Epic draw between 14 man Limerick and Cork in Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Jerome O’Connell Limerick Leader Sport
LIMERICK and Cork played out a pulsating draw in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship this Saturday evening.
It finished Limerick 0-28 Cork 1-25 in Pairc Ui Chaoimh with U-21 star Kyle Hayes getting the equaliser in the third minute of injury time.
It was the 11th time the sides were tied.
All the more remarkable given that Limerick played the entire second half and 10-minutes of the first half with 14-men.
Watched by 34,607 Cork were 0-14 to 0-12 ahead after a pulsating first half.
It was 39-minutes of end-to-end action that saw Limerick reduced to 14 men in the 25th minute when Aaron Gillane was shown a straight red card for an altercation with corner back Sean O’Donoghue as they awaited a lineball to be taken.
Earlier, limerick lost captain Declan Hannon to injury after six minutes with William O’Donoghue coming into the team at wing back for his debut and Dan Morrissey moving to centre back.
Limerick had eight different scorers from play in the half, during which they hit just three wides.
The sides were level on five occasions.
Cork opened the scoring but Cian Lynch, Graeme Mulcahy and Seamus Flanagan all flashed over points for Limerick to lead 0-3 to 0-1 and only four minutes played.
Cork then found the next four points to edge 0-5 to 0-3 ahead and still just seven minutes lapsed.
Hannon was now off injured but Limerick steadied with with Flanagan, Gillane (free), Darragh O’Donovan and Gearoid Hegarty pointing to move back ahead again, 0-7 to 0-6 with 13-minutes gone.
A Tom Morrissey pointed from play helped tie up the game for the final time in the half – Limerick 0-8 Cork 0-8 with 15-minutes still to half time.
Four successive scores from Patrick Horgan placed balls and soon Cork were 0-11 to 0-8 ahead and Limerick down to 14 men.
Frees from Morrissey and Diarmaid Byrnes helped settle Limerick after the red card and a late score from Tom Morrissey from distance ensured just a two point interval lead for The Rebels at the break.
The excitement didn’t stop on the resumption.
Lynch and Mulcahy had points from play and the game was level 0-15 each – five minutes into the half.
Then came the Cork goal – Patrick Horgan in way too much space and he raced forward to beat Nickie Quaid.
Within five minutes the goal was cancalled out with Morrissey and Flanagan points.
Indeed Limerick went ahead with O’Donovan and Flanagan scores to lead 0-21 to 1-17 with 15-minutes gone in the half.
Limerick were on a run that saw they hit seven of eight points to go 0-24 to 1-18 clear with 13-minutes to play – that’s three points clear after trailing by three after the Cork goal.
Back came the home side to level for a nineth time and went ahead with Charleville’s Darragh Fitzgibbon among the scores.
A long range Byrnes free levelled again in the final minute.
Then it fell to a Patrick Horgan free in the first of three minutes of injury time to put Cork ahead again.
In the end it was Kyle Hayes that sealed the draw.
All roads now lead to the Gaelic Grounds next Sunday, June 10 for Limerick v Waterford at 2.00.
SCORERS: Limerick: Tom Morrissey 0-9 (5frees), Seamus Flanagan 0-5, Cian Lynch 0-3, Graeme Mulcahy, Darragh O’Donovan, Diarmaid Byrnes (2frees), Kyle Hayes 0-2 each, Gearoid Hegarty, Dan Morrissey 0-1 and Aaron Gillane (free) 0-1 each
LIMERICK: Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Mike Casey, Richie English; Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon, Dan Morrissey; Darragh O’Donovan, Cian Lynch; Gearoid Hegarty, Kyle Hayes, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Seamus Flanagan, Graeme Mulcahy. Subs: William O’Donoghue for Declan Hannon, inj (6mins), David Dempsey for Gearoid Hegarty (54mins), Paul Browne for Darragh O’Donovan (60mins), Barry Murphy for Graeme Mulcahy (62mins), Pat Ryan for Seamus Flanagan, inj (63mins).
CORK: Anthony Nash; Sean O’Donoghue, Damien Cahalane, Colm Spillane; Mark Ellis, Christopher Joyce, Mark Coleman; Darragh Fitzgibbon, Bill Cooper; Seamus Harnedy, Dean Brosnan, Daniel Kearney; Shane Kingston, Conor Lehane, Patrick Horgan. Subs: Tim O’Mahony for Sean O’Donoghue (h-t), Luke Meade for Dean Brosnan (h-t), Michael Cahalane for Shane Kingston (59mins), Jamie Coughlan for Conor Lehane (72mins).
REFEREE: James Owens (Wexford).
