Joe Canning singles out Cork player that summed up Rebels’ problems

It was a poor team performance.

Cork will still be reeling from their heavy defeat to Limerick on Sunday in the Munster SHC, and other counties will no doubt be fearful of a Limerick team that seem back to their best.

The game finished 3-26 to 1-16 at the Gaelic Grounds, with the home side 2-18 to 0-09 up at half-time.

The Rebels are now in a perilous position in Munster, needing to beat Waterford next week to advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quart-finals.

Cork's stars failed to turn up on the weekend, while the Treaty's Cian Lynch, Kyle Hayes, Adam English, and Aaron Gillane were all magnificent.

The latter scored the first goal after just two minutes, with a stunning solo finish.

However, Cork could have been more aggressive in their defence, and as Joe Canning pointed out on The Sunday Game, it summed up their attitude for the entire game.

The Galway legend singled out Ciarán Joyce, who was all too passive in his tackle attempt on Gillane.

Canning said: “The willingness of Cork’s players to gamble and run just was not there.

“Cork were not mentally aware on the day.

"Cork lacked a little bit of physicality, the kind of thing we are used to.

“They were not tracking Limerick’s runners.

“They had been impressive so far this year and it had been a game Limerick were well up for.

“I honestly thought the naivete of Joyce (was a contributing factor) to Aaron Gillane’s early goal. Those kind of incidents are where you need to be a bit more ruthless.

“They will learn a lot. They are better than what they showed today. I did not see the same sharpness I would have seen in other games.”