveries to safety. 6.

Diarmuid Healy: Couldn’t get going despite making some clever runs into space in the last 20 minutes. Looked a bit rusty after injury. 6.

Alan Walsh, Robbie O’Flynn, Ger Millerick: Not on long enough to rate.

Limerick

Nickie Quaid (8): Short with puck-outs in the main throughout the game. Forced to go long after the red card. No chance of saving either goal. Made a trademark stunning save to deny Hayes and Walsh.

Sean Finn (6): Good opening half and edged battle with Alan Connolly. Pass to O’Donoghue for the Cork goal was a black mark on his copybook. Hayes got the better of him for the second Cork three-pointer.

Mike Casey (7): Under pressure versus Brian Hayes but coped well. Read the game well picking up plenty of loose ball around the 20 metre line. Coped well with the third-quarter Cork surge.

Barry Nash (6): Could have done a little more going forward in opening 35 but one key pass for a Peter Casey point in the latter stages of it. Did a good job on Buckley throughout the contest.

Cork goalkeeper Patrick Collins saves a shot from Limerick's Peter Casey. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Diarmaid Byrnes (8): Opened the scoring after 15 seconds and was imperious early doors and added another in the second half. Mishit 20 metre free put Limerick ahead in the final stages.

William O’Donoghue (7): Typically solid at centre back but would be disappointed with the poor touch that opened the door for the Cork goal. Solidified an under-pressure Limerick defence in the final quarter.

Kyle Hayes (7): Great battle with Darragh Fitzgibbon in the first half. Bullocked up the field when the opportunity arose and finished up in the forwards. That tussle with the Cork captain continued in a captivating second half.

Adam English (7): Was electric at times with two great scores in the first half. A little loose at times but part of a great midfield battle. Much quieter second half as Cork began to edge the middle.

Cian Lynch (5): Red card in the 50th minute for a strike on Tim O’Mahony. Orchestrated things in the opening quarter hour. Had a quieter time of things after that before the red mist descended.

Gearoid Hegarty (8): At his exuberant best throughout the first half. Pickpocketed a couple of Cork players and chipped in with a couple of classy points. Matched his first-half showing with another powerful effort after the break.

Aidan O’Connor (6): Solid first half blighted by two poor wides. Got caught in two minds with the second effort when bearing down on goal. A quieter second half in which he struggled to get into the contest.

Cathal O’Neill (7): Patchy opening 35 minutes. Excellent start that was followed by periods of quiet. Matched some excellent scores with some wayward shooting in the second half. A couple of those misses proved costly.

Peter Casey (8): Loves the open spaces of the Páirc. Could have done with more service in the first half but did well with what ball he did pick up. Denied a goal by a stunning Patrick Collins save early in the second half.

Shane O’Brien (8): Similar to Casey. Three superb points and looked dangerous on every Cork marker that came his way. More service into him and the Kilmallock man could have done serious damage.

David Reidy (5): Industrious as always but didn’t offer much by way of a scoring threat in either half. Was replaced by Darragh O’Donovan soon after Cian Lynch’s red card.

Subs: (7) 

Darragh O’Donovan replaced Reidy and took over Lynch’s role in the middle of the park. He made a big impact while on the field. The Doon clubman won the free that ended up seeing Byrnes score Limerick’s solitary goal. Will be key to Limerick’s Munster Championship hopes with Lynch set to miss their next game with Clare.

Tom Morrissey struggled to get involved after returning from injury when he came on for Peter Casey in the final 10 minutes.

Colin Coughlan’s introduction towards the end ushered Kyle Hayes’ move to the half-forward line. Coughlan collected a couple of possessions from left half back but wasn’t on long enough to make a big impact.