Monday, August 24, 2009
THE FORENSICS team always warn to step back from the gory detail and survey the peripheral evidence.
So let’s ignore the scoreboard momentarily from yesterday’s compelling All-Ireland football semi-final victory for Cork over Tyrone.
The moment John Bannon’s final whistle blew on Mickey Harte’s hopes of successive titles, Conor Counihan made for his substitutes in the Hogan Stand, greeting every one in turn. If his consistent rotation of replacements wasn’t enough to convince the 30-man squad that this is their success as much as anyone’s, his first priority after a stunning 1-13 to 0-11 success yesterday must have.
Fintan Goold was provided with fresh incentive to push Alan O’Connor and Nicholas Murphy for an All-Ireland final berth – not that he needed it. The Macroom man powered onto one wayward Tyrone pass with five minutes remaining with such explosive power that it jarred the senses. Weren’t Tyrone the Lords of the Last 10 Minutes? Goold pointed, by the way. A minute later, Tyrone’s Philip Jordan slalomed into the same Cork blanket his colleagues had rebounded off for 65 minutes and poured a hopeless wide into Hill 16.
It made for an easy comparison if our attention wasn’t distracted by the sight of Michael Cussen and Eoin Cadogan entering the fray, eager to stake a claim. More peripheral evidence.
Nobody in Cork red went swan-diving across the Croke Park turf in celebration either after the final whistle.
"Progress this year is winning the All-Ireland. Simple as that," said Pearse O’Neill afterwards.
"There was a resolve about the lads today," agreed coach Conor Counihan.
"People questioned this team for a long time but today, in the circumstances, they showed a lot of character. Maybe we came up short at All-Ireland semi-finals and finals in the past, but every year there can only be one winner in this business."
Coincidentally or not, the Cork players stepped off the team bus at Croker headquarters yesterday to the strains of Labbi Siffre’s Something Inside So Strong. The little things that paint the big picture. Counihan can’t literally bring his managerial attributes across the white line onto the field, but his players are offering a revealing portrait of Counihan’s philosophy. Quiet strength.
Where Cork matched up on the basis of their strengths, Mickey Harte seemed to plot on the basis of the opposition, notwithstanding the late, disruptive withdrawal of Sean Cavanagh.
Justin McMahon looked at sea at corner-back on Daniel Goulding, and pitching Ryan McMenamin on Pearse O’Neill was as befuddling as Tommy McGuigan attempting to corral the runaway train that is Graham Canty.
Twenty minutes in, Cork were 1-8 to 0-3 in front, and each of the six forwards had already registered on the scoreboard. Goulding hadn’t just netted, he’d picked Conor Gormley’s pocket to raise a vital psychological white flag.
Two yellow cards later for Alan O’Connor, and Counihan’s side were exactly where anyone who wanted to see their mettle tested truly wanted them to be.
As the west Cork man made his exit, Stephen O’Neill’s free cut the deficit to five points (1-9 to 0-7), but the tsunami of pressure never came.
Was it Tyrone legs finally giving way, or insufficient recognition of the fact that this was Cork’s sixth game this season against Ulster opposition?
Perhaps that league visit to Scotstown in March was a date to be circled.
"It’s easy to make judgments and say we were under par and not up to our usual standard, but that often has a lot to do with the opposition," suggested Harte. "The way we played today would probably win a lot of matches – because they wouldn’t have met as much resistance around the field. The opposition were superior and that happens sometimes and we have to accept it.
"I’m well quoted over the last number of years saying Cork were an underachieving side, that they had a lot of quality players and on a given day they could beat anybody.
"They have added that bit of consistency to the quality and they are in a final on merit. Nobody is looking forward to meeting them, I’d say."
Too true. Cork have had their share of knock-ups with Kerry and Meath, but have never gone into a final against either laboured with the favouritism yesterday’s win bestows. Counihan can’t worry about that now.
"You don’t get that many opportunities, so you really must take them," he agreed.
"I don’t think we set schedules. We set it one game at a time and the schedule for every Gaelic footballer is to win an All-Ireland medal, so whether that be in two years’ time or this year I don’t mind. We’re at a stage now where we need to win it and we mightn’t get a chance as good again."
As some Tyrone seniors may soon discover. Whereas, in Harte’s words, Cork looked "energised", the fallen champions looked beaten and bedraggled long before the last call of John Bannon’s whistle.
Trying to trace the form line through this Championship has become a fraught pursuit, but one thing is undeniable – Cork no longer have issues with Jones Road, Ulster opposition, semi-finals and the pressure of expectation.
The only expectation left is their own, and they’ve 70 minutes to surmount before meeting it.
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