John Horgan: Cork were all over the shop at times in Limerick and it won't get easier in Tipp

In the list of priorities, it is of secondary importance, trailing behind the provincial and All-Ireland campaigns but a league title still deserves a fair share of credit too.

And for their achievement in taking the title for the 15th time, Limerick are full value on Sunday. They won their fourth during the managerial reign of John Kiely and impressed from throw in. Their achievement of leading from pillar to post made it all the more noteworthy.

Given the rivalry and the closeness of so many of their recent encounters, to have kept their noses in front for the best part of 80 minutes against Cork, showed this bunch of Limerick hurlers are still a serious force to be reckoned. Their shock defeat by Dublin in last season's All-Ireland quarter-final has been firmly put behind them.

Similar to the other four counties in the Munster championship, their main aim for now is to be in the top three and to emerge into the All-Ireland series but there would be very few bet against that happening.

They have an extra week to prepare for that provincial campaign and can have another good, hard look at their opponents in the opener as Cork are away to Tipp before hosting Limerick. 

But for these few days, they can enjoy the league title they wrestled from Cork.

It's a well worn cliche at this stage that a good start is half the battle and while that is far from always being the case, it was last Sunday. Cork were left reeling from how Limerick dominated the scoreboard in the opening 20 minutes when at that juncture they had constructed a 10-point advantage.

And it would have been more if Diarmuid Byrnes had not gifted Cork a goal.

It was a giveaway score but in sport these things happen and it can have a destabilising effect on a player that is at fault. Not on this occasion, however, and the vastly experienced Limerick player recovered quickly and proceeded to play a very significant part in the victory.

Let's be honest, Cork were pretty much all over the shop in that period of Limerick dominance.

But, to their great credit, they worked themselves back into the game through the free-taking of Alan Connolly and after what had transpired earlier, a half-time deficit of just three points is something they certainly would have taken.

However, at this level of hurling you cannot allow your opponents that kind of leeway and throughout Limerick capitalised on that to leave Cork continuously chasing the game. And it can take a certain amount out of a team when they are the chasers but as we have learned so often in recent years, a significant advantage on the scoreboard can be erased.

It did happen on Sunday, Limerick's lead of 10 points eaten into to just two as the contest entered its final minutes. But they had more clean petrol in their tank and that two-point advantage became six as the last whistle sounded.

FLAT

In the final analysis, not enough Cork players performed at the top end of their game and up front there was not enough penetration as a unit.

The three starting half-forwards managed just three points between them with the bulk of the scoring being done by the inside trio.

William Buckley rifled over three superb points and certainly rubberstamped his place on the team for the championship opener against Tipperary.

Brian Hayes might have been gifted his goal but he was still in the right place at the right time and his three points emphasised once more his importance to this Cork team as well as being one of the country's best forwards.

There were some fine individual points from Seamie Harnedy, Darragh Fitzgiibon and subs Hugh O'Connor and Mark Coleman. Tommy O'Connell was a tireless worker for the bulk of the game, and Tim O'Mahony could not be faulted either.

Goalkeeper Patrick Collins's puck-outs might not have found the target at times but he was faultless otherwise, making two sublime stops from Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane. He had a fine league innings and his shot-stopping is a big strength.

Without any shadow of a doubt, the most conspicuous player on the field was Gillane and he was a constant torment in the Cork defence.

His goal was delightfully executed and so were his points, both from play and when he took over the free-taking duties from Aidan O'Connor.

How will the game be viewed overall?

Limerick have now beaten Cork three times this season and will be happy to have done that but the world and its mother know that victories in the league quickly pale into the shadows when the championship bell sounds, as it will for Cork before Limerick.

Cork won't want to give so much ground to any opposition as they did to John Kiely's men in the opening 20 minutes.

There was fine character exhibited thereafter even if they fell short and hadn't the attendance on the edge of their seats as they had been in some of the championship games of last season and the season before.

For obvious reasons, Tipperary boss Liam Cahill was an interested onlooker last Sunday, probably taking a bit more notice of Cork as they loom larger on the horizon.

And there's not a whole lot of time for reflection for Cork and how Sunday's overall performance can be bettered.

Video analysis plays a huge part of the game now and how it's broken down into the segments can make a difference the next day. With the way the season is so condensed now a league final victory or a loss for that matter has to be parked fairly quickly.

Sunday's final was not one of those recent Cork, Limerick classic collisions and there was too much of a stop-start to the game with the amount of frees that were given.

REFLECTION

Ben O'Connor and his management team will go into conclave in the next few days reflecting and looking ahead and there will be the usual speculation about the make-up of the championship 15 among the general public.

The one certainty is there won't be wholesale changes for Thurles with the probability being that there will be little change from the final Sunday of the league with Mark Coleman coming back in from the start.

For now, Limerick are back in the winner's enclosure and there will be a need for greater Cork consistency over the course of the entire game.

No reason right now for loss of sleep, there are four big judgement days ahead and that is the time when the league quickly becomes a footnote.