There was no scarcity of tension and excitement in the best Munster championship mould as Limerick kept one hand on their provincial and All-Ireland titles before a crowd of 7,642 which dared not leave before the final act.
Wind-assisted in the first half, Limerick, with the help of an Andrew O'Shaughnessy goal,established an eight-point advantage at the break.
However, the Cork selectors made wholesale changes, both positional and in personnel, and the response was both immediate and dramatic. Inside an eight- minute period, they clocked up 1-6 to go into the driving seat for only the second time and it looked curtains for Limerick, who had lost not just the initiative but also their composure.
However, in the true form of champions, they found that extra energy when it mattered most and senior player Mark Keane, with a hat-trick of points, put them back on track, while another from midfielder Eoin Foley seemed to deflate Cork. There was another shock for the champions, however, when sub James Egan rifled over a brace of points to leave just one between the teams. Unfortunately for Cork, time had run out.
Afterwards manager Dave Keane - the favourite to take over from Eamonn Cregan as senior manager - described the match as a nerve-wracking experience. "It was tough out there and I was very proud of the lads, the way they hit back when it seemed the tie had swung away from them."
Limerick: T Houlihan; D Reale, B Carroll, E Mulcahy; P O'Dwyer, P Lawlor, M O'Brien; M O'Donnell, E Foley (0-2); C Fitzgerald (0-1), J O'Brien, K Tobin (0-1); A O'Shaughnessy (1-1), N Moran (0-2), M Keane (0-8). Subs: P Tobin for K Tobin; J O'Connor for J O'Brien;
Cork: M Coleman; C O'Connor, M Fitzgerald, B Murphy; R Curran, J Gardiner, T Kenny; G Callinan (0-1), R O'Dwyer; J Quinlan (0-3), P Tierney, Kieran Murphy (0-1); S O hAilpin (1-1), E Collins (0-1), N McCarthy (0-3). Subs: J Egan (0-2) for Quinlan; T O'Leary (0-1) for Tierney; R Doherty (0-1) for Callinan; J Flavin for O'Connor; Kieran Murphy for Kieran Murphy.
Referee: Sean McMahon (Clare)
Limerick ... 1-15
Cork ... 1-14
