Half-forward line simply didn't click against Limerick, Cork were stuck for a ball-winner

Bewildering was the best word, at times, for Sunday’s league final.

Should Cork take heart from playing so far below their best and still finding themselves within two points of Limerick with four minutes left on the clock?

Or do Limerick take courage from a fully merited victory, which didn’t feel fully reflected by the six-point difference?

Who has the greater scope to kick on between now and their April 26?

For Cork, it felt like a couple of key departments simply didn’t click. The half-forward line, for one, didn’t land a blow.

Kyle Hayes, William O’Donoghue, and Diarmaid Byrnes provide Limerick’s launchpad. They well and truly achieved take-off with a stranglehold on the aerial exchanges.

Cork seemed stuck for ball-winners at times as Hayes got to grips with Harnedy. Byrnes shackled Darragh Fitzgibbon and O’Donoghue patrolled an area which was never really exploited by Shane Barrett.

On the inside, Alan Connolly won a couple of frees, converting seven, but for the third game in a row, his scoring returns were derived entirely from placed balls.

All the while, Limerick will feel they could get more from the likes of Cian Lynch, Shane O’Brien, and David Reidy heading for the Munster Championship.

The Treaty could easily have been 0-10 to 0-1 ahead by the 15th minute, but for a giveaway goal, which limited the damage to six points. When Aaron Gillane hit the net, three minutes later, the gap maxxed out at nine.

Having set that target, Limerick scored just once from the 22nd minute to the break. Cork scored 0-7 in that run without doing anything too memorable. Of those, five were frees.

Ultimately, it was the Rebels’ efficiency, nailing 11 of their 13 shots, which kept them in touch at that stage. 

Otherwise, Limerick outshot them by 23 attempts to 13 across the first half and 45 to 29 in the full 70 minutes.

When there was order to be put on this contest, it was Limerick doing so. Their lead looked tenuous at the break, 1-13 to 1-10, as they turned to face the wind. They didn’t allow Cork within that three-point margin until, briefly, in the final eight minutes.

TRICKY

Robert Downey was detailed to mark Gearóid Hegarty, but found life tricky between deciding when to follow the dangerous half-forward and when to drop off to cover the defence.

Time and again, it seemed as if Gillane had an ocean of green grass ahead of him. Once he got the sliotar into his paw, there was little stopping him, regularly making life difficult for Seán O’Donoghue and his replacement Ger Millerick.

His 1-7 could’ve featured another two green flags. Of those, O’Donoghue kept the pressure on Gillane’s early one-handed shot as Patrick Collins made the save. Later, Gillane could’ve killed this contest when rounding Millerick, but Collins saved again.

The Patrickswell star was back to his unmarkable best here, and made a persuasive case to be restored to free-taking duties in the championship. 

He remains a conundrum that Cork can’t seem to fully resolve.

Between those chances, the industrious Tommy O’Connell also got a spectacular hook to foil a Cian Lynch chance before the midfielder was unlucky not to have his goal stand as Shane Hynes mysteriously brought play out for a throw-ball.

Ciarán Joyce can leave with credit from his second outing at full-back. Amid that messy finish to the first half, the Castlemartyr clubman got in a good block on O’Brien.

It was a disappointment that Cork didn’t create enough by the way of goal chances. Although they’ve been free-scoring elsewhere, a scarcity of league goals against Tipp and Limerick requires some attention ahead of their upcoming Munster rematches.

FADE-OUTS

The worry for Cork is that these in-game fade-outs can’t be permitted to persist. They have bled heavily when drifting out of games before. Now, they served up a pancake-flat start with a league title defence up for grabs.

That said, the overarching mission remains the trip to Tipp on Sunday week. Ben O’Connor’s charges remain in a strong position. Limerick will surely hoover up the tag of All-Ireland favourites. The biggest questions concern Cork and the rest.

In the earlier game, Clare leaked three goals from long-ball deliveries. Two came directly from frees into the mixer. They will require some work between now and April 19.

For them, question marks linger over the fitness of Tony Kelly, David McInerney, Adam Hogan, and now Shane O’Donnell and Mark Rodgers.

Cork have avoided many of those issues. The league has been productive on the whole. This game will be quickly forgotten when Munster action rumbles around.