"The guys stayed composed" - Ryan on Cork's Munster final triumph

Cork manager Pat Ryan spoke of his delight after the Rebels came out on top in yesterday evening’s Munster SHC final against Limerick to claim their county’s first Mick Mackey Cup success in seven years.

After 90 minutes couldn’t separate the sides at the TUS Gaelic Grounds, it came down to penalties and the Leesiders won the shootout 3-2 to claim the sweet provincial honours.

Speaking to RTE Sport afterwards, Ryan praised his group for the spirit they showed to turn around a 16-point defeat from the same opposition at the same venue into a rousing victory.

"It was an honour for us to come up here and fight," he said. "We didn't fight the last time we came up here and the lads worked really hard, we fought really, really hard. It was vital that we represented the jersey properly and we did.

"From the throw-in, we were engaged. You have to put really, really good teams under pressure and you take your chances, whether you win or not.

"We were missing a couple of fellas, a couple of bodies came on and sometimes that actually freshens up the team.

"I suppose the key thing was that the guys stayed composed and responded when Limerick had the goal to go ahead. It took penalties to separate us and we're just delighted to get the trophy."

On whether or not his team had practiced penalties as a group in the lead up to yesterday’s Munster final, Ryan added: “None. All the lads are practising a lot (individually), I think. We had really, really good confidence in them. Eoin Downey probably practised more penalties than anyone. He's really talented.

"But, look, that's (goalkeeper Collins) Patrick's job and Patrick did a job for us."