That’s all from me for today’s hurling trackers.
Easy wins for Cork and Kilkenny, but then we all saw them coming anyway.
We’ll be back here next weekend for more live GAA, and don’t forget to log on Monday to Friday for every weekday World Cup game to smooth the passage of your humdrum afternoons.
The final whistle has gone at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. We’ve seen two of the most uninspiring, most one-sided, most pointless hurling matches of the year in the space of a few hours today. Pity the cameras weren’t at Croke Park – well, they were, but for the wrong game – Offaly and Galway have been playing out what sounds like a cracker.
It’s just finished there too, and it’ll be going to a replay: Offaly 3-15 Galway 2-18.
That puts the seal on it. Paudie O’Sullivan turns his man well, bears down on goal and bats a perfect finish past Tadhg Flynn. Double scores on Leeside. Game over, as if it wasn’t before.
“The game is beginning to peter out a bit now,” says Joe Deane. Give that man a biscuit.
Mikey (see below) has been back on. “No, it’s lovely here. Sun splitting the stones.”
A Corkman’s sense of humour. You can’t beat it.
Thomas O’Brien has been chipping away at the Cork lead. Himself and Graeme Mulcahy have caught the eye for Limerick Thirds. Niall McCarthy named Man of the Match. Didn’t see that one coming.
Thomas O’Brien with a 65 for Limerick. He’s been good on the placed balls since Justin McCarthy put Paudie McNamara out of his misery. But Niall McCarthy, the free man of Cork city by the looks of things, slots his fifth at the other end.
Email in from Mikey O’Connor in Mallow: “Sitting here in Pairc Ui Chaoimh keep up with JOE on the iPhone. Getting sunburnt too.”
Good to have you with us, Mikey. Is it as bad as it looks?
Paudie O’Sullivan “pushes Cork a little bit closer to the Munster final,” says TV3 commentator Mike Finnerty. Mike, the only thing between them and the Munster final is time.
Limerick’s best moment of the match, and it’s not even really worth shouting about: Tadhg Flynn produces a fine save to deny Paudie O’Sullivan and Michael Cussen is unable to react quickly enough to finish the loose ball to the net.
Niall McCarthy is enjoying being given the freedom of Pairc Ui Chaoimh. That’s his fourth point of the day. Sixteen minutes of this drivel left.
The umpire tells tales on Donal Og Cusack and the ref throws one up on the 21-yard line. Aisake and Patrick Horgan have had enough, so Paudie O’Sullivan and Michael Cussen relieve them of their duties.
Jerryo was “standing on his own”, says Joe Deane. And when you leave Jerryo standing on his own for too long, he scores a point. Which he did just there.
Niall McCarthy pops one over. This must be one of the most pointless championship games of all time. Cork marginally less interested than Limerick, who are significantly less talented than Cork. Neither side can take anything out of it. Not to be too harsh, but the next 25 minutes are going to be a waste of everyone’s time.
Gardiner with a trademark score from 80 or 90 yards. Magnificent strike by Cork wing back, but then again we expect that type of thing from him.
Looking back to the red card incident, on reflection (well, having seen a replay) the hit by Shane Murphy certainly wasn’t fair, but there was nothing undeserved about the red card.
Thomas O’Brien fires over a point for Limerick. Just six points in it.
Make that seven. Benno with a simple finish.
We’re under way for the second half, where Limerick have made two changes. Cathal Mullane and Peter Russel are on. Paudie McNamara, who missed a penalty and a number of frees in that first half, is one of those to make way.
Graeme Mulcahy has been The Man for Limerick. Turns Eoin Cadogan in a knot and chips it over from a tight angle. Cork must have it in for Mulcahy, though. Within 30 seconds Kieran Murphy restores the seven-point lead.
Red card for Limerick!
Now, we have a bit of life. A big, but arguably fair, hit by Shane Murphy on Sean Herlihy, who reacts angrily by swinging his stick in the direction of the Corkman. Cue a bit of a shemozzle involving a dozen players from both sides. Referee James Owens consults his linesmen and Herlihy sees red. Can’t see he didn’t deserve it.
Famous face in the crowd time. He may be wearing dark glasses, but there’s no mistaking the cut of Roy Keane’s jib.
… but Donal Og gets his body behind it. McNamara picked and drove off his right, in contrast to his frees which he takes off his left. Either way, he can’t find the net.
Penalty Limerick!
As a certain Agatha Christie-created inspector might say, “Hmmm, eee-nteresting”.
Limerick awarded a penalty for a foul on James O’Brien. Think it was Brian Murphy who felled the Limerick man. Paudie McNamara will take.
Whatever Jerryo can do better, Benno can do best. That line of match-tracking is going to end in tears, I reckon.
Whatever Benno can do, Jerryo can do better. Niall McCarthy, who must be great buds with co-commentator Joe Deane, provided the pass.
Benno converts another free after Aisake is stopped in his tracks by David Breen. There’s a shot of a couple of lads sunbathing on the concrete seats of Pairc Ui Chaoimh. There’s plenty of room for sunbathing at the Pairc today – not too many Limerick supporters made the journey, by all accounts.
Back at the ranch, Anthony Owens gets away from Eoin Cadogan to pull one back for Limerick.
Fine score by Graeme Mulcahy but everything he pops up with one Cork cancel it out. This time it’s Cathal Naughton running forward unmarked from midfield.
This one’s saved. Corner back Shane O’Neill gets a stick on it on the goal-line. Mike Finnerty reckons that was a “watershed moment” in the match. That could be over-stating it a bit.
Penalty Cork!
Another penalty, and again it’s Patrick Horgan who goes down. That one looked harsh, but Horgan has the chance to score his third penalty of the championship.
This is nothing more than a good hard training session for Cork. A passing move up the field involving Donal Og Cusack, Ronan Curran, Jerry O’Connor and Niall McCarthy ends with a point for debutant Lorcan McLoughlin.
That’s better. Great pick-up by Graham Mulcahy, who turns and fires it over. But McNamara’s pocket is picked by Niall McCarthy and Cork are four points in front again.
Forty-five metres out, straight in front, but Paudie McNamara slices it wide of the posts. A few moments later, McNamara is in the book for pulling across Jerry O’Connor. It’s starting to go wrong already for McNamara in particular, and Limerick in general.
Horgan is quickly developing into a forward of real potency. He adds another on the run from 50 metres. He’s scored 1-2 already today, and 3-4 in about 85 minutes of Munster championship hurling this year.
Goal Cork!
… and he scores, high to the right of Tadhg Flynn.
Penalty for Cork!
Aisake hits his stride for the first time, releases Patrick Horgan and he’s fouled by Shane O’Neill inside the large square. Horgan, who scored two goals against Tipp, including a penalty, takes…
Reading everything over the last few weeks, it would be easy to think that these Limerick lads were first introduced to hurls and sliotars after Easter. Andrew Brennan scores another one for Limerick but Patrick Horgan is on the mark for Cork. Level again.
Paudie McNamara with the free for Limerick and the Treaty men lead. Well, they lead for a few seconds. Jerry O’Connor levels almost immediately.
Five minutes gone, and TV3 tells me there have been five wides. Cork lead that particular stat, 3-2.
Incidentally, the sun is scorching down everywhere, it seems. Everywhere bar this office, where I’ve my mitts around a mug of soup and a SuperSer on one bar. We’ve had a couple more wides here.
It’s game on and the sun is scorching down at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Limerick Thirds are up for it, there’s a bit of in-your-face action and Limerick have the first shot on goal, but James O’Brien shoots wide.
Joe Deane is Cork-ing it up in the commentary box. No idea what he said but it was delivered in a typically plaintive Leeside drawl. I do know it ended with “But look, we’ll see how it goes.”
Liam Griffin gets very passionate about something to do with the Limerick situation. “Is it fair on the players to ask them to do that? Is it fair?”
If I knew which players you were talking about, and what they were expected to do, I’d answer you Liam. As it is, I’m sitting on the fence for this one.
Paudie McNamara has been picked out as Limerick’s one to watch by Jamesie O’Connor and Liam Griffin. Not sure if that’s because he’s the only Limerick player they’ve heard of.
In team news, there’s one late change for Cork. Lorcan McLoughlin replaces injury doubt Tom Kenny at midfield.
Cork: D Og Cusack; S O’Neill, E Cadogan, B Murphy; J Gardiner, R Curran, S Og O hAilpin; L. McLoughlin, C Naughton; B O’Connor, J O’Connor, N McCarthy; K Murphy, A O hAilpin, P Horgan.
Limerick: T Flynn; S O’Neill, D Breen, K O’Rourke; S O’Riordan, B O’Sullivan, P Browne; T O’Brien, A Brennan; J O’Brien, P McNamara, S Herlihy; G Mulcahy, A Owens, R McGeough.
