Cork's rabbit is out of hat but Limerick won't panic

Above in RTÉ last Sunday afternoon, I was surrounded by two Cork men. Donal Óg Cusack reckoned that by John Kiely putting out the team that he did, Cork were really on a hiding to nothing. I'm not so sure about that though.

OK, if they came down and won the game by two or three points possibly, but they really put in a devastating first half performance. They were awesome.

We are all very quick to give out or have a comment when things go wrong, or management make mistakes. Kieran Kingston and Co came in for a share of criticism after last year's All-Ireland, and at the final whistle that was no easy place to be. But credit the Cork management team, they got things spot on.

From Limerick's puck-out, they let the full-back line have the ball. They didn't dive into the tackle to create an overlap, which a lot of teams do. They then ensured, or at least tried really hard to ensure, that the next 20-30 yard pass was closed down and turned over. Or if Limerick hit it long that they were so deep they would interrupt it there.

The biggest one for me though was the 30-40 yard horizontal pass across the field. Whether that was to their goalkeeper or the opposite half-back. Limerick and indeed most teams crowd the area where the ball is, and try to turn it over. But Cork seemed to have learned a lot.

Ciarán Joyce will be a huge player for them, and he is a great asset. Big, strong, powerful, and quick. And obviously well able to hurl on top of it. He is a big cause of optimism on Leeside, but they won't be getting carried away.

I actually can't wait for the first round of the Munster Championship. I have no doubt that on the back of last weekend, it will give Cork great confidence in turning over Limerick. It is going to be some