Limerick 1-9 Cork 14If the GAA ever wanted to bottle "essence of league", then yesterday at the Gaelic Grounds was the place to do it. Nothing for the 6,000 crowd to get too high or low about, just a way of killing a hum-drum afternoon.
This opening match between the Munster rivals that are scheduled to face each other in the parallel world of the championship in May was the total definition of league ordinariness.
A patchwork Cork team beat an experimental Limerick team by a couple of points and nobody was any the worse afterwards. In terms of posterity, this hurling match left few impressions. You know that by tomorrow night, both teams will be working on a blank landscape once again.
Or maybe that is not quite true. The brief hug that Donal O'Grady gave Castletownroche youngster Jonathan O'Callaghan as he retired him with seconds to go may carry significance. It is unlikely that Donal developed a touchy-feely streak over the winter and he has reason to be pleased with the new boy.
It wasn't just the six points so much as the general discomfort he caused Mark Foley all day. The Limerick star was forced to illegally hobble O'Callaghan after just 10 minutes and, after being flashed a yellow card, he was forced to play second fiddle for great chunks of the game.
For Pad Joe Whelehan, this was not exactly the start to inflame the rhetoricians but it could have been worse. Trailing 0-4 to 0-11, Limerick took the game to Cork and levelled it at 1-09 to 0-12 with five minutes to go before Cork sneaked home.
"Ah, a draw would have been great for us," he conceded. "But that's the way of it. First half was terrible. I am trying to get us to change our style, to get the boys to play ground hurling and after the break we did that and Cork were not able for it. But they have plenty of good hurlers and came back well. Like, everything we do will be geared towards the championship. At the moment, we haven't a hope but we'll see."
Not that the Offaly man was beaded in sweat. He has hardly seen his charges hurl yet. Yesterday, there were pockets of brightness. Ollie Moran and Michael Cahill did well in their sectors, he got a reasonable return from his full-forward line and during a late revival, his team created goal chances.
As it was, Limerick almost plundered it at the end when Mark Foley sent a tall man's lob into the square that O'Shaughnessy half-doubled on. Donal Cusack collected though, the second time he denied the young Kilmallock poacher. On 38 minutes, the Cork goalkeeper made a brilliant flying save to get the better of a one-on-one confrontation, the single best moment of the game.
Timmy McCarthy was the lone link to last year's All-Ireland final in the Cork forward line and he put himself about busily while Ronan Curran and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín were outstanding in the half-back line for Cork.
Cloyne defender Mark Prendergast had a grand afternoon alongside his clubmate Diarmuid O'Sullivan. The experience of the other corner back Aidan Fitzpatrick was spoiled in a flash, however. Loose stickwork, following a tapped pass back from O'Sullivan allowed Patrick Tobin, his marker, to thieve the ball from Fitzpatrick's hurl and Tobin created the angle and scored a goal.
Fitzpatrick shook his head and it was a tough moment for a young defender getting a shot in the league. He saw the bench before full time. It was a reminder that for those on the fringes, the league can mean everything.
"There are places up for grabs," verified Donal O'Grady afterwards. "I think that is obvious. That was a good win for us out there. We hurled well in the first half and were maybe guilty of overlapping a bit in the second half but we fought well in the last 10 minutes."
Seanie McGrath replaced named full forward Eamon Collins before the game and after 10 minutes was running on full voltage, hitting a pair of cracking points and he can be satisfied with the first passage of his new season.
Five of the six forwards scored and Michael Byrne, the exception, made a useful, awkward presence of himself around the epicentre of the Limerick defence. All in all, it was a satisfactory exercise for Cork.
Limerick and Pad Joe are still feeling life out with every new step. Next week they visit Tipperary. "Now we've lost and they've lost," Whelehan grinned, " and sure it's all about points at this stage."
And that's about all its about.
CORK: D Óg Cusack; A Fitzpatrick, D O'Sullivan, M Prendergast; G Callinan, R Curran, S Óg Ó hAilpín; T Kenny, A Coughlan (0-2, one free); J O'Callaghan (0-6, four frees), M Byrne, T McCarthy (0-2); B Lombard (0-1), S McGrath (0-2), E Fitzgerald (0-1). Subs: J Gardiner for E Fitzgerald (52 mins), C O'Connor for A Fitzpatrick (52 mins), P Tierney for S McGrath (62 mins), N McCarthy for B Lomdard (67 mins), K Murphy for J O'Callaghan (71 mins).
LIMERICK: J Cahill; D Reale, TJ Ryan, M Cahill; O Moran, P Lawlor, M Foley; P O'Grady (0-1, free) C Carey; N Moran (0-2 , one 65), J O'Brien, J Meskell (0-2, frees); A O Shaughnessy (0-3, frees), J Sheehan (0-1), P Tobin (1-0). Subs: P O'Reilly for J O'Grady (43 mins), S O'Connor for J Meskell (43 mins), S Sheehan for N Moran (60 mins).
Referees: S McMahon (Clare).
