Jimmy Barry Murphy looked a little dazed. When they make you a deity in Cork, they stick a lot of riders and clauses into the contract. Cork have alternated in the past few years, suffering one year at the hands of Limerick, the next at the hands of Clare. Yesterday marked an end to it. If JBM isn't walking on water yet he's certainly happy not to be drowning.

"Everybody is reminding me all week, we haven't won a serious game, and I don't want to denigrate Kerry in any respect, but we haven't won a serious game in six years. One win in six years."

And he shakes his head. Tells its own story. Yesterday, the first half added a few grey hairs to his head but his young side got to half time in a manner which suggested liberation was at hand.

"I was worried when we were five points down in the first half, we seemed to go out of the game for that spell. I thought Limerick, playing at home with the crowd behind them would be real hard to peg back. Half time, going in leading by a point, was the key to our game." After the break with their tea and JBM's thoughts taken Cork went about their work with enthusiasm. They enjoyed an 18-minute spell midway through the half which saw them run over eight points without reply. Their striking was sure but their fitness looked impressive too.

"I thought we had a lack of concentration in the first half.

"Shouldn't happen but we came back. You never know how a team will go in the face of adversity. Overall it's a great win. Clare are next and it's a huge task for us."

Seanie McGrath seemed unmoved by the size of the task ahead. he had five points against Clare last summer and matched that total yesterday. In a team fat with confidence he is the talisman of the new era.

"The league gave us a fair boost, with the fans behind us it's like old Cork. We're bursting to have a cut off the big guns like Clare and Tipperary, it's been so long. We're full of confidence. We played to our strengths. We'll roll on. We'll have a shot off Clare. We've made progress this year. We've won a championship game. Whatever happens we have done that."

For Joe Deane yesterday was the consummation of several years of promise.

"People said we couldn't play in the wet but hopefully we proved them wrong. Two years ago, Limerick hammered us. Jimmy Barry put faith in a lot of young fellas. We had a good performance against Clare last year. We'll take it on."

The Limerick dressing-room was as chatty as a morgue. For a team which has contributed so much, yesterday was a sad end, an afternoon with all the hallmarks of a weak pulse. Joe Quaid emerged as a tribune of doom. He had been fortunate to stay on the pitch after a loss of control saw him deliver some extraordinary retribution to Kieran Morrisson.

"It was a rush of blood, but you get sick of getting clattered all the time. I wouldn't blame the referee for us losing. I reacted to something I shouldn't have in the heat of the moment. It's the first time in my career I should have been sent off." Inside the dressing-room Eamon Cregan was packing his bag and looking drawn.

"I'm disappointed in the sense that we lost. For a stage there in the second half we were level and suddenly Cork went two points up and after that we seemed to lose our way. Too many of our players didn't perform. There is very little you can do on the sideline to make players win the ball. "Some of the team have a lot of mileage up, they started very young. I had Mike Houlihan, Declan Nash, Pa Carey back in 1987.

"They started young. They're 31 or 32, in the modern game that's old, the volume of training is huge. Cork seemed to be flying at the end but it's easy to fly when you are ahead." And Cregan's own appetite? This was a campaign for which preparations began in October. A loss like yesterday's can suck years off your hurling enthusiasm.

"Ask me in a month's time, two months times. You can't answer now.

"Wait 24 hours and give an answer my wife always says. So ask me in 48 hours. I'm not in the humour for talking about it. I'm a bad loser."

His words reflected the starkness of the situation as his team dressed silently and made their way out into the May sunshine.