Cork keep season alive with last-gasp win over Limerick

The fans weren't supposed to be on the pitch until the Bruce Springsteen concert next Thursday but there was no stopping the Cork public celebrating their heroes as they somehow kept their championship dreams alive.

The Rebels looked down and out with four minutes to play as they fell four behind a charging Limerick, inspired by 3-03 from Séamus Flanagan.

Despite such a desperate situation, they found the energy and courage deep down to outscore the All-Ireland champions by 1-04 to 0-01 from there.

It came down to a game-defining black-card penalty decision by Seán Stack in the fourth and final minute of stoppage time. Shane Kingston was hauled down by Kyle Hayes down the left, a move the Dublin ref deemed an attempt to deny a goal-scoring opportunity.

Patrick Horgan was the man you would want stepping up. Having scored 2-10 against Clare, he took his tally to 1-11 with a bullet to the top corner.

Pat Ryan told Horgan to send his final free down the sideline to drain time. The plan worked even better than planned as Brian Hayes won the ball and sent it between the posts.

It left the red majority among the sold-out 41,670 crowd celebrating to Springsteen’s Glory Days hit at the final whistle.

The margins have been gut-wrenchingly tight throughout Ryan’s tenure. One win, one draw, and four one-score defeats. This time they came out on the right side of a thriller.

The losses of Ciarán Joyce and Peter Casey on either side were keenly felt, even if both managers could call on All-Star replacements in Mark Coleman and the red-hot Flanagan.

Aaron Gillane and Horgan slotted early frees, with a huge cheer from the Cork crowd as their midfielders forced Cian Lynch to overcarry. Another defensive win followed when Seán O’Donoghue beat