Late, late drama as Cork secure incredible victory over Limerick in Munster epic
Munster SHC: Cork 3-28 Limerick 3-26
Patrick Horgan of Cork celebrates with supporters after the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Cork and Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork
Robert Downey of Cork celebrates with supporters after the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 3 match between Cork and Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork
This was a match almost defying description and one that refused to have a straightforward ending. But at the end of a classic match in front of a full house in Cork, the home team somehow found the win they needed after Limerick looked to be about to celebrate a third straight win.
Leading by two points in injury time, the All-Ireland champions unravelled when conceding 1-1, the goal the result of a Patrick Horgan black-card penalty awarded by Seán Stack after Kyle Hayes fouled Shane Kingston. Horgan held his nerve to put the ball past Nickie Quaid and just before the final whistle Brian Hayes sent over a point, leading to a pitch invasion at the end.
Incredibly, Séamus Flanagan ended up on the losing team after scoring 3-3, his two second-half goals, both set up by Gearóid Hegarty, having put Limerick in front after being second best up to then. Cork led by eight points at half time having played with the breeze, scoring 2-15 and giving a sparkling performance underpinned by a determination to avoid early elimination from the championship for the second year in succession.
Immediately after the interval Limerick outscored the home team 0-5 to 0-1, but Cork refused to surrender, right to the death, claiming a victory engineered by spirit as much as hurling skill. Limerick did not roll over. “They’ve five All-Irelands in six years, they are a fantastic team, they showed that today,” said the Cork manager Pat Ryan afterwards.
And he reminded everyone that they still have Thurles next Sunday, where another win may yet extend their interest in the championship after losing their first two games. “We have Tipperary in eight days,” said Ryan. “We need victories and that was a vital victory for us today.”
John Kiely declined to comment on the penalty decision, saying he didn’t see it. “That shouldn’t be the talking point of the game,” he said. “We were poor in the first half, Cork were by far the better team.”
Limerick halved Cork’s interval lead of eight in just six minutes of the second half. But Cork wouldn’t submit, with Darragh Fitzgibbon scoring five points and Séamus Harnedy outstanding.
As happened in the first half, Cork were authors of their own troubles. They got turned over near their own goal and Hegarty fed Flanagan who scored his second goal in the 52nd minute, leaving only two points between them. Six minutes later Gearóid Hegarty fed Flanagan again for his third and Limerick were ahead.
Cork were exceptional in the first half, burning up ground and finding acres of space in the Limerick half of the field. But the home side needed goals and they hit the net in the fourth minute through Harnedy, who made light of his years. His finish was emphatic, after being set up by the equally impressive Shane Barrett.
Frequently Harnedy found room with Limerick’s defence appearing to be following a zonal pattern which Cork exposed, causing confusion and mayhem. The home team was cheered off the field at half time, and could have been more in front, such was the pressure they put on the Limerick goal.
Their second goal in the opening half was brilliantly finished by Barrett, with Harnedy this time turning provider after he caught the ball in the air, the 27th minute green flag coming immediately after Limerick looked to have hauled themselves back in the match with a goal by Flanagan.
The full forward, recalled in place of the injured Peter Casey, hit his best form of the championship with 1-2 in the first half, being marked by Damien Cahalane for 1-1 of that total, after Eoin Downey had to leave the field.
Flanagan drilled low to the net in the 26th minute to leave Limerick trailing by just a goal after playing poorly, 1-8 to 1-11, but from there to the interval they were outscored 1-4 to 0-2.
Limerick couldn’t get any flow to their game and Alan Connolly was almost in for a goal in the ninth minute but his effort was blocked, while nearing half time, Hayes won the ball ahead of his man and fed the inrushing Barrett whose shot was well saved by Quaid.
Symptomatic of Limerick being off-colour, Diarmaid Byrnes’ indifferent form from long-range frees continued with two misses well within his compass. They went in at half time with a big hill to climb.
To their credit they responded, but they hit Waterford in a fortnight still needing a result. But the story of the night was Cork’s resurrection.“Fair play to Cork,” said Kiely, “They came back with two great scores to win it.”
Scorers — Cork: P Horgan 1-11 (10fs, pen); S Harnedy 1-2, S Barrett 1-2, D Dalton 0-2 (2f), D Fitzgibbon 0-5, A Connolly, B Hayes 0-2 each, E Twomey, S Kingston 0-1 each. Limerick: A Gillane 0-7 (7fs); S Flanagan 3-3, G Hegarty 0-4, C O‘Neill 0-3, T Morrissey, D Byrnes (2fs) 0-2 each, A English, C Lynch, D Reidy, K Hayes, A O‘Connor 0-1 each.
Cork: P Collins; N O’Leary, E Downey, S O’Donoghue,; T O’Mahony, R Downey, M Coleman; E Twomey, D Fitzgibbon; D Dalton, S Barrett, S Harnedy; P Horgan, A Connolly, B Hayes. Subs: D Cahalane for E Downey (inj 23); G Mellerick for Coleman (61), S Kingston for Dalton (62); for R Downey (inj 66).
Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, B Nash; D Byrnes, D Hannon, K Hayes; W O’Donoghue, C O’Neill; G Hegarty, C Lynch, T Morrissey; A Gillane, S Flanagan, D Reid. Subs: F O’Connor for Finn (inj (38); A English for Reidy (49); C Boylan for T Morrissey (61); A O’Connor for Hannon (68), D O Dalaigh for Gillane (70).
Referee: Seán Stack (Dublin).
