BEN O’Connor knows the game well enough to realise that while Cork won this latest battle with Limerick, the odds suggest the Rebels will have to quieten their neighbours again if they are to land the big prize.

The top two teams in the country served up another epic, with Cork taking the bragging rights this time while moving a step closer to defending their Munster title.

O’Connor was delighted with his side’s response to Limerick’s 68th-minute goal from Diarmaid Byrnes that edged the visitors in front, but Cork hit back with the scores that snatched victory. The Rebels’ resolve was there for all to see.

‘That was the most pleasing aspect,’ O’Connor said.

‘We were down a point, time was running out and some fellas might look at the clock with a small bit of panic, but not the boys inside. We got the last few scores. That just shows the amount of work the lads have done in the last six or seven months.

‘Everything came together, but no doubt Limerick are still the team to beat. They’ll be there at the end of the championship,’ added the Cork boss, whose celebrations at the final whistle showed how much the victory meant.

‘Delighted, but at the end of the day it’s still only two points in the Munster championship. We’re delighted to get it, especially at home. It was nice to get the win in a close-fought battle,’ he said.

‘That was the fourth time we’ve played Limerick this year and we’d been on the wrong side of the other three. That gave us an extra bit of motivation.

‘We were probably lucky they had 14 men for a lot of the second half, which gave us a bit of help. I can’t credit the boys enough – they battled to the last minute.’

O’Connor also backed Alan Connolly as Cork’s free-taker – he struck seven frees in a 1-8 haul.

‘That’s outside noise,’ O’Connor said in response to pre-match talk around free-taking.

‘We know how good Alan is. We’ve seen him taking frees for Blackrock all the time. If you look at the amount of frees Alan has taken with us, his misses in the league and championship so far are very small. He’s a great fella and he’ll continue to hit them.’