What's the world coming to? For over 70 years, no visiting county won at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Now it's Cork that can't win there. Five years ago Limerick broke the spell and yesterday, in far less foreseeable circumstances, they did it again and dethroned the Munster champions.

The scenes after the match told the story. Limerick, scorned and disregarded after putting so much effort into looking sadly inadequate during the league, had pulled off that special redemption only on offer during the championship.

Shocked and embarrassed, the home side were left with more spare summer time on their hands than at any stage since 1996 and, after lengthy service at both minor and senior level, Cork manager Tom Cashman called it a day.

"It's fabulous to win it," said his counterpart Eamonn Cregan. "There was always a doubt in my mind when we came down here that it would be beyond us, but as we drew close to the end of training and the match itself, the feeling was there. I'll give you an example.

"I went over to Jack Foley and said `Jack, you're not starting'. Derry (Donovan, Limerick trainer) went over to him five minutes later and said `come on Jack, lift the head'. He said `Derry, it's going to be a long year and I'm going to be there before it's over'.

"That was the thinking throughout the team. They were so determined coming down and so quiet. That's what impressed me. Of course, if it had gone a point against us, I wouldn't be saying this now. But we won and it's now history." A year ago, Limerick stayed with Cork (sort of) before being frazzled in the final quarter. Twelve months' rueful reflection bred a hardier challenge. "One of the main improvements was that we knew Cork were going to score. Last year the way we reacted was to lose the heads. This year we kept the heads up and we fought and fought.

"Cork were short a few players. Corcoran was a big loss and O hAilpin was a big loss, but that's the way it happens. We lost Barry Foley after 30 seconds last year and nobody passed a comment about it and he was a tremendous loss to us."

Cregan had the additional satisfaction of seeing his strategic planning complement this greater mental resilience. "We felt we were static last year. The best thing for a back is a man that stands beside him all day.

"Now the man that moves away, the defender has to concentrate on the ball and the way his man is going. We had a little more movement in the forwards."

Effective? "It worked."

Ian O'Riordan adds: In Croke Park, the Leinster football double-bill that attracted a crowd just over 31,000 ended, as expected, with Dublin and Offaly setting up their semi-final meeting, set again for GAA headquarters on June 17th. The nature of their respective victories, however, didn't go completely to plan. A complacent and remarkably casual start by Dublin saw them trail Longford by a point as the first half neared completion and they dug deep to bring themselves back in front, 1-7 to 0-9, at the break.

A magical goal from substitute Colin Moran from some 25 yards out helped restore Dublin's superiority, but still they managed to create a few nervous moments before eventually prevailing 2-19 to 1-13.

"We weren't happy at half time, it was a sub-standard first-half performance. Basically, we won the game in a 15-minute second-half display," admitted Dublin manager Tom Carr. "But we were a little nervous going into today's game. No matter how much we tried to relax fellows were uptight about the situation. So much was written about last year and starting the championship again we were going to be a little bit nervy."

The opening quarter-final between Offaly and Laois was a more balanced affair, yet the winners also threaded a thin line on certain occasions. The youth and vibrancy of the Laois forwards made their early mark and helped build a two-point lead as the first half ran its course.

But just moments before the break, Vinny Claffey cracked home a goal and shot Offaly back in front. They held Laois at arms length after that and came home four-point winners, 1-13 to 0-12.

In Belfast, Cavan had their first championship win since 1998 when dismissing Down by a single point - 1-14 to 2-10.