Soaked in the Páirc: is there another side of Corkness finally emerging?
RIPPED: Cork newcomer Cormac O'Brien leaves the field after Saturday's Allianz League tie between Cork and Limerick. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Nickie Quaid has been the first name on the Limerick team sheet, in a literal and metaphorical sense, for over a decade. While his shot-stopping and handling are second to none, it’s the tempo and accuracy of his restarts that have been fundamental to making Limerick what they are. So, when he made the news late last year over a game of five-a-side, it didn’t bode well for Quaid, for John Kiely, or for Limerick.
The loss of Quaid led to the recall of Shane Dowling but it was Jason Gillane who was sitting in the Lower Hogan last summer when Cork ended Limerick’s quest for the five in-a-row. And thus, it was Gillane who auditioned in Páirc Uí Chaoimh Saturday night. It went well. On the type of night that goalkeepers, in particular, dread, he was faultless. His restarts were smart and accurate, he judged the tempo well, and he landed two monstrous frees. A good night’s work for the Patrickswell man, and a good sign for Limerick.
The condensed nature of the new inter-county season means that injuries, and the recovery times that attaches to them, are more significant than ever. Both Cork and Limerick were already shorn of significant talents coming into SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Cathal O’Neill is still marked absent for Limerick after he damaged his hamstring playing for UL before Christmas, while for Cork, Ben Cunningham pulled up with a hamstring issue in the Fitzgibbon Cup for UCC during the week, just as it seemed like he’d rediscovered his mojo.
Pádraig Power hasn’t had much luck with injury as he tries to earn a place in the Cork full-forward line. He hit 1-4 in Wexford Park last week, on Saturday he departed the scene with a dislocated shoulder. The same fate seemed to befall Conor Lehane at the end of his brief cameo. For Limerick, Gearóid Hegarty departed early on with a lacerated hand, Diarmaid Byrnes didn’t look especially comfortable when he was withdrawn while Will O’Donoghue also left the field early. John Kiely and Pat Ryan will be considering the cost of those early departures on Monday morning.
Referee Sean Stack had a tough night with the feistiness on top of the conditions. One of the great GAA maxims is that league will always be league, and that championship will always be championship. While the hurling may not have reached championship pitch on Saturday night, the competitive edge on both sides was evident at all times. The result may mean nothing, but the nature of the contest will mean everything to both Limerick and Cork.
Pat Ryan said afterwards that this was exactly the type of game that Cork would have lost over the past couple of seasons. While Ryan will have plenty to be disappointed with when he reviews the game, he can take solace in the spirit that his troops showed when the need was greatest. After a superb opening gambit, they disappeared as the sheets of rain that cascaded across Páirc Uí Chaoimh seemed to remind Cork supporters of their old failings. Cork tends to suffer in poor conditions and while they may always have hurling to burn, the hurly burly of what might be called the real stuff hasn’t always come naturally to them.
Thus, when Cork fell five points behind, early in the second half, the worst would have been expected. That sense of dread only grew when they failed to take full advantage of Shane Barett’s stunning goal. However, even though they fell four points behind again soon after, they found a way to survive. That resilience will be critical to Cork if they are to come out of Munster gain in 2025.
The rain that descended on Cork late Saturday morning wasn’t forecasted. It made for conditions that could be at best described as challenging. If one slipped into town early to watch the rugby in the comfort of a bar, one may have been inclined to stay put and settle for the TG4 stream. However, such is the nature of the current rivalry between Cork and Limerick, that 24,000 souls braved the elements, and their reward was a game that was more loaded with intrigue than quality.
The rivalry was enough to sell this event, but you’d wonder what could happen in the Allianz League was actually promoted, properly? For some strange reason, the GAA seems to be incapable of marketing itself. Sometimes it feels like the biggest selling point we have is a media storm borne out of negativity. Our games are the most Irish of things, and that Irishness also applies to our propensity to flagellate ourselves, instead of celebrating what we have.
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