Cork 1-28
Limerick 0-29
JOHNNY CAROLAN REPORTS
THE belief was there, inside and outside the camp – the Cork fans wouldn’t have helped to provide Croke Park’s first All-Ireland semi-final sellout otherwise.
A poor recent record at GAA headquarters was not allowed to be a factor either, as Cork showed no signs of being inhibited by a run on just one win in eight matches.
The quality showed in the Munster SHC wins against Limerick and Tipperary was firmly on show, most apparent in a wondrous third quarter as a two-point half-time deficit was turned into a seven-point lead. This was what Limerick so often do to other teams.
And yet, even with all of those things, Cork needed a rub of the green. Anyone would in order to half the green machine.
Limerick didn’t panic and, bit by bit, they eroded the deficit. It was down to two points with as many minutes of normal time left, Cork unable to provide themselves with more breathing space. But Limerick couldn’t get closer, their scoring efficiency not as sharp as normal.
Cork goalkeeper Patrick Collins celebrates with coach Ger Lombard after the Rebels' superb All-Ireland semi-final win.
A late Hail Mary attempt at a goal came to nothing. Cork’s sheet remained clean and the quest for five in a row was halted. Instead of Dreams by The Cranberries, the Croker sound system reverberated to After All by The Frank and Walters.
Sunday, July 21st will see Cork face Clare, with the Liam MacCarthy Cup at stake.
Cork manager Pat Ryan was fully aware of how good his team had to be but equally he had no doubt they would be.
‘First of all, I have to pay tribute to Limerick,’ he said, ‘what champions they’ve been since 2018, what they’ve given to the GAA itself and the Limerick public.
‘It was 1973 when they won their last All-Ireland before the lads got involved and what they’ve achieved, it’s absolutely superb. They’ve brought the game to a new level, testing all of us to get better and get to a new level, both on and off the line.
‘We were lucky to get over the line today, but I didn’t have any doubt that we weren’t going to perform today, to be honest with you.
‘Obviously, there was a lot made of lacklustre performances against Offaly and Dublin – from where we came after losing the first two matches, that took an awful lot of energy, both emotional and physical energy to get over Limerick and Tipperary in those games.
‘There was a lot of preparation needed to get us back into the championship but we’ve driven on from there.’
On a day of many stars, the 1-4 scored by Cork’s Brian Hayes was of immense importance. The goal, created by Shane Barrett, came at a time when Cork were ahead by 0-7 to 0-6 and they were five in front when another almost came – Alan Connolly pulled for what was deemed to be a thrown pass to Hayes, who batted to the net.
The lead did stretch to six but Limerick dominated the rest of the half, with Aaron Gillane outstanding – he would have had a goal but for a great Patrick Collins save. They had pushed ahead by 0-16 to 1-10 before Shane Barrett had the last score of the half.
‘Lads were very calm,’ he said.
‘We knew we hadn’t got our puckouts going, we knew we weren’t hitting the breaks hard enough. We knew we didn’t push up on the man enough and if you give Limerick space and let 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 go man-on-man on them. We did that for most of the second half, really.
‘At the same time, it took some great defensive blocks on our own side, a great save from Patrick in the first half, and that’s testament to Limerick.’
Limerick have so often pulled clear in the third quarters of games but in the first 13 minutes after the restart, Cork took ten shots and they scored them all, a haul that included a landmark 700th championship point for Patrick Horgan while Barrett added two more.
Another Collins save denied Gearóid Hegarty at 1-20 to 0-19, with Gillane unable to connect with the rebound. Cork cleared and Declan Dalton’s boomer put five in it. The outstanding Séamus Harnedy added two more as Cork continued to push, but Limerick had a final kick. Subs Shane O’Brien and Adam English had two each, Gillane sent over the frees that came as well continuing to prove a handful and Hegarty’s first point of the day left two in it, 1-28 to 0-29, with two minutes left.
There were four more in added time but neither side was able to find another score, much to Cork’s relief. Roll on the 21st.
Scorers
Cork: Brian Hayes 1-4; Patrick Horgan 0-5 (3f); Séamus Harnedy, Declan Dalton (2f) 0-4 each; Shane Barrett, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Alan Connolly 0-3 each; Robert Downey, Mark Coleman 0-1 each.
Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-10 (4f); David Reidy, Cathal O’Neill, Diarmaid Byrnes (2f) 0-3 each; Adam English, Shane O’Brien, Tom Morrissey 0-2 each; Séamus Flanagan, Cian Lynch, Gearóid Hegarty, Kyle Hayes 0-1 each.
Cork: Patrick Collins; Seán O’Donoghue, Eoin Downey, Niall O’Leary; Mark Coleman, Robert Downey, Ciarán Joyce; Tim O’Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Declan Dalton, Shane Barrett, Séamus Harnedy; Patrick Horgan, Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes.
Subs: Shane Kingston for Horgan (34-35, temp), Ethan Twomey for O’Mahony (59), Shane Kingston for Dalton (62), Robbie O’Flynn for Harnedy (67), Pádraig Power for Horgan (70+2).
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Mike Casey, Dan Morrissey; Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes; Will O’Donoghue, Cian Lynch; Tom Morrissey, Gearóid Hegarty, Cathal O’Neill; David Reidy, Séamus Flanagan, Aaron Gillane.
Subs: Shane O’Brien for Flanagan (52), Adam English for Reidy, Darragh O’Donovan for O’Donoghue (both 54), Aidan O’Connor for T Morrissey (63).
Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford).
