There might be two sides to the game at the Gaelic Grounds last Sunday.
Nobody doubts what we saw from Limerick: massive aggression and intensity, some brilliant hurling, a huge desire to win. All the hurt from their two defeats to Cork last year, especially the All-Ireland semi-final, was channelled into that performance.
But I’m not sure we can take Cork’s performance at face value. I think Cork were playing a long game. Look at it from their point view. It‘s hard to imagine they can win the All-Ireland without beating Limerick at some stage along the way. Emptying themselves in an attempt to beat them in a group game in the Gaelic Grounds wasn’t going to achieve anything.
Limerick were bound to be wound up after what happened last year and from that perspective it was a much bigger game for Limerick. Losing to Cork three times in a row in the championship was out of the question for them. Whatever about putting down a marker with Cork, they had something to prove to themselves too.
There’s no way they expected to lose to Cork twice last year. They didn’t even expect to lose once. The players and the management would have blamed themselves for that and they had a long winter to stew on it. All that pent-up frustration came out last Sunday in their 3-26 to 1-16 victory over Cork.
[ Limerick show they haven’t gone away by dismantling Cork ]
It was obvious that Cork were not in the same frame of mind. They brought no aggression. They were cleaned out in the air. From what I understand, they won the toss and elected to play against the wind. Why would you hand Limerick that advantage straight from the start? The outcome of the game had a different value for Cork than it had for Limerick.
If Cork were playing a long game, though, that is a risky business. If they don’t beat Waterford at home on Sunday their season is over. After a game as physical as last Sunday, a week is a quick turnaround. There are bound to be sore bodies. Declan Dalton and Niall O’Leary went off injured against Limerick and it‘s hard to see them being fit to play.
Rob Downey went off at half-time, having obviously not being fit coming into the match. He also went off early in the second half against Clare and after 20 minutes against Tipperary. They need him to have a run of fitness and good form, but there must be a doubt about him lining up on Sunday.
Waterford will see a chance here. Against Tipperary, their shooting was sloppy and they made too many handling errors, but they created plenty of chances. It‘s only a year since they beat Cork in Walsh Park in the championship, so they won’t have any fear of them. They have no shortage of ball players and runners – and Páirc Uí Chaoimh suits teams like that.
The other side of the coin is that it suits Cork. One of Waterford’s problems against Tipp was that Tadhg de Búrca played too deep. He can’t afford to sit off Darragh Fitzgibbon to that extent. If Waterford allow Cork to get into a rhythm with their running game from the middle third, then they’ll be in trouble.
I would also expect a massive reaction from Cork. Whatever Cork’s motivations were last Sunday, they couldn’t turn around to their supporters this week and tell them that game didn’t really matter. They travelled to Limerick in their thousands; they expected a performance. The Cork players know that they would have been slated by their own supporters during the week.
In my career we had an experience like that in 2016. Kilkenny beat us well in the Leinster final and we were hammered by everyone for our performance. In his newspaper column Ger Loughnane called us gutless, useless and Lord knows what else. He also compared our manager Micheál Donoghue to Fr Trendy.
We were playing Clare next in the All-Ireland quarter-final a couple of weeks later and this stuff from Loughnane played right into our hands. Davy Fitzgerald was the Clare manager at the time, and I know he was going mad over it. If the roles were reversed he would have used Loughnane’s words too.
Cork shouldn’t need that kind of motivation on Sunday. They would have targeted two home wins and a place in the Munster final at the start of the season and I don’t believe last Sunday’s performance has derailed them.
The other fascinating game of the weekend is in Parnell Park. Dublin and Galway are already assured of a place in the All-Ireland series, but both will be desperate to reach the Leinster final. No matter how many times the system has changed over the years, the shortest way to Croke Park for an All-Ireland semi-final is still the best way.
In my time playing for Galway we had a really patchy record against Dublin in the championship. We never beat them in Dublin, either in Parnell Park or Croke Park. It‘s a bit of cliche to say that Parnell Park is a tough place to play, but it‘s true. In Micheál Donoghue’s last game as Galway manager, first time around, Dublin beat us in Parnell Park in 2019 and knocked us out of the championship.
I think Galway have improved gradually since the first match against Kilkenny. From the games against Offaly, Antrim and Wexford it‘s hard to quantify that improvement.
Dublin, though, will be incredibly tough to beat. When they went 16 points down against Kilkenny they could easily have folded, but they cut the lead back to two points. If you were comparing that to Galway’s performance in Nowlan Park a few weeks ago, you’d be inclined to make Dublin favourites.
Surprise results have been a feature of the Leinster championship in recent years, but that hasn’t been the case this season. In this game, there is no outcome that would surprise me.
