Alan O’Connor is Cork’s most improved player
I doubted Cork last week.
I felt the Down forwards could trouble the Cork defence in Saturday’s Croke Park qualifier if they got enough ball.
The Cork backs were very vulnerable in their last two big games — against Dublin in the league final and Kerry in the Munster final.
On Saturday, they were much better and much more solid looking. Conor Counihan’s pre match shuffling worked. Eoin Cadogan was especially effective and Eoin Cotter also played well.
They both focused on defending first, everything else after. This balance was important as John Miskella and Paudie Kissane like to get forward.
It was a big call on Counihan’s part to leave out Graham Canty.
For so long he has been their chief but injuries and basic lack of football means he is not the Canty of old and was exposed in Killarney. The 20 minutes he played underlined this as he still looks rusty.
On the flip side, that football will help bring him on and if he can stay healthy and Cork can stay afloat, he will be important before the year is out.
It is also evident that Cork now feel they have enough leaders with winning experience sprinkled throughout the field instead of continuously looking to Canty for leadership.
The Cork management’s match-ups were excellent. Noel O’Leary was again very tight on Martin Clarke, frustrating the Down man into two yellows and a dismissal. (Clarke’s poster boy status certainly helped him in the first half as he should have been dismissed for ‘resisting’ O’Leary’s attentions). It suited Miskella and Kissane perfectly to pursue Mark Poland and Daniel Hughes as it allowed them to attack, with both getting on the scoreboard. Also, after a slow start Michael Shields got on top of Benny Coulter. Alan O’Connor and Aidan Walsh were also significant in this improved defensive set up as auxiliary backs as they augmented their rearguard by retreating when Down attacked. O’Connor is especially good at this role. He is the Cork player that has developed his game and improved the most from last year. He has taken over from Nicholas Murphy as the go-to guy for Alan Quirke’s kickouts and his work rate and unselfishness is incredible. While Donncha O’Connor got the television Man of the Match with 1-7, I felt the midfielder was Cork’s MVP in terms of overall contribution to the cause.
John Wooden the great American college basketball coach, had an accurate quote about defence — Offence wins games, defence wins championships. Until Saturday Cork had it the other way round. Their forwards were scoring enough to camouflage their defensive vulnerabilities. With these deficiencies now rectified Cork can really go about defending their All-Ireland title.
It can be difficult when looking for form lines in the qualifiers. Down looked to be improving with each game but on Saturday they were very poor, especially in the second half. This performance was more Cusack Park in Clare, when Conor Laverty took a ball off the line in the last seconds, than Casement Park, when they hammered Antrim. Considering their proud tradition, it was unusual to see a Down team surrender as they did with ten minutes still on the clock. It is now hard to believe they were still in the game at half-time and but for an excellent save from Alan Quirke in the 37th minute Peter Fitzpatrick could have reduced the deficit to the minimum.
Rather than give Down heart, it was Cork that kicked for home after this pivotal moment. Instead of playing their regular counter-attacking game, Down seemed to try to adapt to the Cork challenge. I was particularly surprised with the amount of space they left at the back. They pushed up on Cork in the middle third and this allowed Cork get runners into the space behind midfield and run hard at the Down defence. Miskella, Kissane, Pearse O’Neill, Fintan Goold and Paul Kerrigan in particular got plenty of scope in this area and their hard running yielded a plethora of scores from Goold’s goal to O’Neill’s point and many more besides. With Clarke and Caolan Mooney heading for Australia, it will be a long road back for Down. This time 12 months ago they were getting ready to ambush Kerry. They were in the breakaway group heading for the summit only to be pipped by Cork for the yellow jersey. Now they are trailing off the back of the peloton looking over their shoulders for the broom wagon.
Kildare accounted for Derry easily in the first game. While the Lilywhites were not at their best, they were comfortable. Fatigue could have been a factor as they were on duty for the third weekend in-a-row. These matches have afforded them the opportunity to tweak and improve their game plan. They like to get bodies behind the ball, turn teams over and counter-attack at pace. They move the ball slickly to midfield and they then look to hit the inside line with long kicked passes, thus bypassing any blanket defence. Their mobile half forwards immediately follow in support.
On Saturday Tomás O Connor was effective inside but beside him James Kavanagh was outstanding. The athleticism and fitness of players like Emmet Bolton, Pádraig O’Neill, Eoghan O’Flaherty, Eamonn O Callaghan and the ageless Johnny Doyle is incredible. They are the draw no one wanted, and Donegal won’t be jumping with joy at the prospect.
