The curtailed final play of the 2026 Munster final was uppermost in the Cork players’ minds as they trooped down the tunnel, having lost their provincial crown.
Trailing by a point with the allotted injury-time period having elapsed, Cork were awarded free well inside their own half.
Into the wind, they decided going for the shot wasn’t a runner. Patrick Collins passed laterally to Mark Coleman, who popped a ball inside to Tim O’Mahony in a more advanced central position.
James Owens wasn’t prepared to allow this to play out and blew for full-time as O’Mahony was in the process of striking. The shot dropped well short in any case.
Ben O’Connor’s main issue was that his players hadn’t been told definitively before the free that it had to be scored direct – or at least that the ref wouldn’t allow them to work a triangle.
“I met some of the guys there and all they said to him going off the field that he didn’t tell them it was the last puck of the ball,” O’Connor told reporters in the Páirc Uí Chaoimh press conference room under the South Stand.
“I thought normally a referee just said, this is it, lads, you should go direct, but they said he didn’t. When you say they surrounded him, that’s a little bit much.
“They were walking alongside him. He had his team of officials alongside him, stewards were walking alongside him, there was no one raised their voice. They just said, why didn’t you tell us. That was the only issue the boys had.”
It was put to O’Connor that Limerick’s Will O’Donoghue confirmed he was told that it had to be scored direct.
“It’s great that he was told! But we weren’t told [that] when we got the free.
“It was brilliant that they told him [O’Donoghue]. Fair play to whoever told him.”
O’Connor’s preferred refereeing philosophy is no secret at this stage.
The Cork manager had made headlines during the dog days of the league for his Cody-esque sermon on the evils of referee assessors and his staunch adherence to ‘let-if-flow’ principles.
In that regard, he didn’t get what he was looking for on Sunday afternoon.
“I thought it was very stop-start. I thought there were a lot of frees,” the Cork manager said.
“Did we commit twice as many fouls as the opposition?
“I’d have to watch it back on television, but ye saw it there live, lads, did we commit twice as many fouls?
“I’m a Corkman so I’m saying we didn’t. Ye are the neutrals so ye have to make up your mind on that.”
Barry Nash is tackled by Barry Walsh during the Munster decider
The free count was 18-13 in favour of Limerick overall. Aside from Brian Hayes’s brilliantly improvisational goal, Cork failed to score from play in the second half and were reliant on Alan Connolly from placed balls. 1-11 of Cork’s total tally came from placed balls, between frees and 65s.
However, the home crowd were especially annoyed by the endgame, in particular a couple of frees awarded against Cork forwards in the closing minutes in the left hand corner.
Owens had been hailed for his light touch officiating in the earlier Munster SHC meeting between the pair in late April. However, in greasy conditions, he took a different tack in the final.
“I suppose it was back more to the refereeing in the league,” was O’Connor’s assessment.
“We’ve got to here with championship style refereeing. Whereas I thought that was a little bit more like league hurling.
“I thought he done a great job the first day, but we won the first day, so maybe that’s why I’m giving out!
“I just thought today it was very whistle happy. You can’t be criticising these fellas. They are not getting paid. They are inside there and there is fierce pressure on them.
“It is a split second decision. But I am looking at it through red eyes and I thought we were harshly treated in a few of them.”
The final play was a major gripe, which led to the Cork players confronting Owens at the finish as the Limerick supporters began to spill onto the pitch.
O’Connor had briefly tangled on the sideline with his opposite number, John Kiely, taking issue with his repeated lobbying of the fourth official.
“I suppose he [Kiely] said during the week that he had fierce respect for referees, and I suppose he does, and that we should all leave them alone.
“But he spent a lot of time having a word with him. I suppose if you can get away with it, you get away with it.”
“I am looking at it through red eyes and I thought we were harshly treated in a few of them.”
Under O’Connor, Cork have won nine of their 12 competitive games in 2026, though have lost three of their four clashes with Limerick, including the league final and now the Munster final.
The Cork manager’s second All-Ireland title in 2004 – for which he was captain – was won via the backdoor after they lost a Munster final classic to Waterford.
They’ll have to do likewise this year, with a game against Offaly looming in a fortnight’s time.
“We set out our stall at the start of the year to win the league. We didn’t. We set out our stall after that to win the Munster championship. We didn’t.
“Now we’re starting a new competition. We’ve Offaly in two weeks time. Our video lads will be on tomorrow doing the analysis on them.
“Tis great the GAA couldn’t tell us where the fixture is on in two weeks time. They knew for the last couple of weeks it was either going to be Cork or Limerick. We’d have liked to have known that as well a bit earlier. But we’ll drive on after that.
“Anywhere they want to play it in the country, we’ll be ready.”