Cork 2-6 Limerick 0-11: Cork survived the mother of all scares in the Munster football final this afternoon to claim the title by the narrowest of margins at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Far from being the whipping boys so many expected, Limerick led for most of the contest before running out of steam in the final quarter.
Having come so close to defeating Cork last year, when two injury-time goals swung the semi-final in the Rebel’s favour, Mickey O’Sullivan’s side started this contest with real belief.
Chasing a first provincial title in 113 years, they dominated the first half and led by 0-8 to 1-2 at the interval. And there was nothing fortuitous about that lead, with eight of their eight scores in that period coming from play.
Ian Ryan was the Rebels tormentor in chief, giving the much-vaunted Cork half back line the run-around, while Ger Collins was also causing problems.
Cork, on the other hand, were misfiring badly and could fashion just one score from play in the opening 35 minutes.
Donncha O'Connor’s 15th penalty, after Daniel Goulding had been pulled down when bearing in on goal, kept them in touch but there few positives for Conor Counihan on the sideline.
After the break, Graham Canty was deployed in the sweeper’s role for Cork and that moved stemmed the flow of points from Limerick. They may have continued, initially at least, to own the football but were unable to convert possession to scores.
One sensed that Cork would finally come good, and Goulding again provided the impetus with with an expertly taken goal and point in quick succession. Suddenly, it was Limerick who had their backs against the wall and Cork swiftly opened a two-point lead.
A late Stephen Kelly point gave Limerick some hope of forcing the draw but Cork, who packed their defence in the final minutes, managed to keep the underdogs at bay.