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Long break not fazing O’Connor

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Sunday’s Munster final win will be Cork’s only Championship game in eight weeks but Donncha O’Connor isn’t concerned.

By John Fogarty
Conor Counihan’s side have a gaping four-week break until their All-Ireland quarter-final and will have only had two Championship games by the time they reach Croke Park. Cork also have a few last-eight ghosts to exorcise at GAA Headquarters after losing to Mayo at that stage last year.

However, the Ballydesmond man won’t be citing the inactivity as a reason for a defeat.

“I know there’s a round of club matches and I know it’s the not the same thing but it’s still keeping fellas on their toes.

“This has happened to us before and you only complain about the break if you get beaten in a quarter-final. You never complain about it if you win.

“So I think a lot of that is only an excuse, teams use it as an excuse. Well, maybe teams don’t use it but other people say they had such a long break and they were tired or not tired or they were out of it. So if you’re up for the quarter-final, there’s no excuse.”

O’Connor admits players and managers have discussed last year’s Championship exit to Mayo.

“We’ve talked about it a lot. Mayo had more hunger and it wasn’t that we didn’t play well, it was just we were disappointed with the hunger Mayo showed and we didn’t show. Mayo deserved to beat us that day, they were the better team, it was just our hunger we were disappointed with.

“We talked a lot about it and it will show in four weeks time whether we are back ready for it or not.”

As for Billy Morgan’s claim over the weekend that Cork have lost their nice guy tag, the 20-5 free count against them in the Gaelic Grounds added more fuel to the fire.

O’Connor is aware of the team’s reputation for being physical but doesn’t believe it’s entirely accurate.

“It’s all about getting back now, the way the game has gone. If your direct opponent is coming at you, a lot of time you try to tackle him properly. But you know the way you drag off him and sometimes that looks kind of cynical. Some of them are frees but some aren’t.

“I thought a lot of the times we did tackle properly but more often than not you do give away the free. I think we do try to make a genuine attempt to tackle first but obviously if he’s gone a half a yard in it looks like you’re dragging. It’s the hop of the ball.”

Paddy Kelly revealed on Twitter he had an MRI scan on the groin injury that ruled him out of the win over Clare. Kelly was in Cork University Hospital yesterday and will see a specialist tomorrow. O’Connor figures, providing his fellow forward is fit, both he and Sunday’s other absentee Graham Canty will ensure competition is fierce in the coming weeks.

“The two lads were out injured and the two lads (Eoin Cotter and Fintan Goold) who came in did well. It’s going to be a hard decision now to leave one or two of them out now for the next day. If you think of Paddy Kelly and Graham, they’d be on a lot of other teams, but they’re going to be put under a lot of pressure now.”

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