Anthony Daly: The jury is still out on Cork but at least they’re back on the road
Cork’s Patrick Horgan and Dublin’s Eoghan O’Donnell battle for the ball in their All-Ireland SHC qualifier in Semple Stadium on Saturday night. ‘It was positive for Cork that they didn’t have to rely on Patrick Horgan to shoot the lights out but it was equally as positive to see Seamus Harnedy rekindle the class and guile that was dormant last weekend,’ says Anthony Daly. Picture: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho
I know full well what life is like in the qualifiers, especially when you’re coming off the back of a poor performance and even your own crowd are baying for your blood, never mind the opposition. When you’re backed into a corner, there’s only one way out.
It nearly has to be full-scale siege mentality stuff because you’re also fully aware that the other crowd are probably in the same position, and that their only exit strategy is the same as yours. So when you emerge from the trenches and go over the top, there’s no avoiding the hail of fire coming your way; you’ve just got to meet it head on.
It’s easy to make the mistake of over-thinking and over-analysing the situation but, in my opinion, there’s no real strategy to that kind of a fight. We’ve all pulled the chairs around in a circle (in the past!) and tried to dissect and discover what went wrong but I don’t see the point when the team’s (and possibly your) neck is on the chopping block.
“Ye know what’s needed on Sunday,” I often said to the Clare or Dublin teams when we were backed into a corner in the past. “Get out to hell and get it done.”
Enough said.
I’ve no idea what went on in the Cork camp last week but I’m sure that was the tone. That was set by Kieran Kingston from the word go. I was very impressed with Kieran’s TV interview beforehand. He was really frank and honest. He said that the performance against Waterford wasn’t good enough.
The criticism was fully justified, which was the reason so many changes were made. The only bottom line was the bottom line of fighting their way out of the situation. And Cork did.
The changes they made worked. Robbie O’Flynn was outstanding. Jack O’Connor was very effective. So was Luke Meade. Colm Spillane brought that edge and physicality and don’t-mess-with-me attitude to the defence. Deccie Dalton struggled to get his hands on enough ball but his goal was well taken while his work-rate was solid throughout.
You could tell from the word-go that Cork were in Thurles to fight and to use their strengths that they didn’t against Waterford, especially their electric pace. That was evident with O’Flynn and O’Connor, while Dalton’s brilliant hook on Danny Sutcliffe before the break, when he gobbled up a load of space before launching himself kamikaze-like into Danny’s backswing, was the perfect metaphor for Cork’s metamorphosis from the Waterford horror-show.
Eamonn Dillon came into the game on fire and on a really hot scoring streak but Sean O’Donoghue completely blotted him out. When O’Donoghue went off injured before half-time, Cork brought in Stevie McDonnell. In the second-half, they were able to bring on another quality corner-back in Niall O’Leary.
So when you consider that Cork are still down some key players but they’ve still brought in six subs making a first appearance in this championship over the last two weekends, the squad is deeper than the outside perception.
One of those subs was young Shane Barrett, who only joined the panel recently. Barrett and Daire Connery hadn’t even played a league game before they were given championship debuts.
I don’t remember seeing Billy Hennessy play league before and he was brought on too last weekend.
Kieran pointed out afterwards that there are 16 players on the panel under 24, with 13 of that group 23 or younger, with nine of them starting on Saturday.
That doesn’t include Darragh Fitzgibbon and Brian Turnbull, who are both injured. So, despite the general viewpoint that Cork are going back to the same old faces the whole time, it’s obvious that Kieran and his management are trying to evolve the squad and build for the future.
That policy is harder again to implement in such a results driven business, and in such a condensed championship, but the middle-tier guys are already showing too that this is becoming their team.
Mark Coleman was immense as the sweeper. Shane Kingston fumbled some possession but he was still excellent, chipping in with four points.
It was positive for Cork that they didn’t have to rely on Patrick Horgan to shoot the lights out but it was equally as positive to see Seamus Harnedy rekindle the class and guile that was dormant last weekend; Harnedy got five points from play and set up a raft of other scores. The comparative scores from play (Cork 1-19 to Dublin’s 0-13) also underlined their greater firepower.
Chris Crummy was Dublin’s joint top-scorer from play but you’d just wonder if Chris’s move to the attack has diluted Dublin’s power at the other end of the field.
Dublin were flat but that was understandable because this was Dublin’s third match in 14 days. I couldn’t understand too why they didn’t start with Conor Burke as the sweeper, especially when it worked so well in their two previous games. Then again, maybe Dublin were fearful that Coleman would cut loose if he was the spare man at the other end, which is what effectively happened.
The result was all that mattered for Cork but you’d still feel a little concerned that, despite their dominance, they didn’t win by more. A six-point defeat flattered Dublin but you’d have to give massive credit to Alan Nolan for two incredible saves from O’Connor and Harnedy.
A goal at that stage, with six minutes of normal time to play, would probably have seen Cork win by nine or ten, which would have fully reflected their control of the match.
The jury is still out on Cork but at least they’re back on the road, and they showed the fight they need to keep producing if they’re to progress in this championship. Clare though, have far more searching questions to answer if they’re to advance next weekend.
Clare did lose David McInerney before half-time to a red card but, even when Clare were in control, they never kicked on.
I felt they got spooked from the fear of what could happen, instead of driving on when they had the initiative. They shipped two second half goals and were lucky not to concede another.
Losing Ross King so early was a blow to Laois but when they ran at Clare, they didn’t look to have enough presence in the half-back line to halt the Laois charge.
Laois sensed an upset and just went for it and, for a finish, Clare were praying for the final whistle.
Tony Kelly was outstanding again but Clare’s over-reliance on Tony is becoming a slight worry too - what will happen if he is shut down?
You really see the loss of John Conlon and Peter Duggan now. On the otherhand, Cathal Malone was really good. So was Rory Hayes. Shane O’Donnell played well but I felt he was operating too deep and Clare need him closer to goal.
Shane could have raised one green flag but Enda Rowland made a couple of brilliant saves. Clare will need goals going forward because, while 0-27 is a good score, 3-17 (along with the 0-36 they conceded against Limerick) is too much.
Unless that changes, Clare won’t progress much further.
They will be the team everyone wants to meet on Saturday but at least they’re in the draw this morning. Clare may be backed into a corner now but, while you’re in the qualifiers, every team is effectively in that position.
And there’s only one exit strategy – fight your way out.
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