Cork and Limerick played out a pulsating and temperamental 1-16 to 1-16 draw last night in damp conditions along the banks of the River Lee. If there was any doubt what is the best rivalry in GAA, the counties picked up where they left off in 2024.
Cork were perhaps fortunate to eek out the draw but their injury list afterwards proved just how serious the battle was.
As with most serious sporting rivalries, there was real needle between the two sides. There were a number of flare-ups across the nearly 80 minutes that were played.
One that was filmed from the stands involved Limerick forward Seamus Flanagan and Cork defender Niall O'Leary.
A short clip that went viral on Sunday evening shows Flanagan and O'Leary squaring up to each other, before O'Leary falls to the pitch after being hit below the belt by Flanagan's hurl.
The crowd erupted in jeers after Flanagan's challenge.
Seamus Flanagan. A classy man.
Of course the referee and his officials missed it. To be fair, they seemed to make it their business to ignore plenty of Limericks shite off the ball last night. #corkgaa #limerickgaa #cork pic.twitter.com/ll5LAJ997b— James O'Donoghue (@odonoghuejames) February 2, 2025
The incident wasn't captured on TG4's live broadcast. Nor was Flanagan penalised for it. However, many online are calling for retrospective punishment.
The clip was discussed on League Sunday by Joe Canning and Jackie Tyrell.
Both agreed the incident couldn't be condoned.
JC: It's a thing that you don't like to see in any game. It shouldn't be condoned in any game no matter who are. Now, there was an awful lot of stuff going on off the ball last night. There seemed to be wrestling going on every second...It's very hard for referees to see everything that's going. Stuff like that, you can't condone that sort of stuff.
It's not good to see, but there's loads of stuff that we don't see that goes on that shouldn't happen as well.
JT: There's no room in our game for that kind of carry-on. And unfortunately, me and Joe don't want to be sitting up here highlighting that stuff. Seamus Flanagan is a very talented hurler, but he can't be doing that on the field.
What the umpires are doing, how they missed it, I don't know, because it looks to be within their remits of what they should be doing. But look, he needs to be very, very careful and he could land himself in hot water, Joanne.
'There's no room in our game for that kind of stuff... he needs to be very careful and he could land himself in hot water' - the panel examine the incident involving Seamus Flanagan in the second half of last night's game#RTEgaa
📺 Watch League Sunday on RTÉ2 & RTÉplayer pic.twitter.com/FlBvlfVtlz— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) February 2, 2025
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O'Leary was in the wars Saturday evening, and finished with his jersey ripped down the middle.
Niall O'Leary of Cork leaves the pitch with a ripped jersey after the drawn Allianz Hurling League Division 1A match between Cork and Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
The two counties will meet again in the Munster Hurling Championship on 18 May.
