Cork 2-12 Limerick 0-10
Goals in either half from Peter Kelleher and captain Paul Kerrigan eased Cork to victory over Limerick in this afternoon’s All-Ireland SFC round 2B qualifier at Semple Stadium, writes Jackie Cahill.
On his first full Championship start, Kelleher could have had a hat-trick but settled for just the one goal as the Leesiders bounced back from their shock Munster SFC semi-final loss to Tipperary to reignite their season.
Kerrigan top-scored for Cork with a haul of 1-3, while Collins added five points from play as Peadar Healy’s charges romped to an eight-point win.
Cork were ten points up in stoppage time before Limerick contributed the final two points of the game but in truth, the Shannonsiders were outclassed.
Better opposition could have troubled vulnerable Cork this afternoon but with Alan O’Connor tasting championship fare for the first time since the 2015 qualifier defeat to Kildare, the winners had a stranglehold around the middle third.
At opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of senior experience, O’Connor dovetailed well with Ian Maguire and the pair provided the platform for victory, with Kerrigan and Collins buzzing up front.
Cork were 1-6 to 0-4 clear at half-time, with Kelleher netting at the second attempt in the 14th minute.
Cork could have had more first half goals but Colm O’Neill’s fifth-minute penalty was well saved by Donal O’Sullivan, Kelleher palmed an effort off the crossbar and Kerrigan blazed wide after cutting through.
Cork were 0-3 to 0-0 clear before Darragh Treacy opened Limerick’s account but John Brudair’s charges wouldn’t score again for 17 minutes and Cork took over to lead by 1-5 to 0-1.
Despite having the breeze for the second half, Limerick were on the backfoot as Collins struck a deceptive effort off the crossbar before Kerrigan bagged a brace of points.
Kelleher forced another good save from O’Sullivan but Cork still led by eight points on a couple of occasions; with Limerick only getting as close as six in the second half.
Kerrigan netted in stoppage time to add gloss to the final scoreline but vast improvement is needed ahead of next weekend’s latest assignment for Cork.
Scorers for Cork: P Kerrigan 1-3, M Collins 0-5, P Kelleher 1-0, C O’Neill (f), L Connolly (f), J O’Rourke & M Hurley 0-1 each.
Scorers for Limerick: I Ryan 0-4 (3f), D Treacy & I Corbett 0-2 each, S McSweeney (f) & S Buckley 0-1 each.
CORK: R Price; C O’Driscoll, E Cadogan, N Galvin; T Clancy, J Loughrey, B O’Driscoll; A O’Connor, I Maguire; P Kerrigan, M Collins, K O’Driscoll; C O’Neill, P Kelleher, L Connolly.
Subs: S Powter for B O’Driscoll (h.t.), D Goulding for O’Neill (46), J O’Rourke for Connolly (49), R Deane for O’Connor (60), M Hurley for K O’Driscoll (65), P Kelly for Kelleher (68).
LIMERICK: D O’Sullivan; P Browne, S Cahill, J McCarthy; P Ranahan, S O’Dea, B Fanning; S Buckley, D Treacy; G Noonan, P Nash, T Childs; H Bourke, I Ryan, S McSweeney.
Subs: I Corbett for Childs (27), E Hogan for McSweeney (47), P White for Ranahan (52), P Scanlan for Bourke (55), J Naughton for Nash (63), K Ryan for O’Dea (69).
Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).
