Limerick v Cork: Rebels fall to first defeat as Treatymen push clear in second half
Barry Walsh of Cork and Limerick's Kyle Hayes in action during Saturday night's Allianz HL Division 1A game at TUS Gaelic Grounds. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Cork’s winning run in the Allianz HL Division 1A came to an end as they were overpowered by a second-half scoring surge from Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night.
The strength of the respective teams made Limerick firm favourites – and possibly knocked a few thousand off what was still a respectable crowd of 18,744 – and in that regard, the visitors can take some positivity from how they fronted up, especially in the first half, before the hosts were into overdrive.
The upshot of it all is that the two counties are tied on eight points and victory for Cork at home to Offaly in a fortnight will secure a place in the final, almost certainly against Limerick again.
There were some seat-of-the-pants defensive moments and on another night Limerick would have had more goals but certainly it was a victory that the hosts had to earn. Not until Cathal O’Neill’s goal in the 57th minute turned a two-point lead into a five-point one did the outcome look inevitable, though from there Limerick powered on impressively.
Up to then, the second half had been something of a slugfest, following the theme of the opening period, which ended with the hosts ahead by 1-9 to 0-11. Limerick turned a 6-2 first-half wides tally into 9-2 while Aaron Gillane might have had a second goal for them but lost his hurley and saw his kicked effort blocked by Ger Millerick.
After Cian Lynch pushed them two ahead, Cork replied with a pair of nice Brian Hayes efforts, the second of them a lovely team move involving Tim O’Mahony and Shane Barrett in the 43rd minute.
It was the last time the sides were level but the next 12 minutes were competitive and Cork were unlucky that Eoin Downey’s dropping ball didn’t fall for Hayes or Alan Walsh when the scoreline was 1-12 to 0-13. Against that, Ciarán Joyce’s yellow card for a foul on Kyle Hayes could have been a black card and a penalty.
By the 55th minute, the deficit was back to a point after an O’Mahony free was followed by Darragh Fitzgibbon marking his arrival as a sub by setting up Barrett. Cork wouldn’t score again until two minutes from the end of normal time, with Limerick producing a devastating 2-5 in between.
O’Neill’s ninth point to make it 1-14 to 0-15 was superb and then a loose Cork pass allowed Cian Lynch to find Cathal O’Neill in space to drill a low shot to the net. The lead had swell to seven points, 2-16 to 0-15, when Cork sub Seán O’Donoghue was penalised for holding Gillane as they battled for possession – a penalty accrued and O’Connor blasted his shot off the ground and in.
When sub Tom Morrissey scored soon after coming on, it was 3-18 to 0-16 and in danger of turning ugly but Cork did at least halt the slide in the closing minutes and might even have had a goal but Nickie Quaid saved well from Barry Walsh.
Eight points was the difference at the end – one senses that if they meet again in the final, matters would be closer.
After the opening point from Cork’s Tommy O’Connell, Limerick had a goal as Kyle Hayes – excellent throughout – sent a diagonal delivery which was won by Shane O’Brien, who held off Dáire O’Leary and finished brilliantly beyond Patrick Collins.
Such an early boost might have opened floodgates but, while O’Brien and Aaron Gillane always looked dangerous inside, Limerick were wasteful with opportunities and Cork piece together six straight points, two from Barry Walsh.
The hosts had their first white flag from an Aidan O’Connor free – he would end the half with six to his name – but Cork continued to contend well.
The Limerick goal threat remained a bit too strong – on 18 minutes, Adam English’s pass for Gillane allowed him to find O’Brien, who was pulled for over-carrying. At the other end, Shane Kingston made a great run from deep to give him sight of goal but Quaid did well to deny.
At that stage, the game was level at 1-5 to 0-8 and, though stand-in captain O’Mahony put Cork in front with a free, Limerick responded with three from O’Connor – in the midst of that, a scuffle yielded three yellow cards, one of them for Cork.
O’Mahony replied with a free and then his low ball goalwards allowed Brian Hayes to set up Alan Walsh for the leveller before O’Connor’s free in injury time sent Limerick in leading.
A O’Connor 1-11 (1-0 penalty, 0-7 f), C O’Neill 1-2, S O’Brien 1-0, A English 0-2, C Lynch, H Flanagan, T Morrissey, A Gillane 0-1 each.
T O’Mahony 0-7 (0-5 f, 0-1 65), T O’Connell, B Hayes 0-3 each, S Barrett, B Walsh 0-2 each, S Kingston, A Walsh, E Downey 0-1.
N Quaid; S Finn, M Casey, B Nash; D Byrnes, W O’Donoghue, K Hayes; A English, C Lynch; G Hegarty, A O’Connor, C O’Neill; A Gillane, S O’Brien, D Reidy.
T Morrissey for Hegarty (51), H Flanagan for Reidy (57), D Langan for Finn (59), D Ó Dálaigh for O’Brien, O O’Farrell for Gillane (both 65).
P Collins; E Roche, D O’Leary, G Millerick; D Cahalane, E Downey, M Mullins; C Joyce, T O’Connell; B Walsh, T O’Mahony, S Kingston; S Barrett, B Hayes, A Walsh.
S Harnedy for Kingston (40), N O’Leary for Roche (47), D Fitzgibbon for Mullins (54), S O’Donoghue for O’Leary (59), D Dalton for A Walsh (65).
S Stack (Dublin).
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