We are ,thanks 4 the compliment
Limerick are basically hoping that someone might do them a favour and knock out Cork. This must be how it felt to be a Tipperary supporter the last six years.
You’d have to be hopeful that, were we to play Cork again, that we’d have enough to win. Just because there is so much scope for improvement, so many things were way below the level that you have come to expect.
I know that Cork will gain a huge amount of confidence from the victory and it could be one of those wins that kickstarts a team to go on to bigger & better things (maybe a bit like us beating Galway in Salthill in 2018). But, as it stands, looking at both sides, you would think that Limerick have more scope for improvement.
Now, I’ve always maintained that the level of improvement needed to overturn even a 1-point defeat is actually huge. But we were so bad for stages in the first half that we absolutely have to find those improvements or we won’t be winning any All Ireland this year, whether we play Cork or somebody else. Cork were obviously really good on Saturday but if we play as shit as we did in the first half against Waterford, they’ll beat us too.
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If we get the results that most people expect next weekend, Cork to beat Tipperary and Clare to beat Waterford, it would be very convenient for Limerick to draw with Waterford last round. You’d be assuming that if results run along expected lines in Round 4, Clare would beat an already eliminated Tipperary last day.
A sequence of results like that sees Clare on 6, Limerick on 5 into the Munster Final. Waterford and Cork on 4 but Waterford getting 3rd place on head to head. Tipperary on 1.
Cork look the biggest threat to 5 in a row ambitions now.
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Don’t forget there was a wind factor. Cork gambled massively from puck outs too. Those gambles can back fire as well.
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I was just being glib. We’re vulnerable right now, same as we were last year. But get through Munster and get one or two players back, or back in form, I expect we will find our rhythm and be able for anyone.
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True enough but if they had that wind in the second half and they started doing it then, would we have been able to react? As it was, we did actually turn it around massively in the second half so really we were probably lucky they had the wind in the first half.
Obviously games take a life of their own, etc, etc., Cork probably needed the strong start but you’d have to admire the way they came back after we took control.
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I would have said Clare as biggest live threat but now its Cork. They have stumbled on their best team. Very balanced. Dalton hasnt got many mentions but Cork seem to perform really well when he’s in the team. There is a streak of madness in him. Perfectly encapsulated by the way he lines up and takes a free. The flipping of the hurley and exaggerated toss of the sliothar. He has some strike of a ball. He obviously hit a pearler to Fitzgibbon but the ground stroke into Horgan was a thing of beauty too. He is a real throwback. I actually think Cork have a ton of room for improvement. The concession of 2 soft goals were life buoys to Limerick at stages of the game. Cut those out and the margin of victory would have been greater. Honestly I thought Cork were 4 or 5 points a better team than Limerick the other night.
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It’s difficult to contrive a draw in hurling though. Although Wexford are very adept at it. Limerick don’t want to be in a scenario where a late smash and grab from Waterford could eliminate them completely.
Next weekend I’d predict something like Clare 2-26 Waterford 1-23 and Cork 2-27 Tipp 1-23 which would set us up brilliantly for the final week of the round robin.
A pity that Tipp would be gone but somehow the potential elimination of Limerick would still be tantalisingly in view. In that regard it’s important that Waterford come out of Ennis relatively unscathed. An agonising defeat would be hard to recover from in such a short turnaround. Maybe a bad defeat would play into Davy’s siege mentality but you don’t want to suck all confidence either. A heavy defeat would derail the season.
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The elephant in the room is that Limerick finished the game with O’Neill at 6 and Fergal O’Connor, Donnacha O’Dalaigh, Aidan O’Connor and Conor Boylan all on the pitch, none of whom would have much exposure at seeing out a tight game.
Cork outscored them 1-04 to a point or something in the closing stages. Limerick went from 4 up to 2 down and it was one way traffic in the end game bar O’Connor’s Hollywood point.
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Tipp are very good at getting draws in the RR. We’ve managed just five wins (four in 2019), and five draws to date. We will draw against Cork.
I’d agree that Cork coughed up soft goals but do you think they are likely to be as utterly dominant on their own puckout against Limerick again? That was the platform for their victory and it’s the one thing that I really would expect Limerick to get right.
Whenever Cork went short, we ate them alive, got 2 goals from it and probably could have had another too.
Obviously Cork found loads of space and if it wasn’t for Nickie, the game would have been over at half-time, but nearly all of the chances came from breaks on the long Cork puckout.
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Those fellas will get better as the year goes on. That O’Dalaigh lad will probably end up MOTM in All Ireland final
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That has got lost in the analysis. Downey couldnt move with cramp from what I could see. He should have been taken off 10 mins earlier. He came back on and waved a hurley at an imaginary ball and Cork mgt were probably like ok he cant go on. Cork were finishing stronger again. If the game had gone on for another 5 minutes I dont think Cork would have been hanging on for dear life and would have had wherewithall to fashion another few scores.
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I doubt it.
O’Connor looks better than him.
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If they couldn’t bring it on Saturday night, when would they ever? We saw the absolute best side of them on Saturday, but there are flaws there as well. Lads who were hugely effectie on Saturday have been wiped at different stages in recent years.
They have the second best team after Limerick and should beat Tipp, but Limerick will deal with them if they meet them again when it counts.
what kind of attendance are we looking at for Cork v Tipp ? 30k?
The Cork full back line looked like a group of lads that were about as enthusiastic and comfortable on receiving a short puck as a full backline in the Dublin AHL10 North
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I think it’s a little harsh on Clare to rank Cork ahead of them considering Clare beat them and without Tony Kelly & Ryan Taylor; after one win by Cork, as impressive as it may have been.
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They’re not it’s still Clare, Cork wont hit the same levels all over the field again like Saturday night in another game this year and Sunday is 50/50 of being their last.
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