John Horgan on where Cork and Limerick will be won and lost: Bench press vital in Munster final

Over the past decade, the hurlers of Limerick and Cork have provided us with all kinds of everything on the championship stage.

In some of their encounters, the difference between them has been wafer-thin though Limerick are ahead in the head-to-head duels.

The modern rivalry, one of the fiercest in the GAA, began with the All-Ireland semi-final of 2018 and onto this Sunday. Their paths have crossed in Munster finals, All-Ireland semi-finals and finals.

Limerick have been, by far, the more successful of the two counties, winning five All-Ireland titles as against a zero return from Cork.

Cork's 21-year famine since Liam MacCarthy last paid a visit to Leeside in 2005 is a source of ongoing concern among Rebel supporters but there is cautious optimism that things might be about to change over the next two months.

We thought that too last season. And the one before. On the biggest day of all, the story was one of great woe for Cork, particularly the last time in headquarters when the outcome was one of near humiliation at the hands of Tipperary.

But the past has no future and if you dwell on it, you are on a road to nowhere.

Cork, to their utmost credit, have reacted brilliantly to that dark day last July. A fine league innings coupled with four championship victories at the round-robin stage of the provincial championship has the management and squad in a good place in advance of the next instalment between the two counties at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday.

The two of them have already crossed swords in this season's campaign, Cork getting home by a brace of points back in late April.

But does a recent victory have any great relevance when the same two sides meet again a short few weeks later? Well, going on last season, the answer to that one would have to be no.

In their round-robin clash at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick trounced Cork by 13 points but when they collided again at the same venue in the Munster final, Cork went home with the trophy.

The personnel on both sides has for the most part been the same over the past few years with a few notable additions to bolster each of them. And at this stage it would be fair to state that both counties know each other like the back of their hand.

Some of the man-to-man duels on Sunday will be nothing new for the players involved, they will have marked each other on frequent occasions in both league and championship in recent seasons.

Nicky Quaid has long been regarded as the best keeper in the country, the safest pair of hands and a good puckout strategy. At the other end of the field, Patrick Collins has had his critics in the past but he has more than answered that criticism this season with a few outstanding performances.

He is one of the best shot stoppers in the game and his confidence levels have grown accordingly. He provides plenty of assurance for those in front of him.

MAJOR LOSS

The Limerick half-back line of Diarmaid Byrnes, Will O'Donoghue and Kyle Hayes is regarded as the best in the game and so much will depend on how the Cork half-forward triumvirate cope with them. Darragh Fitzgibbon was ruled out of the final by Ben O'Connor in the aftermath of the Clare game and if that is the case, he will be a major loss.

Cork coped well without him and Ciarán Joyce too in that game but Sunday will be a far more intense and physical contest and it's in the latter that Limerick will test you the most.

Shane Barrett was outstanding in the win over Clare and whatever has transpired in training over the past 10 days or so may well determine who he will be flanked by. The status quo of Duds Healy and Barry Walsh may prevail and there would be nothing wrong with that and the bench is loaded with plenty of options in attack.

Aaron Gillane has caused plenty of headaches for opposing defences and it's going to be imperative for the Cork defence to close down the space that he has been afforded in the past.

They did not have to cope with him in the round-robin encounter but his two goals against Tipperary showed how lethal he can be.

Newcomer Aidan O'Connor has been outstanding in some of Limerick's games thus far and his duel with Rob Downey on the forty will be crucial. Joyce is a huge loss in the Cork defence, his versatility there too but the three half-backs, the Downey boys and Mark Coleman have been consistently strong.

Limerick boss John Kiely will be fully aware of the threat the three Cork inside forwards pose.

All three, Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes, in particular, and Willie Buckley, who has been a revelation in his first season, will be uppermost in Kiely and Paul Kinnerk's strategy on how to counteract them.

Kiely will be aware of Cork's dominance in recent championship encounters, this season's round-robin, last season's Munster final and the epic of 2024 and he will want an all-out effort from his players to put a halt to that.

TOO CLOSE TO CALL?

It's got to a stage now that when Cork clash with Limerick on the championship stage there is no outright favourite. Question 10 people and you'd nearly be guaranteed that five would opt for Cork and the other five going for Limerick.

In their previous championship game in April, Limerick got a run on Cork early on and were in the driving seat when leading by six points. Ultimately, it didn't matter but conceding the early advantage to a team like Limerick can sometimes have grave consequences.

Sunday's game may not be decided by the starting 15s on both teams and it's those on the bench, the squad depth that can make the difference coming down the stretch. And across the leading contenders for honours, both Cork and Limerick are perceived and quite rightly so too to have that squad depth, players who can come in and impact the most.

For Limerick against Tipp you had Tom Morrissey, Shane O'Brien, Barry Nash and Colin Coughlan coming on while Cork against Clare you had Shane Kingston, Ger Millerick, Cormac O'Brien, Padraigh Power and Hugh O'Connor getting the call, Kingston delivering three fine points.

And you still had Seamie Harnedy and Deccie Dalton among others in reserve.

So, gun to the head, who is going to lift the Mick Mackey trophy on Sunday?

The truthful answer has to be, haven't got a clue!

One thing, however, is certain, the ease which both triumphed two weeks ago won't be happening this time, it will go to the wire as it usually does between these two. On home turf and in front of a huge home support and the run that they are on, Cork might shade it but that's stated without any conviction.

Verdict: Cork.