Pat Ryan’s take on Cork celebrating their win is hugely refreshing to see

Pat Ryan said Cork would celebrate their win over Limerick on Sunday night.

Brian Hayes was man-of-the-match but Cork had heroes all over the field as, for the second time this year, they got the better of John Kiely's side.

Cork were seven points to the good at one stage in the second half with Seamus Harnedy, Shane Barrett and Darragh Fitzgibbon having roared into the game after half-time.

But through the impact of their subs Adam English and Shane O'Brien and the brilliance of Aaron Gillane, Limerick rallied to reduce the gap to two down the stretch. It set up the most frantic of finales to a brilliant contest but in the end Cork held out for a 1-28 to 0-29 victory.

It sends them through to the All-Ireland final where they'll take on Clare in two weeks time in Croke Park on Sunday July 21. It will be a repeat of the 2013 decider with Clare beating Kilkenny in the other semi-final, banishing the demons of 2022 and 2023 when they disappointingly lost to the Cats at the last four stage.

Cork's youth and pace make them a very entertaining team to watch and endears them to their supporters. A huge Cork crowd has followed them all year and it was the same on Sunday, making for a tremendous atmosphere in Croke Park where the biggest crowd ever gathered for an All-Ireland hurling semi-final.

Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere was electric in the stadium.

Many remarked that it felt like an All-Ireland final given the crowd and the atmosphere but that remains two weeks away. Still, refreshingly, Cork manager Pat Ryan said he would allow his team to celebrate the victory when speaking to RTÉ after the game.

"We've nothing won, we're into an All-Ireland final," he said.

"Lads will celebrate tonight because you have to celebrate all your victories in amateur sport.

"Fellas will really enjoy it and we'll look after what happens with Clare next week," he added.