A SINGLE POINT was all that acted as a separation barrier after a frenetic afternoon in the Gaelic Grounds.

Yet the gap was far wider in terms of the contrasting emotions of the two teams. Limerick buoyant as their season was still alive with the unexpected sweetener of a Munster final in a fortnight. Cork reeling as their season had ground to a halt. Plenty to digest then.

Limerick’s brilliant resolve

It has been a Munster campaign that tested Limerick like no other. In each of the three previous seasons of the round-robin, Limerick had secured their passage to the All-Ireland series before the last game. Yesterday they entered a match that demanded they win to stay alive in 2023. They approached it off the back of two consecutive games where they had not been victorious, something they had not experienced since John Kiely’s first season out in 2017.

They had lost a defensive colossus through injury in Sean Finn and seen core members of their team lose form. All that pressure swirled around their camp in the build-up. The game itself saw them four points adrift after the first quarter, forced to withstand a ferocious late charge from Cork and concede 1-30 overall, the highest total in a 70-minute championship game scored against them since this Kiely era began.

And yet despite all that, Limerick plotted a route to victory. They cracked home three goals to critically shape the game, two before the break and one early in the third quarter. The teams were level in the 39th minute but Limerick never allowed Cork to gain parity thereafter. Everything that was thrown at Limerick was dealt with, a testament to their brilliant resolve as they were the ones triumphant at full-time.

Cork’s attacking stars

Back in 2013, Patrick Horgan and Seamus Harnedy were in a starting Cork attack on a momentous Munster hurling day away to Limerick. That season would conclude with the individual glory of All-Star accolades for both and the collective disappointment of an All-Ireland final replay loss. A decade on they experienced the sinking feeling of a championship exit again yesterday. It was at an earlier stage of the season to make the pain more acute but at the same venue, Horgan and Harnedy showed how their leadership and hurling class continue to make them integral to the Cork cause.

They finished with 1-18 between them. Horgan providing 1-3 of his 1-14 tally from play, while Harnedy chipped in with four points. More pertinently when Cork’s race seemed to be run, trailing by seven with ten left, the pair took the responsibility to drag Cork back into contention. Horgan’s whip to the net ignited a revival and he nailed four frees. Harnedy was fouled for one of those and clipped a score from play in a frantic finale. It may not have fashioned the result they craved but Horgan, 35 earlier this month, and Harnedy, 33 next month, could have done little more.

Champions back in form

Between 2020 and 2022, Limerick played ten Munster championship games. They won nine of those, with the average margin being seven points, and only the group stage draw with Clare last summer interrupted a perfect record. The dominance and consistency they demonstrated naturally spikes expectations, but Limerick in 2023 have had to cope with subdued showings from some of their star names and the severe tests posed by their opponents.

Yesterday they looked to have rediscovered something of their old selves. The attacking excellence of Aaron Gillane and Gearoid Hegarty was sustained throughout, they weighed in with a combined 0-8 and posed a consistent threat. The quartet of Declan Hannon, Kyle Hayes, Darragh O’Donovan and William O’Donoghue had scored a single point between them so far this summer. They were all on target against Cork, notching 0-6 between them. Throw in Diarmaid Byrne’s valuable return of 1-4 and Limerick again packed a hefty scoring punch from number 5-9 on the pitch. That helped tip the balance in their direction.

The hurling future for Cork

For Cork there is the recurring theme of a painful championship exit and the confirmation that another year will pass without the ultimate hurling prize that the county have craved since 2005. They finished 2023, as they did 2022, on the wrong side of a one-point game. Take out their convincing win over Waterford in late April and Cork’s last four championship ties have produced three one-point losses and a draw. Fine margins, but the art of winning a tight game is something they need to discover.

The performance yesterday had a different feel to it, compared to the plethora of scoring chances they coughed up against Galway last June, they launched plenty at Limerick to amass a stunning tally of 1-30. It wasn’t sufficient though, even if they display the grit to pare back a deficit, just like they did recently against Tipperary and Clare.

Year One of the Pat Ryan reign has the strange conflict of generating optimism that they are improving yet with the realisation that the year is done in late May. Further steps forward need to be taken. Getting Mark Coleman, Robbie O’Flynn and Alan Connolly back fit for 2024 will aid their cause. That the county is next Sunday chasing a third All-Ireland U20 title in four seasons, proves the underage conveyor belt is working but tackling the senior grade remains a challenge for Cork.