Shane Hickey's soft goal on four minutes got them on their way but their hosts hit back with a goal from a Stephen Fox free and points from Paul Kinnerk and John Cooke saw Limerick lead by a point at the break.

Kieran O'Callaghan's free stretched the advantage on the restart before Clare took over. Limerick resistance crumbled when Kinnerk was sent off for a second yellow just after Ger Ahern failed to convert a goal chance against the run of play and held out for a good win.

In Fitzgerald Stadium, Cork had their senior star John Hayes to thank when he grabbed an injury-time equaliser from a free to deny Kerry a first win in three seasons at this level and level the game at 0-10 apiece.

Kerry were the better side in the opening quarter thanks to the dominance of Bryan Sheehan and Alan O'Sullivan, and they built up a 0-3 to 0-0 lead by the 15th minute.

Cork, with Paul Kerrigan proving a thorn in the Kerry defence, rallied but the final pass let them down. However, they did manage to reduce the deficit to the minimum at the break, 0-6 to 0-5.

Kerry looked the better side in the third quarter with Killian Young and Padraig Reidy defending stoutly as they moved 0-10 to 0-6 clear of their opponents.

However, Kerry failed to score after this and Cork fought back with points from Kerrigan and Hayes to earn an eagerly-awaited replay next Saturday at Pairc Ui Rinn.