Munster Senior Football Quarter Final – Cork 3-17 Limerick 0-8

Counihan demands more from ‘workmanlike’ Rebels

Report from the Irish Independent newspaper

Cork 3-17, Limerick 0-8

MUNSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL – 27 MAY 2013

Cork manager Conor Counihan reckons his side will need much greater intensity if they are to progress deep into the championship. Counihan admitted that he had hoped for a sterner test from the Treaty men on Saturday night as they cantered through to a Munster semi-final meeting with Clare. “We’re reasonably happy, but we’re under no illusions. The intensity of that second half… you wouldn’t survive at that level so you’ve got to move it on a game,” he said. “It was very workmanlike and very positive. We did get the work-rate out of fellas, that’s the most key, fundamental thing. Attitude isn’t really a problem with this group.”

Photos from the game on Munster GAA Facebook

His opposite number Maurice Horan was left dumbfounded by the gulf in class – he said he had been ‘quietly confident’ of causing an upset before the game. Defeat has condemned his side to another year of the qualifiers on the back of a disappointing Munster campaign, but this one will be tougher than most to recover from. “I was surprised. I never thought we were going to be that far behind. They are one of the best teams in the country. “We were always going to be up against it trying to win it, but we felt we were in the right place, we felt we had a strong team out,” Horan lamented. “The first goal, our heads went down too easily after it. “After that, they just carved us up. We couldn’t even win a break around midfield. I can’t fathom it, can’t put a finger on it.”

Cork hit three goals in seven minutes before the break from Brian Hurley, John O’Rourke and Pearse O’Neill which resulted in 35 minutes of cruise control after the restart. But Counihan was slightly annoyed as his side failed to punish some slack defending from Limerick as three good goal opportunities were left unconverted early on. “We probably should have taken one or two more,” he said. “We have to look at where we could have had more scores, could have been a bit more clinical… and the realisation that Clare in Ennis is going to be a totally different situation. “We certainly expected a bigger challenge, but football is a funny game. Some days you go out and some team is playing well and the other team’s performance isn’t as good and the gap is significant. “That can happen to any of us, I don’t think it’s a true reflection of where Limerick are at.”

Prior to throw-in, Counihan was forced into two changes to his side with an ongoing Achilles problem robbing him of Eoin Cadogan, while a dead-leg forced Aidan Walsh to sit out the Gaelic Grounds tussle. “Some guys had a few niggles and some guys had a bit more work to do but we have three weeks now and hopefully things will be competitive on the training ground,” said Counihan. “Aidan got a knock on Thursday night and we had hoped until the last minute that it would be recovered but it didn’t.”

Two splendidly struck dead balls from Damien Cahalane settled Cork and despite early scores from Ger Collins and Seanie Buckley indicating promise from the Treaty men, Cork soon took hold of the tie with their trio of goals. Three half-time changes from Horan failed to change his side’s fortunes as Cork began to focus on improving their tally in the points column. Daniel Goulding hit three points from play, and Paul Kerrigan also got in on the act with two fine scores as Limerick tired.

Scorers – Cork: D Goulding 0-5 (1f), B Hurley, J O’Rourke 1-1 each, M Collins 0-3, P O’Neill 1-0, D Cahalane (1f, 1 ’45’), P Kerrigan, F Goold 0-2 each, C Sheehan 0-1. Limerick: E O’Connor 0-3 (1f), G Collins, S Buckley, S Lucey, M Sheehan, J Galvin 0-1 each.

Cork – K O’Halloran 7; P Kissane 7, M Shields 7, D Cahalane 9; J Loughrey 7, G Canty 6, T Clancy; A O’Connor 7, P O’Neill 7; C Sheehan 7, P Kelly 6, J O’Rourke 7; D Goulding 8, B Hurley 7, P Kerrigan 7. Subs: F Goold 7 for Kelly (50), N O’Leary 7 for Canty (50), D O’Connor 7 for Sheehan (50), A O’Sullivan 6 for O’Neill (56), M Collins 8 for Kerrigan (58).

Limerick – D O’Sullivan 7; A Lane 5, J McCarthy 6, M O’Riordan 6; S Lavin 6, P Ranahan 6, P Browne 5; B O’Brien 6, J Galvin 7; J Riordan 5, T Lee 6, S Buckley 5; G Collins 5, I Corbett 5, E O’Connor 7. Subs: M Sheehan 6 for Corbett (h-t), D O’Connor 5 for O’Brien (h-t), S O’Carroll 5 for Lee (h-t), S Lucey 6 for Buckley (51), L O’Dwyer 5 for O’Riordan (56).

Ref – M Duffy (Sligo)

Cork cruise past poor Limerick challenge in Munster SFC

By Jerome O’Connell for the Limerick Leader newspaper

LIMERICKS 2013 Munster senior football championship came to a crashing end as Cork inflicted a 3-17 to 0-8 defeat in the Gaelic Grounds. This was Limerick’s worst Munster senior football championship defeat in 18 years. Back on On May 28 1995 Kerry inflicted a 3-17 to 0-8 defeat on Limerick in the Munster quarter-final. A return of 2-10 from Maurice Fitzgerald helped The Kingdom to the 18-point win. Last Saturday evening, Cork matched that 18-point margin with some ease.

Throughout that last two decades, there were big defeats in 1996, 1999, 2007 and 2011 but nothing to match the scoring spree that Cork brought to the Gaelic Grounds. Quite simply, Limerick were blown away by the Cork challenge with three goals in a blistering seven minute spell midway through the opening half setting the tone for a one-sided Munster senior football championship quarter-final. The attendance in the Gaelic Grounds was 4,138 but 20-minutes from the end many made their way for the exit with Cork already assured of their place in the provincial semi-final against Clare. Cork were 3-10 to 0-4 clear with 20-minutes to go and a triple substitution by Conor Counihan signalled that those on Leeside were content that the job was done.

In reality that job was done much earlier than this. From the opening exchanges, the signs were ominous. Maurice Horan’s men entered the game on the back of winning promotion from the league and preparations for the Munster SFC were thought to be good, albeit without injured attacker Ian Ryan. But there was a real sense of optimism. Limerick brought a vastly experienced and settled unit to the game and with John Galvin back after two cruciate ligament operations the hope was that the men in green and white could build on the momentum of last season’s qualifier run when only a late Kildare salvo denied them an All-Ireland quarter-final spot. Added to that, Cork started with six debutante’s and were forced into a pre-match change with Aidan Walsh missing out. But it all mattered little.

The Cork machine got up and running early on and Limerick were unable to get as much as a challenge on the powerful running Rebels. That said, Cork dominated the early minutes but Limerick were hanging on and at the end of the opening 20-minutes it was just 0-4 to 0-2 in favour of the men in red. Indeed both Limerick scores were points of quality with Seanie Buckley scoring from the left sideline and Ger Collins finishing with a nice turn of foot after a fine diagonal ball from Tom Lee. But that was as good as it got.

Limerick were to score just a 29th minute Eoghan O’Connor free as Cork went on a goal spree to lead 3-4 to 0-3 at half time. Limerick set up with an extra man in defence but couldn’t stop the constant Cork support running. The first goal came in the 24th minute when Johnny McCarthy allowed Brian Hurley to reach highest to get a hand to a Daniel Goulding delivery to divert to the net from the edge of the square. The goal opened the flood-gates but the warning signs were evident with Donal O’Sullivan and McCarthy making last ditch blocks previously and Ciaran Sheehan blasting wide from close range. Three minutes later came John O’Rourke’s goal when he scrambled home despite the best efforts of Andy Lane and Paudie Browne on the goal-line. The opportunity had been created by a scorching run of Paul Kerrigan past Mark O’Riordan along the endline. The third goal came six minutes from the break when Pearse O’Neill powered through from midfield to blast to the net.

Limerick had nothing to lose at the interval and went for broke with three substitutions. Twelve months ago, a terrible first half against Clare was eroded by a fine second half but this was a very different opposition and there was no way back. Limerick needed scores and fast. But they never arrived. A packed Cork defence ensured no space for Limerick and the Shannonside rearguard were already overworked and couldn’t offer their usual effective attacking platform. Limerick were to end the game with John Galvin at full forward and this appeared to offer some respite but in truth the game was long over by this stage and Cork had rung the changes with all subs on the field. Limerick had it back to 3-11 to 0-8 with 10-minutes to play but Cork tagged on another six points for good measure with Ken O’Halloran denying John Galvin and Stephen Lavin consolation goals.

SCORERS – Limerick: Eoghan O’Connor 0-3 (1free), Seanie Buckley, Ger Collins, Stephen Lucey, Mike Sheehan, John Galvin 0-1 each. Cork: Daniel Goulding 0-5 (1free), Brian Hurley, John O’Rourke 1-1 each, Mark Collins 0-3, Pearse O’Neill 1-0, Paul Kerrigan, Fintan Gould, Damien Cahalane (free, ’45) 0-2 each, Ciaran Sheehan 0-1.

LIMERICK – Donal O’Sullivan; Andrew Lane, Johnny McCarthy, Mark O’Riordan; Stephen Lavin, Pa Ranahan, Paudie Browne; Bobby O’Brien, John Galvin; John Riordan, Thomas Lee, Seanie Buckley (capt); Ger Collins, Iain Corbett, Eoghan O’Connor. Subs: Derry O’Connor for Thomas Lee (h-t), Seamus O’Carroll for Bobby O’Brien (h-t), Mike Sheehan for Iain Corbett (h-t), Stephen Lucey for Seanie Buckley (51mins), Lorcan O’Dwyer for Mark O’Riordan (55mins).

CORK – Ken O’Halloran; Paudie Kissane, Michael Sheilds, Damien Cahalane; James Loughery, Graham Canty, Tomas Clancy; Alan O’Connor, Pearse O’Neill; Ciaran Sheehan, Paddy Kelly, John O’Rourke; Daniel Goulding, Brian Hurley, Paul Kerrigan. Subs: Fintan Gould for Paddy Kelly (49mins), Noel O’Leary for Graham Canty (49mins), Donncha O’Connor for Ciaran Sheehan (49mins), Andrew O’Sullivan for Pearse O’Neill (55mins), Mark Collins for Paul Kerrigan (58mins).

REFEREE – Michael Duffy (Sligo)

Limerick 0-08 Cork 3-17

Report from the RTE.ie web site

A ruthless Cork side cruised to a 3-17 to 0-08 victory against Limerick in the quarter-finals of the Munster SFC at the Gaelic Grounds. Brian Hurley, John O’Rourke and Pearse O’Neill hit three first-half goals for Conor Counihan’s side, who now go on to meet Clare in the last four. Limerick never posed a potent threat at any stage and will need to up their level to make an impact in the qualifiers.

In the end, the 18-point winning margin was fully deserved as Cork set about destroying the belief that they struggle against Limerick in the provincial championship. A tally of three points in the first half was a dismal return for Limerick, especially as it didn’t get much better for them after the restart. A solid showing from John Galvin was about the only positive that Maurice Horan could take from the game, as the loss of star attacker Ian Ryan proved too large an obstacle to clear for the home side.

By the time Hurley flicked Cork’s first goal to the net in the 25th minute, Cork had already carved Limerick open on countless occasions with Daniel Goulding and Ciaran Sheehan both missing great goalscoring chances in the opening quarter. Four minutes after Hurley scored, O’Rourke added another despite the best efforts of Mark O’Riordan to stop his well-struck low shot. The killer blow arrived in the 32nd minute when O’Neill charged through the middle and buried a shot past the hapless Donal O’Sullivan.

Cork continued to turn the screw after the start of the second half as they kicked six of the next seven points, with Goulding helping himself to a hat-trick of fine scores in that time. Counihan emptied his bench midway through the second period and both Fintan Goold and Mark Collins benefited after their introduction with some fine points from play. Galvin fisted a point for Limerick after he was switched into the full-forward line, but it mattered little as Cork barely accelerated out of third gear to a facile victory.

Cork: K O’Halloran; P Kissane, M Shields, D Cahalane (0-02, 0-01f, 0-01’45); J Loughrey, G Canty, T Clancy; A O’Connor, P O’Neill (1-00); C Sheehan (0-01), P Kelly, J O’Rourke (1-01); D Goulding (0-05, 0-01f), B Hurley (1-01), P Kerrigan (0-02).

Subs: F Goold (0-02) for Kelly (50 mins), N O’Leary for Canty (50 mins), D O’Connor for Sheehan (50 mins), A O’Sullivan for O’Neill (56 mins), M Collins (0-03) for Kerrigan (58 mins).

Limerick: D O’Sullivan; A Lane, J McCarthy, M O’Riordan; S Lavin, P Ranahan, P Browne; B O’Brien, J Galvin (0-01); J Riordan, T Lee, S Buckley (0-01); G Collins (0-01), I Corbett, E O’Connor (0-03, 0-01f).

Subs: M Sheehan (0-01) for Corbett (h-t), D O’Connor for O’Brien (h-t), S O’Carroll for Corbett (h-t), S Lucey (0-01) for Buckley (51 mins), L O’Dwyer for O’Riordan (56 mins).

Match Preview from GAA.ie

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Fixture Details

SATURDAY MAY 25TH
Munster Senior Football Championship Quarter-Final
Limerick v Cork
Venue: Gaelic Grounds Limerick @ 7:00pm

Referee – Michael Duffy (Sligo)
Standby Referee – Derek Fahy (Longford)
Linesman – Keith O’Brien (Tipperary)
Sideline Official – Liam Devanney (Mayo)
Umpires – Kevin Bourke, Padraic McGroarty, Francie Gallagher, Mickey Ford (Sligo)

Next Round – the winners play Clare in the Munster Semi-Final on Sunday June 16^th at 3:30pm in Cusack Park Ennis.

Team News

The Cork Senior Football team to play Limerick in Saturday night’s Munster Quarter-Final at 7pm in the Gaelic Grounds will line out as follows:

1. Ken O’Halloran

2. Eoin Cadogan 3. Michael Shields 4. Damien Cahalane

5. Paudie Kissane 6. Graham Canty 7. Tomás Clancy

8. Aidan Walsh 9. Pearse O’Neill

10. Ciaran Sheehan 11. Patrick Kelly 12. John O’Rourke

13. Daniel Goulding 14. Brian Hurley 15. Paul Kerrigan

Subs

16 David Lordan Ballincollig

17 John McLoughlin Kanturk

18 Noel O’Leary Cill na Martra

19 James Loughrey Mallow

20 Alan O’Connor St. Colum’s

21 Andrew O’Sullivan Castletownbere

22 James Fitzpatrick Carbery Rangers

23. Fintan Goold Macroom

24 Liam Shorten Beal Atha’n Ghaorthaidh

25 Mark Collins Castlehaven

26. Donncha O’Connor Ballydesmond

Conor Counihan has handed Championship débuts to Ken O’Halloran and Tomás Clancy, who played throughout Cork’s League campaign, and also to U21s Damien Cahalane, John O’Rourke and Brian Hurley. Patrick Kelly returns to the side following an injury which kept him out of this year’s Allianz League, while Jamie O’Sullivan, Barry O’Driscoll and Tom Clancy are currently on the injured list.

The Limerick Senior Football team to play Cork on Saturday next in the Gaelic Grounds at 7.00pm is as below. 2 players Donal O’Sullivan and Bobby O’Brien are making their Munster Senior Football championship debut. John Galvin returns at mid field having missed all championship games last year. The team is captained by Seanie Buckley. Limerick’s top scorer Ian Ryan was not considered as a result of an injury picked up in the Division 4 final last month.

1 Donal O’Sullivan Monaleen

2 Andrew Lane St. Senan’s

3 Johnny McCarthy St.Kieran’s

4 Mark O’Riordan Croom

5 Stephen Lavin Adare

6 Paudie Browne Fr. Casey’s

7 Pa Ranahan Ballysteen

8 Bobby O’Brien Bruff

9 John Galvin Croom.

10 John Riordan Fr. Casey’s

11 Thomas Lee Ballylanders

12 Seanie Buckley Dromcollogher-Broadford Captain

13 Ger Collins Monaleen

14 Iain Corbett Newcastlewest

15 Eoghan O’Connor St. Mary’s/Sean Finn’s

For the Record

Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information

Munster GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship 2013

Quarter-Finals

Saturday May 25^th

@ Pairc na nGael                            Cork v Limerick @ 7:00pm

Sunday May 26^th

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney    Kerry v Tipperary @ 2:00pm

Semi-Finals
Saturday June 1^st

@ Semple Stadium Thurles or      Waterford v Tipperary or Kerry @ 7:00pm

Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney

Sunday June 16^th

@ Cusack Park Ennis                    Clare v Cork or Limerick @ 3:30pm

Final

Sunday July 7^th

2:00pm throw-in

Useful Information

Limerick have failed to score a goal in their last 5 Munster Championship matches against Cork, averaging 10.2 points during those games dating from 2003 to 2009. Limerick’s last goals against Cork in the Munster Championship came in the 2000 Quarter-Final when Limerick’s 2-8 was not enough to defeat Cork’s tally of 3-13 at Kilmallock.

Recent Cork v Limerick meetings in the Munster Senior Football Championship

2009 Final – Cork 2-6 Limerick 0-11 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh
2008 Semi-Final – Cork 2-9 Limerick 0-12 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick
2007 Quarter-Final – Cork 2-14 Limerick 0-7 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh

2006 Semi-Final – Cork 0-9 Limerick 0-5 at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick
2003 Quarter-Final – Limerick 0-16 Cork 0-6 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh

2000 Quarter-Final – Cork 3-13 Limerick 2-8 at Kilmallock

Limerick topped the Allianz Football League Division 4 table despite scoring just 78 points during their 7 games (11 points per match). Only London (75 points) scored less. Limerick’s success was based on their stingy defending with a concession of 71 points. Tipperary were the top scorers in the division with 106 points on aggregate (15+ per game) but conceded 90 points. Waterford (For 90, Against 96) and Clare (For 96, Against 86) were the other Munster counties in Division 4.

Limerick’s Ian Ryan was the top scorer in the 2012 Munster Senior Football Championship with 1-17 (0-11 frees) in two matches. Colm Cooper (Kerry) with 0-9 (0-5 frees) and Colm O’Neill with 0-9 (0-3 frees) finished joint second.

There was an 18% decrease in the number of scores in the 2012 Munster Senior Football Championship as compared to 2011 (33 scores per game versus 27) but overall the trend is up over recent years – 2008 (21 scores per game), 2009 (24 scores per game), 2010 (28 scores per game), 2011 (33 scores per game), 2012 (27 scores per game).

Since 2000, Limerick have won as many matches in the Munster Senior Football Championship (10) than Tipperary (2), Clare (6) and Waterford (2) combined. Only 3 of those 10 Limerick victories have come at home, against Waterford in 2004 (1-18 to 0-7), versus Clare in 2006 (2-5 to 0-8) and against Waterford in 2012 (2-12 to 0-7). Limerick have a home tie with Cork in the 2013 first round on May 25^th at the Gaelic Grounds Limerick.

Since 2000, Kerry have drawn as many matches in the Munster Senior Football Championship than they have lost, 5 draws (4 v Cork & 1 v Limerick) as compared to 5 defeats (all v Cork) in 35 matches played.

Tipperary have lost their first game in the Munster Senior Football Championship in the last 9 seasons. Tipperary’s last Munster SFC victory came in the first round in 2003 when helped by 11 points by Declan Browne, the Premier County defeated Waterford at Walsh Park by 0-18 to 1-12. Cork native Denis Walsh was the Waterford manager on the day.

Kerry had the worst scoring record in the Allianz Football League Division 1, racking up an aggregate of 72 points (average of just over 10 per game). This compares to an aggregate of 97 points for Cork and 129 points for Division 1 champions Dublin.

Waterford have won 2 matches in the Munster Senior Football Championship since 1988. Both victories have come at the expense of Clare in games played at Fraher Field Dungarvan – a 1-6 to 0-7 victory in 2007 and a 1-10 to 0-9 win in 2010.

Munster GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship Roll Of Honour

Kerry (74) – 1892, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1919, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011

Cork (37) – 1890, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1901, 1906, 1907, 1911, 1916, 1928, 1943, 1945, 1949, 1952, 1956, 1957, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012

Tipperary (9) – 1888, 1889, 1895, 1900, 1902, 1918, 1920, 1922, 1935

Clare (2) – 1917, 1992

Waterford (1) – 1898

Limerick (1) – 1896

Munster GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship – List of Winning Teams

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete list of each winning team since the competition began 1888 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/sf_teams/

Munster Senior FOOTBALL Cup

No Name – Presented by Munster Council in 1928

All Ireland GAA FOOTBALL Senior Championship

In the Senior Football All Ireland Roll of Honour, Kerry are top with 36, 14 ahead of the next county – Dublin. Cork are 4^th in the roll of honour with 7 titles. Tipperary have won 4 All-Ireland’s, their last in 1920 while Limerick won the first ever All-Ireland Senior Football Championship played in 1887 and also won the All-Ireland in 1896.