Cork v Limerick: Down but not out... a strong Rebels response required

All runs end eventually.

Just under two years ago, Cork stopped Limerick’s quest for an unprecedented fifth straight All-Ireland title; this weekend last year, a penalty shootout victory denied the Shannonsiders seven Munster titles on the trot.

Given the success Limerick have had, one more provincial title could be said to be lacking huge importance, but the celebrations of their players and fans at the end showed how much it mattered to them.

Cork had gone 12 home matches in league and championship without defeat – a run which included two Munster SHC round-robin wins over Limerick and a league draw – while it was the first time ever that the county had been beaten in a Munster hurling final at the Marina venue, in its guises as the Athletic Grounds, the new Páirc Uí Chaoimh constructed in 1976 or the current 2017 iteration.

On the hand, such a sequence lacks true heft: Tipperary and Limerick are the only candidates for such fixtures due to the counties’ home-and-away arrangements and the last such examples were 2014 and 2005. At the same time, it was a record that stood since the 1920 win over Limerick, with nine victories and two draws in between.

Any one-point game will be replete with knife-edge moments but Cork will reflect on how Limerick got the last three points of the first half to turn a six-point deficit into one of just three; especially as it foreshadowed their late burst to take the lead when it mattered.

With a slender advantage and a big wind, Cork needed more goals. 

They got one, a superb one, from Brian Hayes, while Mark Coleman tested Nickie Quaid after another good move but otherwise they could not find the openings while point efforts from open play were sparse due to a mix of the weather conditions and good defending, especially from the Limerick half-back line.

When Cork prevailed in the Munster final a year ago after what was a drawn game after 90 minutes of hurling, the expectation remained that there would be another Croke Park encounter between the sides – however, while Limerick were in Drumcondra for their next outing, it was a quarter-final defeat against Dublin.

BIG TEST

Now, the challenge for Cork is to show that this loss can be quickly rationalised and put away before facing Offaly in the All-Ireland quarter-finals for the chance to have a tilt against Leinster champions Galway in the semis.

They will be unbackable favourites, which brings its own challenges, but there should be few concerns around mindset given that, since the start of the Allianz Hurling League, Limerick are the only side to better Cork, albeit on three occasions – the regular league game at TUS Gaelic Grounds, the league final back there and now the Munster final.

That Cork have a win against John Kiely’s side in between shows that it is a rivalry that is well-poised and a putative All-Ireland final would have Limerick as favourites based on experience but otherwise be finely balanced.

Cork’s mission is to negotiate the steps required to get to that point but this defeat should not dent the belief that it can be done.