It was a stroll in the park for Cork at Pairc Ui Rinn as they advanced to the Munster final, thumping Limerick by 21 points, 3-18 to 0-6.

The Treaty County had stunned Tipperary in the last round but tonight proved to be a bridge too far for Billy Lee’s side, who were outclassed from start to finish, the Rebels easily setting up a provincial decider date with holders Kerry in three weeks’ time.

It was all over bar the shouting at half time, Cork ahead by 15 points, 3-8 to 0-2. Brian Hurley netted twice in the first half and was denied a hat-trick when his penalty found a post at the city end.

Hurley raised two green flags inside a minute, adding to a John O’Rourke point to make it 2-1 to no score with just five minutes played, while the visitors had been unlucky after 15 seconds when corner forward Sean McSweeney hit a post and then the crossbar via the back of home custodian Mark White.

With 3,128 looking on, Ruairi Deane grabbed the third Cork goal on twelve minutes, that score bookended by a couple of Mark Collins frees, leaving the gap at an unassailable 14 points after 16 minutes. Paul Kerrigan and Collins tacked on further points before Seamus O’Carroll - his side's sole first-half scorer - eventually opened the Treaty’s account nine minutes from the interval.

Hurley’s 32nd-minute penalty miss was the only blot on the Leesider’s first-half copybook, Collins on target five times before the interval.

Collins registered his sixth point (free) four minutes after the restart, quickly adding his seventh and eighth from play before goalkeeper (and top scorer) Donal O’Sullivan speared over a couple of Limerick points from dead balls. Collins and McSweeney added to Cork’s swelling total, O’Sullivan replying.

Mattie Taylor, Ian Maguire and Stephen Sherlock pointed for the hosts and McSweeney closed the scoring as Ronan McCarthy’s charges eased into the Munster final at an absolute canter. It had been a year to forget to date for the Rebels but they will go into the Munster final full of confidence after this display.

Cork - M White; N Walsh, J Loughrey, K Flahive; L O’Donovan, T Clancy, M Taylor (0-1); I Maguire (0-1), K O’Hanlon; E McSweeney (0-3), R Deane (1-0), J O’Rourke (0-1); P Kerrigan (0-1), B Hurley (2-0), M Collins (0-10). Subs: A Browne for J Loughrey, S Sherlock (0-1) for B Hurley, L Connolly for J O’Rourke, K O’Driscoll for R Deane, K O’Donovan for T Clancy, R O’Toole for I Maguire.

Limerick - D O’Sullivan (0-3); B Fanning, S O’Dea, P Maher; C McSweeney, I Corbett, G Brown; D Treacy, T Childs; A Enright, C Fahy, M Fitzgibbon; S McSweeney, S O’Carroll (0-2), J Lee (0-1). Subs: J Naughton for S McSweeney, T McCarthy for G Brown, P Nash for A Enright, P de Brun for C Fahy, G Noonan for C McSweeney, R Lynch for M Fitzgibbon.

Referee - B Cawley.

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