THEY say a pat on the back is six inches away from a kick in the ass — and Cork received both at the TUS Gaelic Grounds in the space of three weeks.
In Saturday night’s epic encounter with Limerick, which saw the Rebels triumph after a penalty shootout, the margins could not have been any finer.
The pitch became a sea of red as the visiting supporters gathered to witness Rob Downey raising the Mick Mackey Cup aloft.
The scenes were a far cry from the aftermath of the previous meeting of the teams at the same venue on May 18, when Cork fans were left despondent by the 3-26 to 1-16 trouncing inflicted by the hosts.
After claiming his first Munster SHC medal, Cork centre-back Ciarán Joyce said: “The last three weeks in training was phenomenal. It was a real kick up the ass, to be honest with you.
“I’m lost for words. It’s some feeling. In their own backyard as well, it adds to it. You can see how starved for success the Cork crowd are too.”
According to Joyce, the only way for Cork to respond to their 16-point trimming was to do their talking on the pitch.
And that began with addressing the effort levels that dropped way below the required standard during a defeat described as ‘embarrassing’ by boss Pat Ryan.
Joyce explained: “There were no harsh words, but our work rate was questioned in that game and any time your work rate is questioned, it does get to you because you put so much into it.
“You could see that we fought tooth and nail for every ball and it’s an unreal feeling when everyone in the 15 is fighting like that.”
The extra-time agony of last summer’s Liam MacCarthy Cup decider against Clare remains fresh in the memory for the Rebels.
But they showed their mettle to prevail through an additional period this time, before finishing the job on penalties.
Joyce added: “There’s savage character in this group. Last year when we got to extra-time in the All-Ireland final, we learned a lot from that.
“We stuck to our game plan and we didn’t in the final last year.”
Conor Lehane, Shane Kingston and Alan Connolly all beat Nickie Quaid to steer Cork to victory in the shootout.
Patrick Collins also played a huge part by keeping out Tom Morrissey’s effort.
Reflecting on the vital contribution he made in his first-ever penalty shootout, Rebels goalkeeper Collins said: “I suppose if you could get even one or two, that puts the pressure back on them and takes a bit of the pressure off our lads striking them.
“I suppose you’re hoping for a bit of luck then. It’s not something we practise too often, penalty shootouts — the odd time really.
“I don’t know how many of them I’ll be involved in now but to come out on top in that one was unreal.
“I suppose at the end of training we’d do a few penalties just for the craic, myself and the forwards. That’s it really.
“It’s probably more so for their practice rather than me thinking that you’d go to a penalty shootout or whatnot.
“It’s a bit of a laugh after training and we do it every so often. But to think you’d have a game going into penalties, I suppose that the chances are slim enough.”
Cork aced three penalties in a row after Nickie Quaid kept out their first from Darragh Fitzgibbon.
As well as the Collins save to deny Morrissey, Limerick were undone by strikes from Barry Murphy and Declan Hannon that missed the target.
ENOUGH TO DO
Asked if he considered being one of Cork’s penalty-takers, Collins said: “There was talks of it but I had enough of a job to be saving them, never mind taking them. I said I’d concentrate on the other end.
“There are plenty of forwards who can take penalties. My job is to save them.”
Collins is now a three-time Munster winner. But after being Anthony Nash’s reserve in 2017 and 2018, the third time was the charm for the man from Ballinhassig.
It has been a taxing season already for Cork, who now have two pieces of silverware on the board having also won their first National League title since 1998.
With an All-Ireland semi-final to come on July 5, attention will soon shift to their ambitions to end another long wait.
Twenty years have passed since Liam MacCarthy was adorned with red and white ribbons.
Collins remarked: “It’s class. It’s just building blocks really. I suppose we went after a performance and that’s what we got. The result took care of itself.
“But we’re under no illusion that in four weeks’ time we’re going to face a big challenge again.
“It’s just about knuckling down for the next four weeks, work really hard, get everyone back in for competition and drive training on, no different to how we have in the last few weeks.
“I suppose it gives the few lads with injuries just a chance to sort out their niggles and stuff like that but it’s time to go hard now again for the next four weeks.”
