What’s next for Limerick after penalty heartbreak?

Limerick 2-27
Cork 1-30

(Cork win 3-2 on penalties after extra-time)

By Tom Clancy at the TUS Gaelic Grounds

There it was, six Munster titles in a row. The dream for a record extending seven crushed. Penalties, a lottery, they say. Cork have their day, a first since 2018, and bedlam for them on the Ennis Road.

The inquest into where Limerick failed to win this game in the seventy or indeed 90+ minutes has begun, but what is next for John Kiely and co?

The road less taken – Limerick will now head to a first All Ireland Hurling quarter-final since 2018. That time they faced Kilkenny, and ended a stretch back to 1973 to defeat the Cats.

This time, it is going to be a new opposition for Limerick. Sunday’s Joe McDonagh Cup winners, Laois or Kildare will face Dublin. The winners will battle with Limerick.

During John Kiely’s successful reign (2017 to now), Limerick have only faced Galway and Kilkenny from Leinster. So there will be a unique pairing.

This game is set for Saturday 21st or Sunday 22nd of June, with the winners getting a fortnight to prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with the Leinster Champions.

For Cork, they will await Tipperary, the Leinster runners-up or the Joe McDonagh Cup runners-up when the semi-final comes around for them.

It is known now that should Limerick reach the semi-final, that they will be in the Sunday slot, with Cork already booked in for Saturday July 5th.

This game was frantic, chaotic from the get-go and there was, as has been the case in all bar one of the recent meetings, nothing between the sides.

The questions will move to team selection in the next few weeks. Aidan O’Connor’s first start was marked with a goal, but his replacement Shane O’Brien certainly showed why he is so highly rated.

The Limerick full-back line will come out of this game with plenty to be positive about while the Limerick boss referenced a lack of accuracy up front.

Un-Limerick like, they didn’t outshoot the opposition, and while Cork were inaccurate, they created many more scoring chances.

For now, perhaps, Limerick supporters will reflect on an incredible history making run of six Munster titles in a row – where the kitchen sink was thrown at them by Tipperary (2019, 2021), Clare (2022, 2023, 2024) and Waterford (2020) – and after all that, Limerick failed to be beaten.

It took penalties, the first in top-tier hurling Championship, for the Mick Mackey Cup to be taken from Shannonside.

There is more to come from this golden generation of talent, that, there is little doubt.


Scorers for Limerick: Aaron Gillane 0-9 (0-7 frees); Shane O’Brien 1-2; Adam English, David Reidy 0-3 each; Aidan O’Connor 1-1; Tom Morrissey, Gearoid Hegarty 0-2 each; Diarmuid Byrnes (free), Darragh O’Donovan, Declan Hannon, Peter Casey 0-1 each.

Scorers for Cork: Patrick Horgan 0-7 (0-4 frees); Shane Barrett 1-3; Darragh Fitzgibbon 0-4 (0-1 free, 0-1 ‘65); Diarmuid Healy, Shane Kingston 0-3 each; Seamus Harnedy, Conor Lehane 0-2 each; Damien Cahalane, Tim O’Mahony, Alan Connolly, Eoin Downey, Brian Hayes, Tommy O’Connell 0-1 each.

Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Seán Finn, Dan Morrissey, Mike Casey; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Barry Nash; Adam English, William O’Donoghue; Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch (C), Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Aidan O’Connor, David Reidy.

Subs: Shane O’Brien for O’Connor (42); Peter Casey for Reidy (54); Cathal O’Neill for T Morrissey (54); Darragh O’Donovan for O’Donoghue (65); Barry Murphy for M Casey (start ET); Declan Hannon for Byrnes (start ET); Tom Morrissey for Hegarty (77); Seamus Flanagan for Lynch (blood 91 – 93); Byrnes for Lynch (94).

Cork: Patrick Collins; Damien Cahalane, Eoin Downey, Seán O’Donoghue; Cormac O’Brien, Ciarán Joyce, Mark Coleman; Tim O’Mahony, Darragh Fitzgibbon; Diarmuid Healy, Shane Barrett (C), Séamus Harnedy; Patrick Horgan, Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes.

Subs: Robert Downey for O’Brien (54); Tommy O’Connell for O’Mahony (59); Shane Kingston for Connolly (65); Robbie O’Flynn for Harnedy (68); Niall O’Leary for O’Donoghue (72); Brian Roche for Healy (80); Alan Connolly for Coleman (84)


Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford).