Cork v Limerick: Hurling final pairing bridges a 46-year gap

Since the beginning of 2019, the only Allianz Hurling League final not to feature Cork or Limerick was the 2024 edition, when Clare beat Kilkenny.

John Kiely’s side won in 2019, 2020 and 2023, while Cork lost out to Waterford in 2022 before ending a 27-year wait for the title last year as Tipperary were beaten in the decider (there was no league final in 2021 due to the compacted nature of the schedule as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic).

However, despite the Munster counties’ prominent presence in recent finals, Sunday’s clash at TUS Gaelic Grounds will be the first where they have met each other since 1980.

Whereas now the running of the competition is fairly streamlined in that the top two in each division reach the final and the bottom two are relegated, back then it was a more labyrinthine affair. The top two in Division 1A progressed straight to the league semi-finals, with two more counties from the highest tier facing off with the top two from Division 1B in the quarter-finals.

While Cork’s ultimate success – their first since the league of 1973-74 – came after finishing second in the seven-team Division 1A, Limerick managed to reach the final despite coming fifth in the same section.

They were level on points with Offaly and, had a head-to-head tie-break been applied at the time, the Faithful County would have progressed to the quarter-finals but instead the counties played off and Limerick won that.

Then, in the last eight, they defeated Wexford, who had finished top of Division 1B, before seeing off Tipperary – who had gone unbeaten in topping Division 1A – in the semi-final.

That set up a meeting with a Cork side that had beaten Galway in the last four, with the game taking place in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on May 4 – the Gaelic Grounds had hosted the final between the counties for that previous Cork title in 1974.

Cork were seeking a league double, with the footballers having beaten Kerry at the same venue a week beforehand – if that transpired, Jimmy Barry-Murphy would make history as the first player to win medals in both codes. However, Joe McKenna’s early goal pushed Limerick into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead and, though Eamonn O’Donoghue did raise a green flag for Cork, the visitors were 1-8 to 1-2 to the good by half-time.

The Rebels improved in the second half, with Danny Buckley, O’Donoghue and Pat Horgan on target, and Ray Cummins’ goal had the sense of a big momentum swing. As the end neared, Cork were 2-10 to 1-10 in front but, with the game’s last act, Eamonn Cregan set up Ollie O’Connor to whip a shot to the net for an equaliser and a replay.

While the logical expectation might have been that it would be back to the Gaelic Grounds, a new home-and-away arrangement had not been put in place and so a coin-toss took place to determine the venue for the second match – with Cork coming out on top again, though with the stipulation that this was to commence a new back-and-forth for knockout ties between the counties.

Cork reshuffled their pack for the replay, with Seánie O’Leary, Pat Moylan and John Fenton brought into the team, and the Midleton man would reward the selectors with a supreme display at midfield.

Though Cregan netted early on for Limerick, Cork gained the upper hand as a goal from Cummins – a rebound when Buckley’s shot was saved – was followed by O’Donoghue reacting quickest when a Fenton free was saved.

After Cregan raised a second green flag, Fenton responded in kind with a 20m free that flew past the massed ranks on the line but, after Tim Murphy saved brilliantly from McKenna coming up to half-time, the attacker made amends moments later, giving his side a 3-4 to 3-3 half-time lead.

McKenna fired in another goal soon after the restart but the introduction of Barry-Murphy – unable to start due to a hamstring injury – gave the Cork attack new impetus. Cregan’s 47th minute point proved to be Limerick’s last score and some booming efforts from Fenton reduced the Cork arrears, bit by bit.

Points from Pat Horgan and another Cummins goal saw the Rebels breeze clear in the closing stages, running out winners by 4-15 to 4-6.

It seemingly left them well-set to make it six Munster titles in a row later that summer – however, Limerick were to turn the tables in the provincial final in Thurles.