Cork boss Pat Ryan makes penalty admission after his side reclaim Munster title

Irish Daily Mirror

07-06-2025

Jubilant Cork boss Pat Ryan hailed his side's fighting qualities as they bounced back from a 16-point drubbing to take the Munster title.
Limerick's long reign in the province is over after a dramatic penalty shootout saw their seven-in-a-row dreams dashed as Cork ran out 3-2 winners with the sides were deadlocked at 2-27 to 1-30 after extra time as Darragh Fitzgibbon's last gasp 65 saved a draw for the Rebels.
It came just three weeks after Limerick destroyed them at the TUS Gaelic Grounds in the round robin phase, but they're now Munster champions for the first time since 2018.
Ryan said: 'We didn't fight the last time we came up here and the lads, look, obviously they worked really hard, we fought really, really hard.
'It just took penalties to separate us and we're just delighted to get the trophy.'
He added: 'We know that we're a really, really good team. But it's the same with every other team, there's loads of good teams out there and it's all about the attitude you bring and whether you're going to fight.
'We fought today really, really hard. We were missing a couple of fellas, a couple of bodies came on and sometimes that actually freshens up the team.
'I thought the lads came off the bench today and did a fantastic job. Robbie O'Flynn, Tommy O'Connell, Shane Kingston, I thought they were really, really good.'
Cork scored three of the four penalties they took as Conor Lehane, Shane Kingston and Alan Connolly converted while Fitzgibbon saw his effort saved, though Ryan admitted they hadn't gone through a penalty routine collectively in the build-up to the game.
'None, none,' he said. "All the lads are practising a lot, I think. We had really, really good confidence in them. Eoin Downey probably practised more penalties than anyone.'
Ryan has been at pains to keep a lid on the hype on Leeside this year, particularly when they stormed to a League title, and he said: "We won by penalties against a brilliant Limerick team. Do you know what I mean?
'This is just the start. This is just one thing. We move on to the All-Ireland series, the semi-finals. We know we're a really good team.
'We saw what we were like when we were not at it three weeks ago. Three or four weeks ago. That's all to play for. We're really looking forward to going to the Leinster final.'
Ahead of an All-Ireland semi-final on July 5 as Limerick head for a quarter-final, Ryan added: "This is one less game. This is probably three or four weeks off. It's probably going to take a bit of managing now. That's something that we haven't accounted for before.
'Limerick have plenty of experience of how they deal with that. That's your four weeks off to manage properly and probably get a bit of advice from fellas that have done it before.'