Pride and pain for John Kiely's Limerick as history repeats itself

An empire always seems eternal until it isn't.

Limerick were hot favourites to become the first county to win five All-Ireland senior hurling titles in a row but they won’t even get to contest the decider after a surprise semi-final exit to Cork.

For manager John Kiely, this knock-out championship defeat stung just as badly as the last, despite the four glorious seasons in between.

"Being in that dressing room inside there has felt the exact same as 2019 [the semi-final loss to Kilkenny]," he told RTÉ Sport after Sunday's two-point loss. "It was gut-wrenching.

"I had visions of where I stood in the room and what I said to the lads and how I felt that day, and it felt no different today, I can tell you that. Losing is losing, by any definition it tastes the same.

"I’m just disappointed for the lads. They’ve put in a huge, huge shift. You want to give yourself opportunities to win the game, but you'd love to get to the final to give yourself an opportunity as well.

"Cork were that little bit more efficient, I think. Their shooting was incredible. I don’t know how many points they got from the sideline but they got quite a few down there from the left-hand side.

"That game was held in a very fine balance. But teams had goal chances. It was just the tiniest of margins and Cork were just able to eke themselves out the right side of it.

"More power to them. They are a very high-energy team and they are a quality side. They have beaten us twice this year, so we have to acknowledge what they have done.

"Congratulations to Cork. We wish them and Clare the best in the final. It’s over to them."

We need your consent to load this comcast-player content We use comcast-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and