What the Cork hurlers learned from the Munster campaign
Cork's Seamus Harnedy breaking past Limerick's Dan Morrissey during the Munster final at TUS Gaelic Grounds. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
For Cork fans snaking through traffic up along the N20, the ‘Drive for 7’ sign in Banogue brought a sense of trepidation.
Driving back down the road approaching midnight, it would’ve been greeted with giddy delight.
It took 15 finals and eight years for a John Kiely-managed Limerick team to be beaten with silverware on the line. For Pat Ryan’s side to claw back 16 points on the Treaty in just 20 days was an act of belief, bravery, and ion.
Cork just kept hanging in there against any adversity that came their way.
The key players identified to shut down were Kyle Hayes and Cian Lynch. For a while, they fell short of that objective. Hayes gobbled up Patrick Collins’ first three long puck-outs. He swept up another pair worked short, and foiled a Diarmuid Healy goal chance.
But Shane Barrett drifted away to nail 1-2 approaching the interval. In between, Alan Connolly came crashing in with a hit when the centre-back botched a pick-up. From there, Hayes’s influence waned as Cork stuck with short restarts.
Lynch began with three high catches inside 15 minutes, while pocketing just as much ball on the ground. He had an early goal chalked off for an Aidan O’Connor throw before supplying the rookie full-forward to find the net.
Ciarán Joyce stuck with his task.
The turning point came when the Castlemartyr man snatched a long ball from the home captain closing in on half-time.
Defending the City End, Cork were better able to stifle their opponents. The Treaty scored 1-12 across 45 minutes spent playing with the benefit of the conditions. Cork notched 1-19 with the breeze at their backs.
Of course, that means Limerick scored in bulk against the wind; 1-15 to Cork’s 0-11. Their polished short-ing style proved particularly useful in that spell.
Six of their seven goal openings arrived in the first half. Cork’s doggedness ensured that not all of those resulted in shots on the target.
Eoin Downey stripped an advancing Adam English of possession on the edge of the box. Collins blocked well from English and Gearóid Hegarty, but will feel he could’ve held his feet to deny O’Connor.
He ended the hero by saving from Morrissey in the penalty shoot-out.
Mark Coleman was the embodiment of resilience. He received a fair portion of criticism following that Limerick loss. This time around, the Blarney man ed for a half-dozen first-half turnovers, plus another four opposition puck-outs.
While Limerick had the Cork puck-out sussed early, Collins connected with his next four long restarts. That resulted in 1-2, plus a Brian Hayes goal chance.
Cork only scored three Patrick Horgan frees in the opening 20 minutes of the second half. But their courage came through again by refusing to let Limerick lead until the penultimate minute of normal time.
Aaron Gillane hadn’t missed a free in the round-robin. If he had nailed that final placed ball, or if Darragh O’Donovan had connected with that last effort, it would’ve all been so different.
Especially for three subs who had featured for the briefest of cameo appearances during the round-robin.
Conor Lehane would’ve left the Gaelic Grounds having come on for the final 60 seconds of play. Instead, he got 21 minutes, scored 0-2, including the point of the day, won a pointed free, and stitched his penalty.
The same goes for Shane Kingston, who nailed his three shots and netted his penalty.
He also assisted a point and won a scoreable free.
Cork’s guts extended to that shoot-out, where they entered minus their two primary penalty takers in Horgan and Declan Dalton.
Collins and Quaid made one save each. Crucially, Cork hit the target with all four attempts. Limerick missed it with two of their five.
The Treaty will have other regrets. They attempted 16 shots in extra time against Cork’s 11. Both converted eight.
Cork hit their 17th wide in the 78th minute, by which time Limerick had ed nine. In the remaining spell, the Green Machine almost caught up, reaching 15.
Ultimately, this was billed as a clash of styles. Limerick’s point-taking against goal-hungry Cork.
The Rebels outpointed the holders before beating them in a goal-scoring contest.
With players still to return, it bodes well for a potential third meeting in an All-Ireland final.
And judging by how little there was to separate them, who could rule out a fourth on the August Bank Holiday weekend?
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