By Michael Fennelly

There have been grumblings of discontent in Cork this week after Sunday’s All-Ireland Final semi-final defeat to Limerick.

Diarmuid O’Sullivan, a team selector as recently as last year, was critical of the substitutions by the Cork management towards the end of normal time and then in extra-time.

The decision to persist with Seamus Harnedy into extra-time even though he was visibly limping has probably caused most debate.

Harnedy didn’t look right, and after only six minutes of extra-time he was finally called ashore.

Maybe that was six minutes too long, but I don’t think it’s a simple black and white issue.

Harnedy is the team captain and one of the main reasons why they won the Munster Championship. Without him that Cork forward-line is weakened dramatically.

So, if Seamus himself felt that he was still capable of going out for extra-time and giving more to the cause, it would have been very difficult for Cork manager John Meyler to tell him to sit on the bench.

In last year’s All-Ireland Qualifier against Waterford I came out for extra-time with damaged cartilage in my knee, bruising of the knee, and also a blister the size of a beer-mat on my foot.

I could barely stand let alone twist and turn, but I wasn’t coming off because I still felt I could be of some use.

Later I tweaked my hamstring in a tackle and that was the end for me.

I’m not an advocate of players being injured and playing, by no means, but sometimes being 60% - 70% healthy is enough to get you through part of a game.

Seamus did look worse for wear coming out of the tunnel but we don’t know the conversation that was had minutes earlier.

I can also understand why the Cork management made the substitutions they did in the second-half of normal time.

Limerick have been finishing very strongly in the majority of their games this year so fresh legs are a priority to combat the surge that the Limerick bench usually supplies.

Ultimately the vital difference on the day between the two teams was that Limerick’s bench was more potent, and also they’re not as reliant on a few key players to the same extent that Cork are.

Harnedy’s injury was a big blow, but so was the one suffered by Darragh Fitzgibbon when he got a belt from the clash ball in extra-time and then went down again moments later from a tackle that ended his day’s work.

He’s a huge performer in the Cork engine-room and had scored four fine points from play in the match before being forced off.

His loss was monumental because his fitness and pace would have been vital for cork in extra-time, and his departure greatly reduced his scoring threat.

Cork felt they had no option in extra-time other than to reintroduce players they had already substituted in the shape of Daniel Kearney and Shane Kingston, which really exposed the lack of depth in their panel.

Limerick, on the other hand, were able to introduce fresh players as good as the ones they replaced, and in extra-time had both youth and depth on their side.

The game itself was, as predicted, free-flowing, high-scoring, and hugely enjoyable. The stick-passing from both teams was especially brilliant.

I would imagine that Limerick coach Paul Kinnerk is the main man behind the improvement in their play in this regard.

Paul is currently completing a PHD and recently published a paper titled ‘A review of the Game-Based approaches to Coaching Literature in Competition Team Sports Settings’.

He is also looking at decision making in different approaches to training methods which should help coaches all around the country with their teams both young and old. You can follow him on twitter @kinnerker to see his future findings on our Gaelic games.

Limerick are hurling with a lot of skill right now, but they have strength too, and it was best personified on Sunday by Gearoid Hegarty.

He’s a giant of a man on the half-forward line and his aerial ability is a huge asset for Limerick.

The young man beside him, Kyle Hayes, is also hurling powerfully. When I see a 20-year old playing centre-forward at senior inter-county level it just leaves me in awe of him.

I think I would have been swallowed up if I had played at that age such is the intensity, speed, and physicality of the game at the highest level now. I would have been like a lost kitten.

Hayes, though, is thriving, and I think we’re going to see him wearing that green 11 jersey for many years to come.

It’s a big responsibility when you think of some of the men who have worn it before him, but I have no doubt he has what it takes to fulfil that leadership role in the team.

Another young Limerick player to have really caught the eye this year is Aaron Gillane.

He scored six points from play against Cork and had one of those days when the ball was glued to his hand. It’s a pity though that the hurl wasn’t always glued to his other one.

He dropped the hurl on a number of occasions when winning possession and fluffed a couple of glorious goal chances.

It’s a simple mistake but it could have cost Limerick a place in the All-Ireland Final, so it’s something he needs to rectify in his game. Had he scored two goals, then there would have been no need for extra-time against Cork.

I’m not being excessively harsh here, because if you want to win an All-Ireland title you have to be ruthless and constantly seek improvement.

Another area that Limerick should review ahead of the All-Ireland Final was their failure to shut down Conor Lehane who scored 1-3 from centre-forward.

I had questioned in this column before the game whether Declan Hannon was the right man to stop Lehane, and it surprised me that there was no switch made to curb Lehane’s influence.

Is this a weakness in the Limerick team? That they’re so focused on hurling their own game that they don’t make switches to stop an obvious threat on the opposition’s team?

In the end they were bailed out by their subs bench, particularly Shane Dowling who made a massive impact after his introduction, but perhaps the Limerick management need to be more tactically flexible when it comes to shutting down the opposition.

In my time with Kilkenny we also tended to focus on our own game, but on the few occasions when we ended up drawing matches there were always lessons to be learned and switches were made for the replay to counter-act certain players.

Perhaps Limerick will also need to cut their cloth to suit depending on who they play in the All-Ireland Final in order to counter-act specific threats.

It’s no bad thing to have a few areas to work on going into an All-Ireland Final, and overall Limerick are in a great place right now.

They’re hurling with confidence, and when they’re giving the platform to arrow quality ball into the likes of Gillane and Graeme Mulcahy, they’re a seriously formidable team.

They need to keep their feet on the ground now between now and the All-Ireland Final because sometimes the weeks can go by quickly and preparations are not what they should be.

John Kiely is clearly aware of this and has already laid down the law with both the media and the county’s supporters.

There’s going to be a great buzz in the county between now and the Final, but the Limerick players need to keep their heads down and fully focused on finding improvements between now and the biggest 70 minutes of their lives.

As for Cork, all is not lost.

Their U-21s play Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final on Saturday, and from what I saw of them in the Munster Final they have a great chance to go all the way this year.

They’ve already brought Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Shane Kingston, Robbie O’Flynn, and Tim O’Mahony through to the senior team from this generation of U-21s.

Are there a few more who can also make the grade?

Cork will hope so, because they found out the hard way against Limerick that they’re still lacking depth in their panel and need to bring through some more players if they’re to end their wait for the Liam MacCarthy Cup.