GAA: Paul Kerrigan leads Cork to victory over Limerick
Saturday 9 July 2016 17:54, UK
Paul Kerrigan got the goal his performance deserved in added-time as Cork continued their 13-year winning streak against Limerick with a 2-12 to 0-10 win in Thurles.
Peter Kelleher goaled for the Rebels in the first-half but it was the scoring ability of Kerrigan and Mark Collins that saw Cork across the line with ease.
Cork led by 1-6 to 0-4 at half-time and after 35 minutes with a strong wind at their back it was a very poor return, especially against a Limerick side that was clearly second best.
Six wides and three missed goal chances underlined Cork's total dominance before the interval, but in reality it seemed as if their five-point lead at the break was probably going to be enough.
We had to wait until the fourth minute for the game's first point, which was fisted over the bar by Collins, but a minute later Cork should have pulled well ahead after Garrett Noonan's foul on Collins inside the square.
However, Donal O'Sullivan came to his side's rescue with a full-length save low to his left to deny Colm O'Neill, although the Cork forward added a free soon after to double his side's advantage.
Darragh Treacy did get Limerick on the board after 10 minutes, but Collins' second fisted point was quickly followed by Kelleher's goal.
Kerrigan delivered the long ball into the U21 star and he beat Sean O'Dea in the air. O'Dea did manage to get back and block Kelleher's initial shot, but the rebound fell kindly to him and he found the net off the ground for a 1-3 to 0-1 lead.
Cork should have been well clear of their Munster rivals at that point and after 21 minutes another goal chance went unclaimed when Kelleher flicked Kerrigan's attempted shot onto the crossbar.
Four minutes later, Kerrigan blazed his goal chance wide after his strong run down the right as Cork seemed reluctant to make the most of their superiority, and to Limerick's credit they made the most of those lifelines and kicked three of the last four points of the half to give themselves hope.
The standard on show from both sides didn't improve much after the break - apart from Kerrigan, who played a real captain's role throughout. He pointed on the turn six minutes into the half to stretch Cork's lead, and after a couple of missed frees from Ian Ryan at the other end, Kerrigan found the target again in the 50th minute to open out a seven-point lead for Cork.
Despite being deemed unfit to start for his side before the game, Limerick captain Iain Corbett showed great strength to point on the run on 53 and 56 minutes, but the goal they needed never materialised.
Cork: R Price; C O'Driscoll, E Cadogan, N Galvin; T Clancy, B O'Driscoll, J Loughrey; A O'Connor, I McGuire; M Collins (0-5), L Connolly (0-1, 1f), K O'Driscoll; C O'Neill (0-1, 1f), P Kelleher (1-0), P Kerrigan (1-3).
Subs: S Powter for B O'Driscoll (h-t), D Goulding for O'Neill (46), J O'Rourke (0-1) for Connolly (49), R Deane for O'Connor (60), M Hurley (0-1) for K O'Driscoll (66), P Kelly for Kelleher (68).
Limerick: D O'Sullivan; J McCarthy, S Cahill, P Browne; B Fanning, S O'Dea, P Ranahan; D Treacy (0-2), T Childs; P Nash, S Buckley (0-1), G Noonan; S McSweeney (0-1, 1f), I Ryan (0-4, 3f), H Bourke.
Subs: I Corbett (0-2) for Childs (27), E Hogan for McSweeney (47), P White for Ranahan (52), P Scanlan for Bourke (55), J Naughton for Nash (65), K Ryan for O'Dea (69).
Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan).
