Cork boss Kieran Kingston bemoaned his side’s second half slump despite a runaway victory over Limerick.
Leading by 14 points at half-time, Limerick won the second half by 1-8 to 0-6, with Kingston expressing disappointed that they didn’t put their foot to the All-Ireland champions’ throat.
He said: “I thought our first half was very good, we were very competitive, we did a lot of very good things, but in the second half I thought we were sloppy at times. We lost the second half by five points, which wasn’t what we set out to do at half-time, I’d be disappointed with that.
“It’s a League game at the end of February, and I said before the game that we were happy with where we are, with our evolution as a group, and nothing has changed.
“I still say I’m happy knowing we have a lot of work to do, we lost the second half by five points, as I say. That’s not acceptable from my perspective and as a group we’re not happy with that.”
Kingston sang the praises of three of his players who played in the game despite suffering family bereavements in recent days, with Ger Millerick’s grandmother and Niall O’Leary’s grandfather passing away, while Seamus Harnedy’s cousin was buried on Saturday.
“There’s been some sad situations with members of the panel leading into the game but each and every one of them wanted to be here and that’s testament to them as Cork hurlers and the hunger they have to perform for Cork and the Cork jersey.”
“There was no pressure on them. They wanted to be here with the group today and that’s a testament to those lads and to their families for enabling them to perform today and play with their county.”
Referee Sean Stack appeared to continue a recent trend among match officials of clamping down on ‘thrown’ handpasses in the game and Kinston added: “It’s right that they should clamp down on it but the challenge will be come Championship - will they clamp down on it? So is it one rule for the League and another rule for the Championship?”
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