Cork 1-28
Limerick 0-29
A STUNNING GAME produced a stunning conclusion.
Limerick’s reign as champions is over, their All-Ireland five-in-a-row dream ended at the semi-final hurdle as Cork produced a fantastic second-half display to claim a two-point win.
A final date with Clare awaits in a fortnight as Cork seek to end the 19-year Liam MacCarthy Cup barren spell the county has been stuck in.
It was a thrilling, pulsating encounter. Cork produced a powerful third quarter surge, scoring ten points from ten shots in the opening eleven minutes of the second half. They trailed 0-16 to 1-11 at the break, but were ahead 1-24 to 0-20 entering the final quarter.
The tone of the game flipped during that period, Limerick were stuck in chase mode. They made a strong attempt to recover when they were still seven down, 1-26 to 0-22, in the 57th minute, reeling off three points in a row to cut the deficit, before Cork posted two more points courtesy of Patrick Horgan and Brian Hayes to extend the advantage to six.
There was to be no more scores notched by Cork after the 64th minute, Limerick pounded their rearguard to fire the last four points of the game through Aaron Gillane, Shane O’Brien, Adam English and Gearoid Hegarty. The impact of O’Brien and English off the bench was striking in igniting Limerick’s challenge.
The finale was frantic as Limerick saw a few point attempts fly wide, while Cork struck the upright through Shane Barrett and saw Patrick Horgan’s effort on goal from the rebound smothered by the advancing Nickie Quaid.
Yet Cork held firm, their defence spearheaded by the brilliance of Robert Downey and Ciaran Joyce. They were also grateful to two superb stops in either half by Patrick Collins as he kept a clean sheet, rushing out to block Gillane in the opening period, and then tipping away a Hegarty shot in the third quarter.
From the start Cork looked sharp, infusing their setup with energy and ensuring their massive support in a sellout Croke Park had cause for cheers.
They got a huge boost as the first quarter concluded, man-of-the-match Brian Hayes surging through from the left wing after Shane Barrett popped in a handpass, and the St Finbarr’s man brilliantly drilled his shot to the net.
His goal threat was well advertised, two minutes later he found the net again but as the Cork support erupted in joy, the whistle had been blown with Alan Connolly penalised for a thrown pass. Hayes clipped over a point soon after to send Cork five clear, but Limerick then took over to outscore Cork 0-10 to 0-3 for the remainder of the half.
They had taken a firm grip on the game to lead 0-16 to 1-11 at half-time and were in a dominant mood. David Reidy clipped three first-half points, Cathal O’Neill and Diarmaid Byrnes struck two apiece, while Aaron Gillane knocked over five.
But Cork weren’t knocked back. They hung in there during that second quarter and produced a scoring blast in the third quarter that changed the course of the game.
Scorers for Cork: Brian Hayes 1-4, Patrick Horgan 0-5 (0-3f), Séamus Harnedy 0-4, Declan Dalton 0-4 (0-2f), Shane Barrett 0-3, Alan Connolly 0-3, Darragh Fitzgibbon 0-3, Robert Downey 0-1, Mark Coleman 0-1.
Scorers for Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-10 (0-4f), David Reidy 0-3, Cathal O’Neill 0-3, Diarmaid Byrnes 0-3 (0-2f), Adam English 0-2, Shane O’Brien 0-2, Tom Morrissey 0-2, Kyle Hayes 0-1, Cian Lynch 0-1, Séamus Flanagan 0-1, Gearóid Hegarty 0-1.
Subs
- 21. Ethan Twomey (St Finbarr’s) for O’Mahony (58)
- 24. Shane Kingston (Douglas) for Dalton (62)
- 26. Robbie O’Flynn (Erins Own) for Harnedy (66)
- 25. Pádraig Power (Blarney) for Horgan (72)
Cork
1. Patrick Collins (Ballinhassig)
2. Niall O’Leary (Castlelyons), 3. Eoin Downey (Glen Rovers), 4. Seán O’Donoghue (Inniscarra – captain)
7. Mark Coleman (Blarney), 6. Robert Downey (Glen Rovers), 8. Ciaran Joyce (Castlemartyr)
5. Tim O’Mahony (Newtownshandrum), 9. Darragh Fitzgibbon (Charleville)
10. Declan Dalton (Fr O’Neills), 11. Shane Barrett (Blarney), 12. Seamus Harnedy (St Ita’s)
13. Patrick Horgan (Glen Rovers), 14. Alan Connolly (Blackrock), 15. Brian Hayes (St Finbarr’s)
Limerick
1. Nickie Quaid (Effin)
4. Mike Casey (Na Piarsaigh), 3. Dan Morrissey (Ahane), 2. Sean Finn (Bruff)
5. Diarmuid Byrnes (Patrickswell) 6. Declan Hannon (Adare — captain) 7. Kyle Hayes (Kildimo-Pallaskenry)
8. Will O’Donoghue (Na Piarsaigh), 11. Cian Lynch (Patrickswell)
12. Tom Morrissey (Ahane), 10. Gearóid Hegarty (St Patrick’s), 9. Cathal O’Neill (Crecora/Manister)
13. Aaron Gillane (Patrickswell) 14. Seamus Flanagan (Feohanagh/Castlemahon) 15. David Reidy (Dromin-Athlacca)
Subs
- 22. Shane O’Brien (Kilmallock) for Flanagan (52)
- 19. Adam English (Doon) for Reidy (53)
- 26. Darragh O’Donovan (Doon) for O’Donoghue (53)
- 23. Aidan O’Connor (Ballybrown) for Tom Morrissey (63)
Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)
