Glory Days as Rebels throw out the script in memorable finale against Limerick
HOMETOWN HERO: Patrick Horgan of Cork is congratulated by supporters . Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
From the high perch in the South Stand’s fourth level, it was obvious the rush of red wasn’t going to be stemmed. The stands and terraces haemorrhaged onto the field and stewards were helpless. This was a bloodletting that had to happen.
To the soundtrack of Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” on the PA system, this outpouring played out. The ironic lyrics of the stadium’s soon-to-be resident have been subverted by millions before the red hoards. They too didn’t give a damn.
This pitch invasion was an impromptu one. This cascade wasn’t anticipated. Not for a third round Munster SHC fixture and certainly not as Cork, four points down in the 67th minute having been eight ahead only 17 minutes earlier, were staring down the barrel of a fifth close-run championship defeat. If anybody was going to be sent into the field, it was the clowns.
But in a glorious act of indignation to conclude an enthralling encounter, Cork threw away their old scripts. Shane Kingston and Alan Connolly sent over scores. Patrick Horgan’s ninth converted free brought them within one in the last minute of normal time only for Aidan O’Connor to double Limerick’s advantage.
However, in the next passage of play and on the back of Patrick Collins’ sharp thinking came Cork’s winning goal. From midfield, substitute Kingston ran and ran and ran, his advance upended by Kyle Hayes who in bringing him down conceded a penalty and earned himself a black card.
Horgan’s penalty strike was pristine and shortly afterwards he followed it up with a peach of a pass down the South Stand sideline for Brian Hayes to seal an extraordinary win for Cork, one forged from sheer defiance after four too many hard luck stories.
Speaking in this newspaper last November, Pat Ryan bemoaned how fast teams were taking puck-outs. “Maybe it might suit us more because fellas will say we don’t contest the ball better than other teams but what’s exciting about our game is the ball moving fast up and down the field by striking the ball, not by running it.”
When his words hardly came back to haunt him, Ryan won’t mind a jot. The goal was the third in a total tally of 3-12 that came from Cork’s puck-outs. Rightly maligned in the Clare game, even if they again conceded two goals from restarts, for Collins and his targets to produce that total at the other end was an outstanding turn of events.
It was John Kiely who was left to bemoan how Cork were able to restart the game so rapidly after O’Connor’s point. “We scored a point and we almost got punished because the puck-out was literally as the ball went over the bar. There was no whistle. It is what it is. That shouldn’t be the talking point of the game, really.”
Not for the first time, Kiely’s tone was the right one. This was a game that should be celebrated as it provided another reminder why hurling is entitled to be a UNESCO-recognised piece of culture as ineffectual as that announcement back in 2018 seems to have been.
Sixty scores looks excessive but it didn’t feel like too many of them came too easy. Richie Hogan has rightly made the point that All-Ireland semi-finals and finals are played to a higher quality than championship Munster matches yet a scorefest on an immaculate sod in gorgeous conditions seemed inevitable.
For tormenting the Limerick defence, Shane Barrett and the evergreen Seamus Harnedy deserve recognition. At times, the pair’s understanding of each other’s games seemed telepathic, osmotic at worst. Darragh Fitzgibbon pointed five times and his audacity never waned.
Limerick had heroes in Seamus Flanagan who marked a return to form with three goals. From the counties’ 2018 draw when he scored six points to his 1-3 in the ’21 Munster final win over Tipperary to now, this is a venue he clearly adores. Gearóid Hegarty laid on two of his goals and helped himself to four points in another demonstration that he is back to his 2022 form.
In a sobering first half for Limerick, Flanagan was a rare highlight. They trailed 2-15 to 1-10, the full-forward’s 26th minute goal after Aaron Gilane had pilfered a Seán O’Donoghue attempt pass cutting Cork’s lead to three.
It was instantly restored, though, as Harnedy fetched and fed Barrett for a goal, just as Barrett had done for his older half-forward colleague earlier in the fifth minute. In total, Cork produced five goal chances in an opening half almost as convincing as Tipperary’s against Limerick at this venue in the 2021 Munster final.
Just when it appeared Cork had withstood the traditional Limerick third quarter surge, Hegarty pressurised O’Donoghue into dropping a short puck-out in the 52nd minute for Flanagan to finish and Limerick were two points back.
Twice Hegarty brought them level before he again provided for Flanagan to complete hat-trick in the 58th minute and send Limerick ahead and seemingly towards a Munster final like last year until Cork decided they were done with their sad endings.
“We have had a lot of those games over the last two years,” noted Ryan. “It showed great heart from ourselves to get over the line against an absolute savage team that never says die. We got a bit of luck today that got us over the line that we haven't got in the past.”
Towards the final whistle, word has it from the Ard Chomhairle section that An Taoiseach Simon Harris and a couple of his advisors had to be reminded that it would be advisable to leave before the crowds. He wanted to stay on. He was enraptured. He wasn’t alone.
P. Horgan (1-11, 1-0 pen, 10 frees); S. Harnedy, S. Barrett (1-2 each); D. Fitzgibbon (0-5); D. Dalton (frees), A. Connolly, B. Hayes (0-2 each); E. Twomey, S. Kingston (0-1 each).
: S. Flanagan (3-3); A. Gillane (0-7, frees); G. Hegarty (0-4); C. O’Neill (0-3); T. Morrissey, D. Byrnes (frees) (0-2 each); D. Reidy, C. Lynch, A. English, K. Hayes, A. O’Connor (0-1 each).
: P. Collins; N. O’Leary, E. Downey, S. O’Donoghue (c); M. Coleman, R. Downey, T O’Mahony; E. Twomey, D. Fitzgibbon; S. Barrett, D. Dalton, S. Harnedy; P. Horgan, A. Connolly, B. Hayes.
Subs for Cork: D. Cahalane for E. Downey (23); B. Roche for E. Twomey (57); G. Millerick for M. Coleman (61); S. Kingston for D. Dalton (62); T. O’Connell for R. Downey (66).
: N. Quaid; S. Finn, D. Morrissey, B. Nash; D. Byrnes, D. Hannon (c), K. Hayes; W. O’Donoghue, C. O’Neill; G. Hegarty, C. Lynch, T. Morrissey; A. Gillane, S. Flanagan, D. Reidy.
Subs for Limerick: F. O’Connor for S. Finn (inj 35+3); A. English for D. Reidy (49); C. Boylan for T. Morrissey (61); A. O’Connor for D. Hannon (68); D. Ó Dalaigh for A. Gillane (70).
: S. Stack (Dublin).
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