Good performance is minimum requirement for Cork ers but Limerick look to hold all the aces

After their Munster Championship thumping in Limerick, Joe Canning suggested that Cork had put in a heavy training block before the match.

As punditry takes go, it seemed on the outlandish end of the scale.

Had Cork not been putting their best foot forward, why risk Robert Downey? With qualification not yet secured, why put all your eggs in one basket? And why embrace mind games or some inferiority complex when Cork could pile more pain on Limerick?

Of course, that wasn’t how it worked out.

Limerick had learned and adjusted their set-up to counter Cork.

Kyle Hayes couldn’t be byed. Barry Nash wouldn’t be pinned into a corner. Their full-back line was bolstered with three dogged markers.

Cian Lynch’s danger wouldn’t be diminished. It was Limerick who brought the running threat from deep through Adam English.

Instead of youngsters, John Kiely’s first four subs brought All-Ireland-winning experience off the bench.

MISFIRED

By contrast, Cork’s tweaks didn’t pay off. Without Downey anchoring the middle, Limerick were better able to create and exploit the spaces around Ciarán Joyce. The midfield pairing of Tim O’Mahony and Ethan Twomey could neither disrupt nor create to their usual effectiveness.

With Séamus Harnedy restricted to a bench role and Declan Dalton hauled off early, Cork didn’t hold the same ball-winning capability in their half-forward line.

Darragh Fitzgibbon and Shane Barrett couldn’t profit from the same running channels, while the inside line were starved of service.

With Ger Millerick out and doubts surrounding Downey and Dalton, will Cork be better placed to challenge this weekend? Well, they still possess most of the same tools to hurt Limerick. Their attack contains pace, power, and heavy scorers.

So how can they knock Limerick off their stride?

Making the most of Harnedy and Brian Hayes as a puck-out pod will be key to ensuring a steady flow of possession.

Without the sliotar, that unit needs to drop deeper to plug those spaces in behind. Plus, Cork must match Limerick’s staffing levels in the breaking-ball battle.

Patrick Collins has to be brave, too, in finding the right mix of long, mid-range, and short restarts. In that order of preference.

Patrick Horgan and Alan Connolly have to find the sliotar near to the posts to cause some alarm in that solid rearguard.

Fitzgibbon and Barrett can inspire the same panic, but it requires some precision ing and movement to break Limerick’s crowded centre.

On a day when so much went wrong, Downey and Mark Coleman did at least a point each from the half-back line, as they did in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final.

FAST STARTS

It has been a long-term target for Cork to up their threat level from that area, even if it’s unlikely to rival Diarmaid Byrnes, Hayes, and Nash.

And in defence, the major errors must be cut out to deny Limerick’s fans big moments to get behind. In their meetings last year, Cork crucially got off to fast starts to build their confidence.

They also kept them in the game when Limerick came with their trademark surge.

They jumped 1-8 to 0-3 ahead in the group game, and maintained that cushion to lead by eight at half-time.

In Croker, Cork crept 1-8 to 0-6 in front. Although Limerick reversed that lead by the break, the damage was limited to a two-point deficit.

Choosing to go against the wind in Limerick last month, Cork fell into a 2-18 to 0-9 hole by half-time. It was game over before they could even get a foothold.

If Cork win the toss this time around, it’s hard to see anything but a decision to play with the conditions in the first half. They need any oxygen they can muster to stay in , raise some momentum, and rebuild that belief in the challenge ahead.

Limerick’s proud record at the Gaelic Grounds includes two final victories as part of their six-in-a-row streak.

In fact, the Treaty haven’t been trumped in a Munster showpiece on the Ennis Road since Gerald McCarthy captained Cork to a 3-14 to 0-12 victory in 1975.

Albeit the men in green have enjoyed just four home deciders in that spell.

Selector Wayne Sherlock has noted that when Cork don’t perform, they’re a very average team.

A performance is the minimum requirement here, and then see how far it takes you.

The psychology aspect is intriguing. Can Limerick come with the same approach and hope to recapture that form? Or can Cork patch up their deficiencies to close the 16-point chasm?

It may be a bridge too far, but a drastic improvement is the expectation.