Ronan McCarthy has plenty to mull over after footballers' loss in the McGrath Cup

A year ago, Cork beat Limerick by 3-16 to 0-7 in Rathkeale in the opening game of the McGrath Cup, but that Cork side had eight of the team that would go on to record a similar victory in the championship in Páirc Uí Rinn in June; on Saturday, only three players from that summer encounter remained, with Limerick calling on seven from that match.

When O’Mahony put Cork 0-3 to 0-2 ahead in the fifth minute after good work by captain Ian Maguire – who was the stand-out player for the Rebels throughout – there was no sense that would be the last time Cork led.

It was a momentum-changing score and Cork didn’t look like coming back to parity after that.
