'The Munster Final shouldn't be decided on pens - both deserved another day'

Irish Daily Mirror

5 hours ago

What an epic game the Munster Final was. The commitment. The intensity. Some of the scores. The use of the ball. The tackling. It had it all. One of the best Munster finals I've seen in years.
I think a big part of the reason the game was so enthralling and so good was down to ref Thomas Walsh. Sometimes referees can get very caught up in rules. I've been at Championship games with 30 or 40 frees and to me that ruins it.
Yes there were things Walsh could have easily blown for in the first half but he let it flow. There were only three frees before the break, but if there was something dangerous he pulled it.
I know the altercation at half-time might have made him blow a few more frees in the second half but in general his contribution was immense and neither side could complain. I wish a lot more refs would take that approach as hurling would be better for it.
In the first 15 minutes Tom Morrissey was outstanding. I felt he faded big-time after that, but he was causing Cork problems, getting on ball, coming from side to side and getting scoring chances.
The big thing with Cork in the first half compared to the last day was running the ball into the right spots. They didn't just get the ball and hit it. They worked it into different areas in the middle of the field to try and pull out the Limerick half-back line. Their use of the ball was fantastic.
Cork didn't just hit 80- or 100-yard balls down on top of the Limerick full-back line. They were very smart in how they used it, getting them short passes. Once they got to midfield, they either shot from distance or got the ball deep to the inside line.
That, along with their phenomenal work-rate, which was especially evident at the start of the second half with their half-forward line getting back deep on Limerick puck-outs and winning a lot of breaks, was important.
Cian Lynch's distribution was magic, especially in the first half. This guy sees passes like no other player in the game. His vision. His awareness. He is not a selfish player and I can see why John Kiely made him captain. They are all the ingredients you need to be a good leader. He was the man behind a lot of Limerick's first-half scores.
Aidan O'Conor looked to have the Cork full-back line in trouble in the first half and was unlucky not to have two or three more scores. He just needed to settle a small bit.
The big thing with Limerick was they didn't hit their full-forward line enough. Cork marked the Limerick half-forward line, which goes back deep for short ball and there was a mountain of space from the 65 back to the Cork full-back line.
When Limerick got that ball in fast, it looked like trouble for Cork. There were two or three goal opportunities that Limerick will feel they should have converted.
The difference between Cork and Limerick's half-back line is Kyle Hayes sat back and guarded that middle most of the time, and Limerick in general didn't look like giving away goals.
Hayes had an effect in the first 15 or 20 minutes, didn't really after that, but he was still a constant in the middle of that defence, where I felt Cork really pushed up man-on-man on the Limerick half-forward line. That's why there seemed to be more space when Limerick delivered that long ball in.
Limerick's second goal was a touch of genius, especially from Aaron Gillane. His footwork and pass to the oncoming Shane O'Brien was something you can only dream of.
Only certain players have that ability. Gillane was one of Limerick's focal points. They just didn't get him enough ball. It's very hard for Cork to defend when they have only two on two in 40 or 50 yards of space.
Seamus Harnedy did well in patches and won a bit of aerial ball. Gearoid Hegarty was absolutely phenomenal on high ball. The big thing for me in the first half, which was very unusual, was Cork's 21 turnovers to Limerick's 14.
That means Cork were working extremely hard. That's one thing you could always say about Limerick over the last six or seven years, is their workrate and their turnovers. They pride themselves on that.
Cork had nine or ten wides to Limerick's four, so that means Cork probably should have gone in further ahead at half-time.
Patrick Horgan is playing as good as ever — working unreal, passing ball and scoring but I felt his placed balls were a bit off and I thought that might come back to bite Cork. Knowing Hoggie he wouldn't be happy with missing those.
You have to admire Cork's mentality, They were aggressive and when things went against them they never strayed from the plan. Even when Limerick went a point or two up at the end, they kept going and kept with it. That's massive.
Tactically, even playing against the wind in the second half, I thought they were a lot better in terms of using that ball. I still would be worried for Cork going forward, leaving that space in front of the full-back line. On puck-outs and in general play they were a lot better this time against Limerick.
Darragh Fitzgibbon was phenomenal. The ground he covers. They scores he gets. The work he does. During the 70 minutes maybe Cork had a slight edge, capitalising on Limerick's wides.
James Owens had a tough job to go in and referee. His style might be different to Thomas Walsh. The players had to adapt.
Limerick might have felt a small bit hard-done-by with so much extra-time. Overall, a draw was a fair result. Looking at the list of penalty takers I had a feeling it suited Cork better, but I don't think the Munster Final should be decided on penalties.
Both teams deserved another day. I know we are tight in the calendar but that shouldn't be a reason to go to penalties. I think it's unfair, putting that pressure on players.
Few fans would have a problem with it going to another day. Cork prevailed and you can't begrudge them the win. It would have been easy to fold up the tent after the beating they got the last day from Limerick. And they had a knock-back last year but these guys keep coming back for more. Fair play to them.
They are resilient. It's important they enjoy this victory and well done to them, but there is still a lot of hurling left to be done. Munster is great, but only one thing matters at the end of the day and that's winning Liam MacCarthy.