Cork Punished By New Hurling Rule In Crucial Munster Final Moment

When a Munster final is decided by a single point, every major moment comes under the microscope.

And for Liam Sheedy, one of the biggest arrived when Cork went from potentially moving four points clear to watching Diarmaid Byrnes split the posts at the other end.

The incident centred around one of hurling's newest rules.

With Cork leading in the second half, Tim O'Mahony stepped up to take a 65 that would have stretched the Rebels' advantage to four points. Instead, his effort crashed back off the upright.

Moments later, Alan Connolly and Seán Finn raced after the breaking ball near the endline. Referee James Owens awarded a free to Limerick, with Cork visibly unhappy about the decision.

Connolly could be seen gesturing towards Owens and, under the new dissent rule, the free was advanced by 30 metres.

That brought Diarmaid Byrnes into range and Byrnes did the rest.

Speaking on RTÉ's coverage, former Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy felt the sequence could prove one of the defining moments of the final.

When you lose by one point, it's just the margins.

This is the free that would have put them four points up, and I felt really in the driving seat.

It comes off the post. Seán Finn is out. He's ahead of him and again, that's borderline now. There's not a lot in that.

And obviously Cork are really, really upset at the fact that the free is given.

The real damage for Cork came afterwards.

So there's obviously a bit of mouthing given to James Owens and all of a sudden the ball has moved forward.

And from downtown, good old Diarmaid Byrnes. How often have we seen it?

I mean that is just an incredible strike.

Byrnes' score cut the gap and shifted momentum back towards Limerick at a crucial stage.

In a contest where Aidan O'Connor finished with 0-8, Gearóid Hegarty scored 1-1 and Nickie Quaid produced a man of the match display at 37 years of age, there were plenty of moments that influenced the outcome.

Yet Sheedy believes this one stands out given the final margin.

The new dissent rule was introduced to clamp down on players disputing refereeing decisions.

On Sunday in the Munster final, it provided perhaps the clearest example yet of how costly those extra 30 metres can be.