KILLINAN END - Plenty to savour in early Spring

The “it’s only the league” view has such cliché value that even the competition’s loyal long-time sponsors are in on the act in their advertising.

The ‘only’ part certainly seems to be a relative term as it pales into insignificance only in the context of the MacCarthy Cup. While winning the competition might not cause too many sleepless nights, its competitiveness on the day when there’s apparently just a couple of points at stake is extraordinary. There might well be arguments against a condensed season, not least that it’ll be all over at inter-county level by mid-July, but it has created a palpable urgency about every game.

Never was there more urgency than last Sunday in the TUS Gaelic Grounds when Limerick and Cork reprised last year’s All-Ireland final. As traditional rivalries go it is as grand as any with a treasury of moments to contemplate from Ring and Mackey, through Eamon Cregan and Olly O’Connor’s Munster Final exploits, to the present rivalry. The All-Ireland final was, of course, such a chastening experience for the Rebel county that they would have been loath to make too many claims about a rivalry, if that term implies equal status.

However, in a league that I have heard described as a throw-back to the ‘90s when scores were hard-won in tight spaces - as distinct from being the product of overlaps and off-loads - this one certainly had the hallmarks of a game which had the bitterness and edge any rivalry worthy of the name bears. It even got Anthony Daly talking about the possible role of mind-games – what is more ‘90s than that?

Cork came at Limerick with a venom and intent that suggested this was a game they had earmarked to themselves show the type of physicality and pace that had overwhelmed them in Croke Park. If this were indeed the ‘90s and such mind-games were a significant factor there surely would have been a rumour to the effect that Limerick had completed a triathlon on the morning of the match. In a sense it was a no-win situation for Cork from that perspective. If they were beaten or maybe well-beaten, they would probably question even themselves. Win, or win well as they did, and Limerick’s reputation would always put a lid on the reaction.

What Cork did ensure is that Páirc Uí Chaoimh will have them swinging from the rafters when these two collide in the first round of Munster. The sense you get of Limerick and John Kiely is that they are not complex – what you see is what you get. When Kiely claims that they were played off the pitch and could not cope with Cork’s movement there is no doubt that this will be an abiding lesson he will take away.

That said, no movement is possible without possession and if Limerick get on top of Cork in that sphere of the game you are looking at a completely different scenario very quickly. Limerick lost by nine points – in the context of that game and how Cork were playing it’s not a huge margin. It’s also a Limerick team beaten by Wexford and Galway so conclusions on the men in Green and White are meaningless unless you believe they could lose to all these opponents in the summer as well.

Cork’s problem might be that they could, on current form, be looking at a collision to shake the foundations of the Páirc in April and still have to face Limerick in a Munster Final some weeks later. There could be many twists and turns in the Green and Red story this summer especially with the spectre of possible red cards in such pacey physical games. Referees certainly seem emboldened. Not hard to imagine that some of what has been let go in recent years in the championship might be met with more rigorous rule-enforcement this year. There have been several days when Limerick players have been on the edge, and quite frankly well beyond it, and this might prove their undoing.

But they will not be undone easily and Kieran Kingston’s reminder at the end that Limerick won the second-half by five points was not just a deflection. He will wonder at Limerick’s ability to restrict Cork to six points in that second-half and what that might mean on a day when Cork don’t get a run on them early on. Anyone not in front of a television when these two go at it in April won’t have a pulse.

As things stand, they look the potential front-runners in Munster but one should be slow to read too much into that at this point. Even next weekend the much- anticipated Galway of Shefflin travel to Cork needing a performance, while Limerick face the bull-run atmosphere of Ennis. And that’s before even considering Dublin at home to Kilkenny and Tipp’s trip to Waterford, the latter just six weeks away from the same journey in the championship. Plenty to savour even in early spring.