End of a story rather than an era for Limerick as Cork dash five-in-a-row dream

Cork 1-28 Limerick 0-29

The third quarter surge that did for so many of Limerick’s opponents over the years ultimately proved their undoing this time.

How many times have we seen it? Game opposition well in it up to half-time before being rocked by a barrage of scores after the break to turn the contest on its head.

Only this time it was Cork inflicting the punches, each one of them landing in the first 11 minutes of the second half as they hit 10 points from as many shots in that period.

READ MORE:'Hurt is going to be God awful' says John Kiely as Limerick reign ended by Cork

READ MORE: Brian Hayes drops F-bomb on live television as he celebrates Cork victory

It gave them a five-point lead, having trailed by two, 0-16 to 1-11 at the changeover, an advantage that stretched to seven by the 51st minute and was maintained with 12 minutes of normal time remaining.

But while Limerick recovered to a large degree and never gave in, the third quarter pummelling was too much even for them to come back from. And it came just as they seemed to have done much of the heavy lifting by outscoring Cork 0-10 to 0-3 after Brian Hayes’s 18th minute goal had seen them fall five behind.

Cork’s Brian Hayes celebrates scoring the first goal of the game
(Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne)

“Look, the lads were very calm,” said Cork boss Pat Ryan of the mood at half-time.

“We knew we hadn't got our puckout going, we knew we weren't hitting the breaks hard enough we knew we didn't push up on the man enough. Look, if you give Limerick space and leave them have easy possessions, they're just going to kill you. And they did that at times.

“They got some brilliant scores. They're a brilliant team, we all know that, but from our point of view, we just needed to be more in their faces and really go man on man on them. We did that a good bit in the second half, most of the second half really.

“But look, at the same time, took a couple of great defensive blocks from our own side, great saving Patrick [Collins] in the first half to get over the line and that's testament to Limerick.”

But it feels like Limerick lost more than just their title here. Given the age profile of the team, it would be foolish in the extreme to suggest that they are spent after this, and it’s more likely than not that they will win at least one more All-Ireland.

They won’t be this close to the fabled five-in-a-row again, however. Of that much we can be sure.

This wasn’t a Limerick malfunction, though, and neither were they caught on the hop. In a magnificent contest, they fought to the death and were beaten by a marginally better team. It could easily have gone the other way.

Having pared it back to two points late on, subs Shane O’Brien and Aidan O’Connor missed point chances, but amid all that, Shane Barrett had hit the post with a point effort at the other end and Nickie Quaid saved brilliantly on the rebound.

Aaron Gillane, in one of his finest displays, could have had couple of goals, with Patrick Collins effectively denying him with his armpit in the first half as the Cork goalkeeper spread himself brilliantly, while Gillane slipped as he was preparing to bury the rebound from Collins’s second half save from Gearoid Hegarty.

Cork's Patrick Collins saves a shot from Aaron Gillane of Limerick
(Image: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane)

Either of those could have swung the game for Limerick. Both of them, if converted, would have.

But then Cork could point to Hayes having a second goal chalked off in the first half after Alan Connolly was adjudged to have thrown the ball to him.

Beating arguably the greatest team in the history of the game twice in the one Championship is a remarkable feat for Cork and they’ve certainly earned their spot in the final having put five victories together since losing their opening two games to Waterford and Clare.

Crucially, each of their six forwards turned up and were all effective to varying degrees, particularly Hayes, Shane Barrett and Seamus Harnedy, while Darragh Fitzgibbon was the outstanding midfielder on the day.

In the Limerick attack, you could only really say that about Gillane, though Cathal O’Neill and David Reidy had good spells in the first half in particular.

At this point, it’s the end of a story, rather than an era, for Limerick. Their manager John Kiely’s term is officially up now, however, and there were pointers, perhaps, in the words he used when speaking about what the future holds. Instead of “we”, it was “Limerick” and “they”.

“Just immensely proud of the boys, immensely proud of all the people in the backroom team for the work they've put in over the last number of years and in particular this year,” he said.

“And I've no doubt, Limerick will regroup and come back in 2025, you know, refreshed and ready to go again. There's no reason why they can't.”

CORK: Patrick COLLINS 8; Niall O’LEARY 7, Eoin DOWNEY 8, Sean O’DONOGHUE 6; Ciaran JOYCE 7, Robert DOWNEY (0-1) 7, Mark COLEMAN (0-1) 7; Tim O’MAHONY 7, Darragh FITZGIBBON (0-3) 8; Declan DALTON (0-4, 0-2f) 8, Shane BARRETT (0-3) 9, Seamus HARNEDY (0-4) 8; Brian Hayes (1-4) 9, Patrick HORGAN (0-5, 0-3f) 7, Alan CONNOLLY (0-3) 7.

Subs: Ethan Twomey for O’Mahony (59), Shane Kingston for Dalton (62), Robbie O’Flynn for Harnedy (67), Padraig Power for Horgan (70+2).

LIMERICK: Nickie QUAID 7; Sean FINN 6, Dan MORRISSEY 7, Mike CASEY 6; Diarmaid BYRNES (0-3, 0-2f) 7, Declan HANNON 6, Kyle HAYES (0-1) 6; Will O’DONOGHUE 6, Cian LYNCH (0-1) 7; Tom MORRISSEY (0-2) 6, Gearoid HEGARTY (0-1) 6, Cathal O’NEILL (0-3) 7; Aaron GILLANE (0-10, 0-4f) 9, Seamus FLANAGAN (0-1) 6, David REIDY (0-3) 7.

Subs: Shane O’Brien (0-2) for Flanagan (52), Darragh O’Donovan for O’Donoghue (53), Adam English (0-2) for Reidy (54), Aidan O’Connor for Tom Morrissey (63).

REFEREE: Thomas Walsh (Waterford).

QUOTE ME ON THAT

“The hurt is going to be god awful. I have no doubt, but it is what it is. We haven't tasted defeat very often, but any time we have, it has tasted very sour.”

Limerick manager, John Kiely.

STAR MAN - Brian Hayes (Cork)

His goal gave Cork oxygen which carried them a long way through the game and is enough to set him apart amid a host of outstanding displays in the Cork attack.

AN OTHER - Aaron Gillane (Limerick)

A superb display of marksmanship from Gillane throughout. While a number of his forward colleagues fell off the pace in the second half, he continued to carry the fight.

UP NEXT

CORK: All-Ireland final v Clare, July 21.

LIMERICK: Season ends.

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