2003 loss to Limerick a sobering day for Cork footballers

There was a time when the prospect of Cork facing Limerick in the Munster SFC, coming off the back of a league final loss, would invoke a sense of dread.

The Shannonsiders have proven sticky opponents for the Rebels in the not-too-recent past but it’s difficult to foresee an upset at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday. 

The bookmakers have Cork as 1/16 shots, unsurprisingly given that John Cleary’s side will play Division 1 football in 2027 whereas Limerick will be in Division 4 following relegation this spring.

That said, few would have foreseen what transpired at the Páirc in the opening round of the 2003 and yet the scoreboard at the end was a stark reading: Cork 0-6 Limerick 0-16.

Cork were the reigning Munster champions and had reached the All-Ireland semi-final in 2002. They did lead early on, and had Brendan Jer O’Sullivan not been denied by a save from Séamus O’Donnell then a routine home win might have materialised. Instead, it was their darkest day. Limerick turned things around to lead by 0-10 to 0-5 at half-time, and playing into the wind in the second half did not affect them at all.

Muiris Gavin was in imperious form from frees while John Quane and John Galvin bossed midfield. To cap it all for Cork, Fionán Murray was sent off late on.

For Derek Kavanagh, the game represented his first championship start. Speaking to The Echo a few years ago, he acknowledged how the victors deserved their flowers, too.

“You have to remember that Limerick were not a bad team,” he said.

“At that time they were close to their peak, they’d go on to run Kerry very close in two Munster finals.

“As well, they had beaten Cork at minor in 1998 and then at U21 in 2001, a lot of those guys were on the senior team and they were coming up against Cork players that they had already beaten.

“When you combine how well they were going with how badly we were going, it was like a perfect storm, they beat us by ten points and it wasn’t an exaggeration of how much better they were on the day.”

It was Limerick’s first win over Cork since 1956, a 2-5 to 0-6 win at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. The Southern Star match report from that encounter did not pull punches: ‘Spiritless Cork seniors plumb lowest depths’.

First-half goals from Mick Tynan and Eamonn Cregan – both more renowned as hurlers – gave Limerick a 2-2 to 0-2 half-time lead in Fitzgerald Stadium, and Cork never looked like overhauling their opponents.

Since 2003, the best chances for Limerick to beat Cork came in 2008, 2009 and 2010. In the first of those, Conor Counihan’s championship bow as manager looked like ending in defeat until Graham Canty and Daniel Goulding struck for late goals to give the visitors a 2-9 to 0-12 triumph at the Gaelic Grounds.

Cork would win Munster that year and the following year, having beaten Kerry in the semis, it was Limerick they hosts in the final at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It seemed as if Limerick’s long wait for glory would end as, again, they dictated the terms for much of it – but, once more, goals swung it for Cork as Goulding and Donncha O’Connor raised the green flags in a 2-6 to 0-11 victory.

The next year, Cork lost to Kerry in Munster and Limerick almost reeled the Kingdom in in the final in Killarney, so when the All-Ireland qualifiers brought the Rebels and the Treatymen together, it was a game nobody in red was taking for granted.

Limerick went all the way with Cork this time, the game level after 70 minutes before Counihan’s side prevailed by 0-16 to 1-11 in extra time. It was as tough an encounter as they faced en route to what would prove to be ultimate Sam Maguire glory.