Limerick end 17-year wait for Munster title

Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Final: Limerick 0-24 Cork 0-15

Limerick claimed their 19th Munster title and their first since 1996 with a comprehensive defeat of Cork at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick on Sunday.

Limerick's win simply added to the sense that the 2013 championship has been a transformative one, as they joined recently crowned Leinster champions Dublin in the All-Ireland semi-finals.

"It's been 16 years and today is the day that it finally comes home," Limerick captain Donal O'Grady said after accepting the Munster Cup. "The hunger that was there today, I knew and we knew that we would not be beaten."

After an even first half, the sides were locked at 0-10 apiece at the break, but crucially Cork had Patrick Horgan sent off in first half added time and they played the second half a man down and against the breeze.

Limerick started very well and were 0-4 to 0-1 ahead early on. They even missed a goal chance through David Breen, who flashed a shot wide of Anthony Nash's goal. But Cork hit back to move 0-5 to 0-4 ahead and they dominated the second quarter, hitting nine wides and squandering two excellent goal chances in the process.

Declan Hannon levelled matters with his fifth score of the afternoon in first half added time to punish Cork's profligacy, before the Rebels were dealt a huge blow when Horgan was shown a straight red card.

The opening stages of the second half were even enough, but Cork were really struggling when Shane Dowling came off the bench to set up Hannon for a super point, before Dowling himself and then James Ryan added further scores to move the home side 0-17 to 0-12 ahead.

Credit to Cork, though, they hit back, with Séamus Harnedy landing his third from play and then Cathal Naughton and Pa Cronin chipped in with scores to reduce the gap to two, 0-17 to 0-15, with 10 minutes remaining.

However, Limerick were revitalised by the introduction of Dowling and Kevin Downes off the bench, and they hit seven points in a row in the final 10 minutes to seal a comfortable win.

Séamus Hickey started that purple patch, Hannon landed a glorious sideline cut and Dowling and Downes knocked over two points each. Niall Moran, another sub, completed the scoring at the death.

Amid joyous scenes, the Limerick supporters celebrated a famous win wildly and greeted O'Grady's hoisting of the Munster Senior Hurling Championship trophy with a raucous roar that had been 17 years in the making.

Cork Scorers: D Kearney 0-1, P Horgan 0-4 (0-2f), S Harnedy 0-3, L O'Farrell 0-1, P Cronin 0-3, J Coughlan 0-2 (0-2f), C Naughton 0-1.

Limerick Scorers: P O'Brien 0-1, D Hannon 0-8 (0-5f, 0-1 SL), J Ryan 0-3, G Mulcahy 0-1, P Browne 0-1, S Tobin 0-2, G Mulcahy 0-2, S Hickey 0-1, K Downes 0-2, S Dowling 0-2, N Moran 0-1.

Cork: A Nash; S O'Neill, S McDonnell, C O'Sullivan; T Kenny, C Joyce, W Egan; L McLoughlin, D Kearney; S Harnedy, C McCarthy, P Cronin; L O'Farrell, P Horgan, C Lehane. Subs: J Coughlan for C McCarthy (HT), C Naughton for C Lehane (43), M Cussen for L O'Farrell (55), S White for L McLoughlin (60).

Limerick: N Quaid; S Walsh, R McCarthy, T Condon; P O'Brien, W McNamara, G O'Mahony; P Browne, D O'Grady; D Breen, J Ryan, S Hickey; G Mulcahy, D Hannon, S Tobin. Subs: S Dowling for D Breen (45), C Allis for G Mulcahy (52), C King for P O'Brien (57), K Downes for S Tobin (65), N Moran for S Hickey (69).

Attendance: 42,730