Cuthbert: We learned from Dubs defeat

Cork football boss Brian Cuthbert is confident his side have learned valuable lessons since the Allianz Football League Division 1 semi-final defeat to Dublin last month.

The Rebels lost by seven points against the All-Ireland champions after holding a 10-point lead early in the second half.

Cuthbert is adamant his team will not be affected by that capitulation after an otherwise impressive league.

“We were up against the best team in the country,” he said, “and they did what they did in the second-half.

“We’ve taken a lot from it, in the way we played in the first half and for the first seven or eight minutes of the second half. As well, we’ve learned huge lessons on lots of different facets of our game from the other 30 minutes and this period now is about rectifying what went wrong, both in that match and in other parts of the league. If it happened again, I think you’d have a different reaction. I think if you got 10 points ahead, you’d have a better idea of how to close out the game.”

Since replacing Conor Counihan, Cuthbert has refreshed the Cork panel, but he is not allowing inexperience to be used as an excuse for losing to the All-Ireland champions.

“During the league, we rarely put out the same team twice, we were making six or seven changes every game and that was all part of our plan. The time has come for the team to be settled down. What happened, happened, I don’t think it was much to do with inexperience or it being a new team. There were just lots of things we didn’t do right and lots we allowed Dublin to do, plus the fact we were up against a very good team in their home stadium. They got momentum and that was it.”

Cork open their Munster championship campaign against either Limerick or Tipperary in the Munster SFC semi-final on June 21. Cuthbert is happy to continue to allow Eoin Cadogan, Aidan Walsh and Damien Cahalane maintain dual roles, and will interact further with hurling manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy to nail down specifics.

“I’ve had plenty of discussions with Jimmy,” he said, “it’s just unfortunate Aidan and Eoin have been injured.

“The way it has panned out since the league has stopped, neither of them have been available. There was no need for discussions to decide who goes where and when.

“A lot of what we’ll see will hinge on the way the fixtures fall. The hurlers are first up, we’ll see how they go against Waterford on Sunday week and the parts that Aidan, Eoin and Damien play.

“The next part of the planning process will depend on whether they’re a part of the hurling team or not and that’s something I can’t decide!”

And though he won’t know Cork’s opponents until May 31, Cuthbert doesn’t feel it will impact on the side’s preparations. “It’s the next part of the season for us, to be honest,” he said.

“You have the league and that’s very compact, it’s intense and matches are week on week most of the time. Then, since the Dublin game, there is club championship, we had nothing for two weeks. It allows us to have a different focus on what we want to do. You knew from the start of the year this was the plan so we’re happy to have time to get ready for Limerick or Tipp.

“Given the way the season works out, this window is very important. We’re building into a championship game and, regardless of how that game goes, you’re going to have another one. It’s important you’re set for the next game too — either a Munster final or another game — immediately afterwards, so these seven weeks are very important.”