LIMERICK v CORK: Waterford's demolition of Clare - however spectacular and unforeseen - was a reminder that some of the Guinness Munster hurling championship's most eagerly anticipated matches have lately proved very one-sided.Gaelic Grounds, Sunday
For most outsiders there is a danger that tomorrow's fixture will lurch in the same direction.
This has less to do with a Cork team that has been weakened since winning last year's provincial title than it has with the internal problems that see Limerick enter the lists with a third manager in less than two years.
Inevitably, the need to sift through available players and devise a style of play takes time so, once more, hope rather than confidence sets the most optimistic tone.
Cork have had a satisfactory league, even if it culminated in a second-phase wipe-out. The management experimented with a few new players and kept things ticking over in the face of adversity - the loss of Setanta Ó hAilpín and Pat Mulcahy.
There have been pluses. Brian Corcoran's comeback proceeds fitfully even if it is as yet untested at championship intensity whereas Newtownshandrum's All-Ireland club win raised morale and showcased the attacking talent of Ben O'Connor.
It's a measure of Pad Joe Whelahan's success in restoring a measure of equilibrium to Limerick that the mood in the camp is said to be upbeat and that hardly anyone speaks of the dual players who went to the dark side last February.
The attempt to inculcate a fast-moving, first-time game has been slow to prosper but the team is picked with that in mind. Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Donncha Sheehan in the corners are the strike forwards and supplying them with quick, low ball will be the priority.
Changes are expected. Mark Foley has been playing practice matches at centrefield with Peter Lawlor dropping back. To some this liberates Foley from the tedium of man-marking and gets him on the ball closer to the danger zone. But to others it disrupts the half backs and undervalues Foley's ability to raise the team from wing back and underestimates his tendency to overhit deliveries into the attack.
It is noteworthy that Cork, faced with similar possibilities after Tom Kenny's good showing in the middle during the league, have opted to keep last year's tried and trusted half-back line and take a chance on centrefield.
According to former Limerick coach Eamonn Cregan, Seán O'Connor's best position is centre forward, where he is named, but there is speculation that O'Connor and debutant full forward JP Sheahan will swap before the throw-in.
Cork will attack differently, hoping to isolate Joe Deane on TJ Ryan and pull Ben O'Connor and Jonathan O'Callaghan back out to more familiar surroundings around the middle where their pace can also pose a different threat to Limerick.
Corcoran's role is looking increasingly likely to be that of impact sub, a part he played well in the Kerry match. Whereas that first round hardly told much about Cork, their opponents' manager Maurice Leahy said that he noticed two things about the star replacement: one, his appetite for the game was indisputable and his 1-1 corroborates that, and two, the Cork crowd went nuts as soon as Corcoran began to warm up, a potentially valuable boost in tight championship matches.
Although events of a fortnight ago have tended to disparage the forecaster's art, this looks a straightforward match. Cork have two big advantages: a stronger defence, which will inhibit Limerick and create pressure at the other end, and a more settled, practised team. That ought to suffice.
LIMERICK: A Shanahan; D Reale, TJ Ryan (capt), M Cahill; O Moran, B Geary, M Foley; C Smith, P Lawlor; N Moran, S O'Connor, M McKenna; A O'Shaughnessy, JP Sheahan, D Sheehan.
CORK: D Cusack; B Murphy, D O'Sullivan, W Sherlock; T Kenny, R Curran, S Óg Ó hAilpín; J Gardiner, M O'Connell; J O'Connor, N McCarthy, T McCarthy; J O'Callaghan, J Deane, B O'Connor (capt).
Referee: S Roche (Tipperary).
