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Irish Examiner
20 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Cork find their way through the Munster final madhouse
Let's get crazy. Red blood rising. After a mixed Munster championship lacking in the usual quality, the f inal elected to veer into full-blown bedlam. Rollercoasters look like gentle teacups in comparison. 102 shots, almost half of them missed. A truly astonishing 95 turnovers. 24 different scores combined. Rough around the edges, which only served to magnify the madness. The theme continued into the shootout. Five successful penalties and four futile. Declan Hannon, one of the greatest captains the game has known, surrounded by comforting team-mates while a Rebels tidal wave swept the Cork players away. The stadium announcer forced to repeatedly plead for Shane Barrett to come to the stand and claim Mick Mackey Cup. Eventually, he emerged from the sea to make his speech. At that stage the joyous supporters had split between two podiums. Half flocked to the trophy presentation, the other screaming at the sky in front of the RTÉ studio as Dónal Óg Cusack roared back with a proud fist aloft. You thought Cork were coming. You really haven't seen anything like this. Somehow, 'Freed From Desire' found another level. After going through the sporting wringer, an emotional outpouring was inevitable. The Cork captain signalled it with his touching tribute. 'To our leader and our manager, Pat Ryan,' he declared. 'I don't think Pat realises how much this group actually love him but I am going to tell him here today.' There's something about the sulphurous scent of Clare end flares and the sound of ironic jeers that greeted Patrick Horgan's missed free and the sight, the pure swagger, of Gearoid Hegarty slowing strutting past the open stand having plucked a puckout and rifled it over the bar that just gets the pulse racing. It is a senseless sensation. It makes 43,580 crowd in the Gaelic Grounds and the 50-odd characters at the centre of it do daft things. The Catalina Wine Mixer on a triple shot of chaos. Members of both management teams should know the huffing and puffing that went on at half-time as the raced to referee Thomas Walsh was a bit embarrassing. The referee himself should know about the importance of sufficiently applying the sport's rulebook. Munster GAA should know that a pre-game musical set is unlikely to appeal to the final masses. They do it anyway and it is hard to blame them. In this madhouse on wheels, everyone is just trying to find their way. Scoreboards will malfunction, the cramp-stricken referee will go down and be replaced, there will be noticeable alarm in the stand when they learn at the end of normal time that this decider could go to penalties. Seán O'Donoghue will show what it takes to actually get booked in this lawless realm by taking Aaron Gillane's hurl and firing it over the sideline. In the search for some sort of cohort explanation for what unfolded on this frantic Saturday evening, it is worth remembering this simple reality: There was carnage all over the field. It impacted players in profound ways. One of the all-time great Munster final goals can be denied by a terrific last stand by Eoin Downey. As a move, it was magnificent. Kyle Hayes long to Gillane, Tom Morrissey with a perfect floated handpass to Adam English who has an immense ability to peel into that space behind half-backs and boom. Downey to stand tall with a textbook denial. One minute later, he is turned inside out by Aidan O'Connor for the first green flag of the contest. This game was not just chaotic, it was cruel too. All you can do is keep trying. Keep swinging. Keep driving. A long Patrick Collins restart dropped on top of Brian Hayes. A green mass descended and thrashed, like a swarm of hornets stirred from their nest. In normal circumstances it may have been a foul but these ae not normal circumstances. Patrick Horgan was bottled up too. Shane Barrett realised the chances of carrying through the home outfit's defence were slim, so he went old-school and pulled his way past instead. Consider this. Cork headed back to the dressing room at the end of normal time after a string of disheartening wides. Horgan missed a free and was blocked down by Hayes. Robbie O'Flynn snapped too far right. Ciaran Joyce had an opportunity to clinch the winner but hooked it. Some teams would be haunted by that sort of inaccuracy. The game was there for them. They let it slip. What should stand out above all else is how they responded. Seven shots from play in extra-time. Six points. Shane Kingston with yet another super sub salvo. Conor Lehane with an outrageous flick around Cathal O'Neill to score. Darragh Fitzgibbon with a clutch 65 to ensure there was no separating them. Then he cramped up and missed the first penalty. Of course he did. Expect the unexpected. Don't try and resist the whirlwind. This isn't a hurling match. It's a twisted wonderland. Both sides were spent at the death. Players lay flat on their backs as they watched the penalties unfold. Despite a sold-out stadium around them, nine men made what looked like the loneliest walk in the world. Limerick's devastation in defeat was obvious. What is comfort for them is cause for celebration for everyone else. This was an extraordinary and taxing and dramatic day. There is more to come.
BreakingNews.ie
a day ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
Live: Munster hurling final goes to penalties after stunning Cork v Limerick clash
The Munster Hurling Final has gone to penalties following a stunning clash between Cork and Limerick. Six-in-a-row champions Limerick fought back from four-points down at half-time to level the game after 70 minutes at Limerick 2-19 Cork 1-22. Shane Barrett scored Cork's goal in the first-half with Limerick raising green flags through Shane O'Brien and Aidan O'Connor. Advertisement
Irish Examiner
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Barrett to captain Cork as Ryan makes four changes for Waterford clash
Shane Barrett captains Cork in injured Rob Downey's stead as Pat Ryan makes four changes to the side that lost to Limerick for Sunday's final round clash with Waterford. Niall O'Leary and Declan Dalton, who miss out after suffering setbacks in the Limerick game, are also not included in the matchday panel in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, while Ethan Twomey drops to the bench. In their place come Cormac O'Brien at wing-back and Brian Roche in midfield, Ger Millerick at corner-back and Seamus Harnedy at half-forward. Roche was Dalton's replacement in the eighth minute of the game in TUS Gaelic Grounds. O'Brien and Harnedy came off the bench at half-time for Downey and Twomey. From the team that started last year's opening round loss to Waterford in Walsh Park, there are 10 survivors – Patrick Collins, Millerick, Seán O'Donoghue, Ciaran Joyce, Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Harnedy, Barrett, Alan Connolly and Patrick Horgan. CORK (SHC v Waterford): P. Collins; G. Millerick, E. Downey, S. O'Donoghue; C. O'Brien, C. Joyce, M. Coleman; T. O'Mahony, B. Roche; S. Barrett (c), D. Fitzgibbon, S. Harnedy; P. Horgan, A. Connolly, B. Hayes. Subs: B. Saunderson, D. Cahalane, E. Roche, T. O'Connell, E. Twomey, L. Meade, C. Lehane, D. Healy, J. O'Connor, R. O'Flynn, S. Kingston.
Irish Times
26-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Nicky English: Against improving Tipperary, Cork will need to stop zoning out
After everything had started so predictably last week, it didn't take long for a whole pile of assumptions and opinions to go up in smoke. Cork , hot favourites for the All-Ireland, were lucky not to get beaten in Ennis, having been 12 up at half-time. Maybe it's a good thing for them that any suggestion of invincibility has been so quickly subjected to a reality check. It gives Ryan a chance to reset and refocus the team but opponents will, equally, see some vulnerability there. Cork seem unable to avoid 15-minute periods where for whatever reason, they're totally under the cosh. It happened against Limerick last year as well. Typically, they stop winning ball up front and also start conceding goals. Even when defenders have possession, like Ciarán Joyce had last weekend, it's coughed up, and the next thing, it's in the net. Before the match in Ennis I noted that Cork had the same defence that conceded three goals to Clare in last year's All-Ireland. READ MORE There's no doubting that Clare's forwards are nimble and skilful but once again, you'd have to question some of the defending. In last year's All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick, Cork won a thriller by just one point. Yet, Aaron Gillane got a couple of great goal chances but he either slipped or stumbled at the key moment, and the chance was lost. It was nothing to do with the quality of the defending. Cork for me have two main concerns. When Tipperary outscored them in the second half of the league final, nobody really took any notice. Ryan said it was the worst half of hurling his team had produced but it was part of a pattern of losing the initiative in big matches, particularly when the pressure comes on. Shane Barrett's red card was the second one Cork have been shown in the last three matches against Clare. They opened their campaign 12 months ago with another one, against Waterford. That needs to stop. Eoin Downey was substituted last year in the Munster game against Limerick when he got a yellow, so concerned were they about losing a man, again. [ Joe Canning: Cork had system failures in discipline and game management - they need a ruthless streak Opens in new window ] Sunday brings Tipperary back to Páirc Uí Chaoimh where they endured a bit of a horror show in the league final only three weeks ago. I still expect Cork to win but it's amazing how the tables have turned. Cork did not always look at ease when Clare came back at them last Sunday. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho Eoin Downey had a torrid time marking Peter Duggan and his confidence must have been shaken. Rob Downey looked ill at ease when playing on, injured. Even if he lines out, you'd have to wonder whether he can be fully fit. The suspended Shane Barrett is a huge loss. Maybe all of this will fire up a response and they'll want to get their season back on track after a disappointing result – for all Ryan's insistence that he'd have settled for a draw that morning. Tipp were definitely better compared with the league final: commitment and work-rate were a lot closer to the levels of the earlier league matches and there was a key improvement in the puckout. In the league final, they conceded the Cork puckout and the ball was just worked up the field past them. They didn't do that with last Sunday with Limerick. They took responsibility individually and kept it tight. Their own puckout was much more successful even though they weren't winning the ball cleanly. They were contesting the ball and not letting Limerick win primary possession, which happened most of the time in the league final. Then, they showed great energy to compete on the ground. Jake Morris and Tipperary have what it takes to punish any Cork failings this weekend. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho On Sunday they'll have to test their opponents' mettle by getting stuck in to the battle for possession and if they can't get it cleanly, they should create as much ruck ball as they can – anything to stop Cork simply gliding into possession and running around or through them at pace. Maybe Liam Cahill was keeping something up his sleeve by not starting Jake Morris at centre forward in the league final. He was a dominant figure there against Limerick and had excellent form there earlier in the season. There were plenty of people questioning John McGrath when he was selected last week but he scored two of the finest goals to show that he still has that finishing touch. The build-up to the second goal was just as impressive, a lovely flowing move with precision passing through Limerick's middle third. Would that have been even attempted three or four years ago? Can Tipperary put in the same display this week against a bristling Cork as opposed to a stuttering Limerick? It wouldn't be a huge surprise if Mark Fitzgerald and Waterford beat Clare this weekend. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Waterford are into action this weekend but against an unexpectedly upbeat Clare . Unlucky not to force a draw in Ennis last year and reach the All-Ireland stages for the first time in the round robin, Peter Queally's team got promotion and won Division 1B and, in Mark Fitzgerald, have an outstanding, young defender. The lengthy odds against them are based on Clare's second-half display last week but I wonder to what extent Cork's fall-off contributed to this. Up to half-time all of the reservations about Clare were being confirmed. One half later, the temptation is to park all that because they got such a famous result at home. But I think this will be a fair test of Clare. It's hard to predict a Waterford victory, but it wouldn't be the biggest surprise in the world. In Leinster, Galway 's poor form against Kilkenny was the biggest eye opener on week one although, on the basis of the league, maybe it shouldn't have been. Offaly are an emerging team and in my lifetime have been difficult opponents for Galway. Dublin and Wexford both beat Galway last year, and now Offaly will feel they have every chance in Tullamore.
Irish Independent
22-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Independent
‘We can't make any decisions until we see the referee's report' – Cork boss Pat Ryan considers appealing Shane Barrett's red card
Cork hurling manager Pat Ryan will weigh up the contents of the referee's report before assessing whether to appeal the red card dished out to All-Star attacker Shane Barrett in last Sunday's Munster SHC draw against Clare.
