Cork 1-25, Limerick 0-28
Fourteen-man Limerick held Cork to their second draw in six days after a thundering second half in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The teams parade ahead of their game in the third round of the Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie.
An epic finale saw Kyle Hayes send over the equaliser after Patrick Horgan had given Cork the lead with a free following a Mike Casey foul on the home freetaker. Darragh Fitzgibbon and Diarmuid Byrnes (free) had exchanged points in the dying minutes of normal time.
The 34,607 crowd were treated to a rollercoaster, which could have gone one way after Limerick lost Aaron Gillane to a first-half red card and trailed by two points at the break.
However, they were back on level terms in the 41st minute only for Horgan to send the ball to the net four minutes later after he was found unmarked by Seamus Harnedy.
Cork’s Pat Horgan and Seamus Harnedy with Sean Finn of Richie English of Limerick. Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie.
Seamus Flanagan and Tom Morrissey were in inspirational form, though, and four unanswered Limerick points, three of them from the former, gave Limerick a one-point lead in the 51st minute.
As Cork struggled with composure and facing the low sun, the visitors had swung the game 180 degrees as they opened a three-point advantage by the 57th minute.
Cork, though, recovered and restored parity by the 68th minute and then crept ahead through the excellent Fitzgibbon only for the game to finish out all square.
Limerick were without Declan Hannon after six minutes having picked up an injury in the warm-up but went a point up in the 14th and 19th minutes as they put together some slick attacking passages.
Indiscipline allowed Horgan to pick off the next two scores prior to Daniel Kearney firing over from distance after great skill from Christopher Joyce. And there was a greater setback in the 26th minute as Gillane was shown a red card for digging twice at Seán O’Donoghue, who was shown a yellow card for his trouble.
O’Donoghue could have followed Gillane soon afterwards for a foul on Cian Lynch but earned a reprieve from James Owens, who later enquired about an off-the-ball incident involving Conor Lehane and Richie English, which left the Limerick defender requiring medical attention, but the referee chose only to speak to the pair.
Mark Coleman, who became Cork’s spare man at the back five minutes or so after Gillane’s exit, restored Cork’s three-point lead but it was whittled down to one because of a quick Tom Morrissey brace. A mighty blow by Colm Spillane gave Cork a two-point cushion at the interval, 0-14 to 0-12.
Limerick’s Seamus Flanagan and Colm Spillane of Cork during the third round of the Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Photo: ©INPHO/James Crombie.
Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (1-11, 0-9 frees, 0-1 65); D. Fitzgibbon (0-4); C. Lehane (0-3); D. Kearney, S. Kingston (0-2 each); M. Coleman, C. Spillane, L. Meade (0-1 each).
Scorers for Limerick: T. Morrissey (0-9, 5 frees); S. Flanagan (0-5); C. Lynch (0-3); G. Mulcahy, D. O’Donovan, D. Byrnes (frees), K. Hayes (0-2 each); A. Gillane (free), G. Hegarty, D. Morrissey (0-1 each).
CORK: A. Nash; S. O’Donoghue, C. Spillane, D. Cahalane; M. Ellis, C. Joyce, M. Coleman; D. Fitzgibbon, B. Cooper; D. Brosnan, D. Kearney, C. Lehane; S. Harnedy (c), P. Horgan, S. Kingston.
Subs for Cork: T. O’Mahony for S. O’Donoghue, L. Meade for D. Brosnan (both h-t); M. Cahalane for S. Kingston (60); J. Coughlan for C. Lehane (70+3).
LIMERICK: N. Quaid; R. English, M. Casey, S. Finn; D. Byrnes, D. Hannon (c), D. Morrissey; D. O’Donovan, C. Lynch; T. Morrissey, K. Hayes, G. Hegarty; S. Flanagan, A. Gillane, G. Mulcahy.
Subs for Limerick: W. O’Donoghue for D. Hannon (inj 7); D. Dempsey for G. Hegarty (55); P. Browne for D. O’Donovan (61); B. Murphy for G. Mulcahy (62); P. Ryan for S. Flanagan (inj, 64).
Sent off: A. Gillane (straight, 26).
Referee: J. Owens (Wexford).
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
