Aaron Gillane scored 1-07 as Limerick captured the centenary Allianz Hurling League Division 1A title with a fully merited six-point victory over Cork in front of 41,678 fans at a sold-out Gaelic Grounds.
The first half was a bewildering contest as the Treaty stormed out of the traps to take a 1-12 to 1-03 lead, despite coughing up a giveaway goal.
They only scored once more before the interval, as Cork entered the break within a score; 1-13 to 1-10.
With the wind, the Rebels could only briefly close inside that three-point margin.
Limerick's 15th title takes them level with Cork in third place on the roll of honour. John Kiely’s side have now collected 18 trophies from 19 final appearances across his tenure. Their next stop is a rematch down in Cork on 26 April.
Adam English was outstanding from the outset with the first two points inside 90 seconds. Gillane got out in front of Seán O’Donoghue for a point and soon got around his familiar foe for a goal chance. O’Donoghue kept the pressure on the one-handed strike and Patrick Collins saved.
When Diarmaid Byrnes caught and returned a Collins puck-out for a point, it was 0-06 to no score.
In the ninth minute, Byrnes delivered an Easter present to Brian Hayes. The wing-back’s pass across the posts towards Nickie Quaid didn’t clear the towering Hayes, who bundled it across the line.
After a Cathal O’Neill point, Séamus Harnedy raised Cork’s first white flag. Two Aidan O’Connor frees and English’s third made it 0-10 to 1-01 after 15 minutes.
William Buckley and Shane O’Brien traded points before the 18th-minute goal. Byrnes whipped the loose ball forward into an ocean of space ahead of Gillane. He swept it around O’Donoghue and raced on to lash it into the far corner for 1-11 to 1-02.
Out of nowhere, Cork conjured up five points on the trot. The first four were Alan Connolly frees, while O’Connor missed three of his own. The fifth was an acute Darragh Fitzgibbon effort.
Gearóid Hegarty nailed a long-ranger before Connolly won and converted his fifth free.
The half ended in a welter of drama. Hegarty snatched a puck-out and released English into space. Tommy O’Connell got in a full-stretch hook as the sliotar skittled narrowly wide.
Then, O’Brien sent Cian Lynch through. Collins produced a flying save before Lynch’s rebound was lodged in a mass of bodies. The sliotar eventually bobbled through Niall O’Leary’s legs and into the net, as Lynch and Peter Casey chased in, but referee Shane Hynes called the play back for a throw-in.
O’Connell, who was booked alongside English in the aftermath, raced downfield and Brian Hayes’s sublime touch allowed him to send Cork in within three; 1-13 to 1-10.
It was the Rebels’ efficiency, nailing 11 of their 13 shots, keeping them in touch. They turned to play with the wind, but laboured to close within three points until the final eight minutes.
Limerick’s first four points were all frees (three from O’Connor, one from Byrnes). When Gillane pointed over his shoulder, it was 1-18 to 1-12. Another Gillane special ensured that six remained the gap entering the final 15 minutes.
Cork finally began to make inroads with three in a row from Hugh O’Connor, Tim O’Mahony, and William Buckley.
Gillane and O’Mahony traded frees before Mark Coleman brought Cork within two; 1-21 to 1-19.
Gillane almost killed the contest when spinning past substitute Ger Millerick, but Collins saved.
Limerick made it safe with four points in a row between the 67th and 70th minutes. The first free brought forward under the new dissent rule was pointed by Gillane. He added another on the turn between Hegarty and David Reidy points.
Cork’s last chance of a revival slipped away as Robbie O’Flynn flashed a chance across goal and wide.
Limerick: N Quaid; S Finn, M Casey, B Nash; D Byrnes (0-03, 1f, 1 65), W O’Donoghue, K Hayes; A English (0-03), C Lynch; G Hegarty (0-02), A O’Connor (0-08, 7f, 1 65), C O’Neill (0-02); A Gillane (1-07, 0-03f), S O’Brien (0-01), D Reidy (0-01).
Subs: P Casey for O’Neill (32-h-t, temp), P Casey for O’Brien (54), D O’Donovan for O’Connor (58), E Hurley for Lynch (67), C Coughlan for Byrnes (70+3).
Cork: P Collins; N O’Leary, C Joyce, S O’Donoghue; M Mullins, E Downey, R Downey; T O’Mahony (0-02, 1f), T O’Connell (0-01); S Harnedy (0-01), S Barrett, D Fitzgibbon (0-01); W Buckley (0-03), A Connolly (0-07, 7f), B Hayes (1-03).
Subs: G Millerick for O’Donoghue (35+1), M Coleman (0-01) for Mullins (48), H O’Connor (0-01) for Harnedy (51), R O’Flynn for O’Connell (62), D Dalton for Buckley (69), D Cahalane for R Downey (70+2).
Referee: S Hynes (Galway).
