It turns out that Limerick do things by halves after all.
If the 18-odd minutes that they produced after half-time in the Munster final to turn a 10-point deficit around was their finest quarter since this team came together, then they surely produced their best half of hurling right from the off to reduce Cork to rubble and the second half to a glorified puckaround.
Who knows what is yet to come from this superb set of players, but when their achievements are reflected upon in years to come and their standing in the game is assessed, this may well be recalled as their signature performance.
To Cork’s credit, they kept in touch in the first quarter as Limerick moved through the gears but it was only by their fingernails. They were well adrift by half-time.
Retaining the title sets this Limerick team apart in the history of the game, not least in their own county, and it’s just the third time that a county outside of the traditional big three has completed back-to-back wins after Wexford in 1955-56 and Galway in 1987-88.
The obvious comparisons to be drawn now are those between this Limerick team and Brian Cody’s Kilkenny at their peak. And this performance with Kilkenny’s against Waterford in 2008 All-Ireland final.
Limerick yesterday exceeded the record tally for a final that Kilkenny posted that day (3-30), as well as Cork’s 6-21 in the first 80-minute final against Wexford in 1970. The 16-point margin was the biggest in a final since that 23-point rout 13 years ago.
Limerick scored 3-18 (to Cork’s 1-11) from 28 shots in the first half yesterday, compared to Kilkenny’s 2-16 from 20 efforts up to half-time in 2008. That’s not including a Gearoid Hegarty goal attempt that whistled past the post but was brought back for an advantage, with Aaron Gillane slotting the free. It was one of just four points from their 3-32 tally that came from placed balls.
Hegarty scored goals either side of that, however, lethal finishes in the second minute and first minute of first half injury time.
Cork responded to his first with a fine solo effort from Shane Kingston but his second was an adornment on the scoreboard, with Limerick already out of sight.
Kingston’s goal kept Cork in the game early on but after Aaron Gillane hit Limerick’s second after being picked out by Seamus Flanagan, the champions stretched their legs in the second quarter.
Peter Casey was their chief marksman in a full-forward line that was wreaking havoc, hitting 0-5 from play up to the 25th minute before injury forced his withdrawal.
But Cian Lynch was the class apart and surely his second Hurler of the Year award is now a formality.
He pointed after 12 seconds and while he didn’t score for the rest of the half, his six further touches were direct assists for 2-4, including both of Hegarty’s goals.
If Limerick’s intensity dropped noticeably as the game became a procession in the second half, Lynch’s didn’t as he tagged on 0-5 from play.
All told, it was a long afternoon for Cork and while their recent underage success suggests that they should return to the winners’ enclosure in the not too distant future, Limerick have shown them how far they have yet to travel.
It remains to be seen, if and when they cross that threshold, whether their elder statesmen will still be around to share in it.
Eoin Cadogan, 35 next month, wept on the pitch after the final whistle while Patrick Horgan and Seamus Harnedy, who contributed 0-16 of Cork’s tally, are also moving through their 30s.
With their All-Ireland drought at senior level now moving into a 17th year, the 1903-19 era, previously their longest with a title, has now been surpassed.
But with a first ever two-in-a-row, a third in four years, a record tally in a final, an average victory margin of 10 points across the campaign and Declan Hannon emulating Christy Ring by lifting the Liam MacCarthy Cup three times, a generational Limerick team certainly isn’t setting any unwanted records.
LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Barry Nash (0-1); Diarmaid Byrnes (0-2, 0-1f), Declan Hannon (0-2), Kyle Hayes; William O’Donoghue, Darragh O’Donovan (0-1); Tom Morrissey (0-3), Cian Lynch (0-6), Gearoid Hegarty (2-2); Aaron Gillane (1-6, 0-3f), Seamus Flanagan (0-1), Peter Casey (0-5).
Subs: Graeme Mulcahy (0-1) for Casey (35+1), David Reidy (0-1) for Hegarty (62), Colin Coughlan for Hannon (65), Barry Murphy for Mulcahy (68), Pat Ryan (0-1) for Tom Morrissey (69).
CORK: Patrick Collins; Niall O’Leary (0-1), Robert Downey, Sean O’Donoghue; Eoin Cadogan, Mark Coleman (0-1f), Tim O’Mahony; Darragh Fitzgibbon, Luke Meade (0-1); Robbie O’Flynn, Shane Kingston (1-0), Conor Cahalane; Jack O’Connor (0-1), Patrick Horgan (0-12, 0-10f), Seamus Harnedy (0-4).
Subs: Damien Cahalane for Cahalane (HT), Sean O’Leary-Hayes for O’Leary (47), Shane Barrett (0-1) for Fitzgibbon (47), Alan Cadogan (0-1) for O’Connor (47), Niall Cashman for O’Donoghue (52), Declan Dalton for O’Flynn (55).
REFEREE: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary).
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