Talk turns to immortality as Limerick claim legendary status with All-Ireland final masterclass – Belfast Telegraph

Already, the talk turns to immortality on Shannonside after the county hurlers ransacked Cork on a 3-32 to 1-22 scoreline in the All-Ireland hurling final.

t is the first time a team from the Treaty county successfully put together a defence of this title. It came a century after they first won the first Liam MacCarthy Cup played for with the 1921 Championship though in true form of the times that were in it, that wasnt completed until 1923.

It became the biggest scoring tally in an All-Ireland final, pipping the Kilkenny scoreline when they were at their peak in their 2008 crushing of Waterford by two points. And yet, they notched up 18 wides in the game.

They limited Cork to 1-11 from play across almost 80 minutes of hurling. They have now won three out of the last four All-Irelands, and it would be four in a row, insisted Kingston, only for a disputed wide that should have been a 65 for them against Kilkenny in 2019.

By what do they measure their performance?

From our perspective, it was like trying to stop the tide with a bucket, said Cork manager Kieran Kingston.

Not a lot you could do, no matter what you tried go short or go long, I think they were just at another level to Cork today. Weve got to be honest and say that.

The game got the kind of start you dream of. In the second minute, Cork midfielder Luke Meade sent a handpass with too much flair on it down the line towards his full-back Robert Downey, but it was far too loose. Cian Lynch who earned the half-time comment from analyst Donal g Cusack that it was like trying to play on Harry Potter retrieved it and magicked a little space to give to Gearoid Hegarty arriving late. He took his time and buried it near post beyond Patrick Collins.

Corks response was impressive when Shane Kingston got a run on Shane Finn and lashed to the top corner past Nicky Quaid to get the 40,000 crowd rocking.

But Limerick have two modes of attack. Big haymakers of goals and the death by a thousand cuts of points. The haymakers came in the 14th minute when the immense Seamus Flanagan fielded a Declan Hannon delivery. Aaron Gillane was already peeling away from his marker when the ball was en route and he duly got the pass in space and drilled past Collins.

The third goal closed the door on Cork. Under sustained pressure, Patrick Horgan was forced into a nothing ball in the general direction of Kingston who was shunted out of it. Lynch once again cooked up another creation for Hegarty to feast on, leaving Limerick 3-18 to 1-11 up at the break.

The choicest cut of all, came just before the water break. A ball sent inside to Mark Coleman saw Lynch nipping in to break it to the floor. He executed the sort of chip pick up that players at this level would barely attempt in their back garden to save mortification. Most people would insist on taking the shot on in such circumstances, but Lynch laid it off to Tom Morrissey to convert instead.

It was in the second quarter that they got the daggers out. At the water break, selector Paul Kinnerk had his renowned tactics board out on the pitch and while they would have heard referee Fergal Horgans whistle to resume, were in no panic. They went on to blitz Cork 1-10 to 0-4 in that period.

3-18 in the first half. Its unheard of. Perhaps the greatest half of top level hurling ever put together.

Such was their dominance that by the 39th minute, Patrick Horgan speared over a free that trimmed Limericks lead from 15 to 14. It was greeted with the kind of polite clap that usually greets a routine golf shot in a minor tournament. Every Limerick score was greeted with thunderous roars by contrast.

It was a great performance, yeah, acknowledged Limerick manager John Kiely who eventually materialised in the press room after an eternity out marking the occasion in the open air.

A performance we were building towards over the last couple of months. We got things right from the start, in terms of our set-up, energy levels right. We started putting a lot of pressure on Cork ball coming out of defence and most of all, when we had the ball ourselves, we used it really well. And the lads up front were running mad into space and we were retaining the ball.

Our accuracy was very high. We got into a flow and when you get into that state, it is very hard to stop.

So, back to back titles. How does that rarefied air taste?

It is hard to comprehend. It just seems like yesterday that we had two Championship games in 2017 and lost them both.

We were facing into a winter of complete and utter, total soul-searching. We just managed to turn it around, there is great work ethic in the group, great confidence in the group. Great capacity there and they seem to be able to push the boundaries of their performance outward and upward. They are very much on an upward trajectory at the moment and we just got to keep pushing the boundaries.

CORK: P Collins; N OLeary 0-1, R Downey, S ODonoghue; T OMahony, M Coleman 0-1f, E Cadogan; D Fitzgibbon, L Meade 0-1; C Cahalane, S Harnedy 0-4, R OFlynn; J OConnor 0-1, P Horgan 0-12, 10f, S Kingston 1-0

Subs: D Cahalane for C Cahalane (HT), S OLeary-Hayes for N OLeary (47m), S Barrett 0-1, for Fitzgibbon (47m), A Cadogan 0-1, for OConnor (47m), N Cashman for ODonoghue (52m), D Dalton for OFlynn (55m)

LIMERICK: N Quaid; S Finn, D Morrissey, B Nash 0-1; D Byrnes 0-2, 1f, D Hannon 0-2, K Hayes; W ODonoghue, D ODonovan 0-1; G Hegarty 2-2, C Lynch 0-6, T Morrissey 0-3; A Gillane 1-6, 3f, S Flanagan 0-1, P Casey 0-5

Subs: G Mulcahy 0-1, for Casey (35m), D Reidy 0-1, for Hegarty (62m), C Coughlan for Hannon (65m), B Murphy for Mulcahy (68m), P Ryan 0-1, for T Morrissey (69m)

Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)

Man of the match: Cian Lynch (Limerick)

Match rating: 3/10.

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Talk turns to immortality as Limerick claim legendary status with All-Ireland final masterclass - Belfast Telegraph