Cork senior hurling team manager Pat Ryan. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
By Cian O'Connell
Cork manager Pat Ryan praised Limerick for bringing hurling to 'a new level' following Sunday's absorbing All-Ireland SHC Semi-Final at Croke Park.
A thrilling contest unfolded at the Jones Road venue with Cork emerging 1-28 to 0-29 victors. "I suppose first of all I have to pay tribute to Limerick, what champions they've been over the last, whatever it is, since 2018," Ryan remarked. "I mean, what they've given to the GAA itself, to the Limerick public.
"It was '73 when they won their last All-Ireland before the lads got involved and what they've achieved, it's absolutely superb.
"They've brought the game to a new level and they're testing all of us to get better and to bring things to a new level and raise standards both on and off the field and look, we were lucky to get over the line today."
Ryan was adamant that Cork would deliver a dynamic display. "I didn't have any doubt that we weren't going to perform today, to be honest with you," he added.
"You could see it in training, obviously it was a lot made of maybe lacklustre performances against Offaly and Dublin, but look, from where we came from after losing the first two games in the championship, that took an awful lot of energy, emotional and physical energy to get over Limerick and Tipperary in those games.
"There was a lot of preparation needed to get us back into the championship and look, we've driven on from there."
With Cork and Clare contesting the All-Ireland SHC decider, Ryan acknowledges that there will be a significant buzz in the counties for the next fortnight. "The crowd that was up here, there’s going to be fantastic excitement in Cork over the next two weeks and there's going to be fantastic excitement in Clare," he says.
"It's going to be hard to keep the hype down in both counties. There hasn't been a different Ireland champion since 2019. So, look, there's going to be fierce excitement.
"From our point of view, we'll just have to do our best to keep it down. I said this when I got into the job, fellas asked me what would be the success of this job? If you're a Cork man, you have to win an All-Ireland. Simple as that.
"If you don't do it, it's not successful. And look, there's been fellas before me that have done fantastic things and got to All-Ireland finals and have been very unlucky in those days. But look, we judge ourselves in Cork on winning All-Irelands so we need to get back to that."
