LIMERICK boss John Kiely insists his side stayed out of earshot of suggestions that they have an axe to grind with Cork.
The Treaty were twice toppled by their neighbours in 2024, including a semi-final defeat that thwarted their bid for an unprecedented fifth consecutive All-Ireland SHC title.
The teams renewed hostilities in wretched weather at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday, with a Darragh Fitzgibbon free in the tenth minute of stoppage time earning Cork a draw.
A 43rd-minute Shane Barrett goal was vital for the Leesiders after the visitors had opened up a five-point lead with the aid of a Will O’Donoghue green flag.
But any billing of Limerick’s first competitive outing of 2025 as a must-win game was ‘an outside perception’, according to Kiely.
He added: “Everyone’s just very focused on the game that’s coming up, the performance, getting it right. If you’re thinking about what happened last year or the last day, your mind is in the wrong place.
“I think everybody was very focused on maximising their opportunity.
“You had a lot of players that were getting their opportunity – there were a lot of changes from the last time we met – so it was a good chance for lads to get game-time under their belts and they didn’t do too badly at all.”
Kiely’s line-up showed eight changes from last summer’s meeting of the teams at Croke Park, as fringe players like Patrick O’Donovan were given a chance to impress.
The Effin forward bagged four points, three from play, in the first half. Jason Gillane also pointed a couple of frees during a satisfactory first audition to replace injured goalie Nickie Quaid.
Kiely said: “Without getting into the performance of individual players, we look at it from a team perspective.
“I think everybody really rowed in behind the performance and everybody contributed at various times during the course of the game, including Jason. You have to just applaud their effort.”
Kiely’s ninth season as Limerick gaffer will resume with this weekend’s visit of Tipperary to the TUS Gaelic Grounds.
He reflected: “Overall I’m happy with the performance. We probably put ourselves in a position to win the game and probably should have.
“But it’s a good start. It’s something for us to build on going forward now and that’s our focus for the next seven days.
“We have Tipperary next Sunday. We have a bit of work to do during the week. A good start, more to do.”
A promising opening to the game left Cork leading by 0-7 to 0-2 after 12 minutes. Yet they registered just one more point in the first half as Limerick got on top after O’Donoghue’s goal.
Rebels boss Pat Ryan said: “I suppose you’re never going to be in control of the game all the time when you’re against a really good team like Limerick.
“We’ll look at the areas why we lost control and that will give us areas to get better as we move forward. But delighted with our lads’ effort.
“That was probably a game that we would have lost before. I think it shows the resilience and the determination of our lads to really drive on.”
The lack of live TV coverage dominated the build-up to the game as Cork GAA declined a request from RTÉ to bring the throw-in time forward.
County board chiefs avoided a clash with Ireland’s Six Nations opener against England as they ‘sought not to deprive our own supporters of seeing both games.’
A crowd of 23,402 braved the elements to attend a game that was ultimately streamed online by TG4.
And Ryan said: “I think it was the right call. People got an opportunity to go and see the match and spend a few pounds in the hostelries around the place and then come down and see a great game of hurling where two teams were going at it hard.”
