Éamonn Fitzmaurice: This is a moment for Cork. They dare not spurn it
Cork's Ruairi Deane being chased by Paul Murphy of Kerry. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
In the recent past there has been very little between Cork and Tipperary.
The championship game in 2018 was an outlier with Cork winning comfortably, but close games have been the norm with the odd score usually separating the sides. As recently as last Spring Cork won the league game in Thurles by a point in a high-scoring encounter.
Even the manner in which both counties won their respective semi-finals was similar with both teams requiring brinkmanship of a high order at the death, Mark Keane’s goal winning it for Cork and Conor Sweeney’s free saving Tipperary.
Sunday’s Munster football final will be another tight affair with teams that are very familiar with each other.
This is a huge game for Cork. Can they back up their victory over Kerry in the semi-final? They have a lot going for them.
They have a good group of players, now brimming with confidence backed up by a strong management and backroom team. They have a mix of the old and the new and they can lean on recent underage successes. They are at home and they are 70 minutes away from silverware and a first All-Ireland semi-final since 2012. They can’t afford another false start though.
To win, they will have to improve from their semi-final win. The high from that game will fill them with pride and belief but within the detail of their game plan there is much room for improvement.
First off, their approach in terms of mentality will be telling. Last time out they were complete outsiders, with no one outside their own group giving them a chance of winning. This time round that is flipped on its head. They are raging hot favourites which brings with it expectation and the possibility of tension that can affect performance.
The have-a-go attitude of any long shot can be liberating and can free players to perform in a way that they didn’t realise possible.
Favouritism can lead to a tightening, mental and physical that can affect performance.
Players that two weeks ago were sprinting to 50-50 contests and throwing themselves into tackles suddenly look limited and leaden-footed. I am sure Ronan McCarthy will have this well flagged and will endeavour to ensure it’s not a factor, referencing it in his press conference.
He will have conducted an honest video review on the semi-final, highlighting what they did well for positive affirmation, but also looking at the areas to improve on, the areas that training has been built around for the last fortnight.
This video session generally brings everyone back down to earth and leaves the previous game in the rear-view mirror. The focus moves to the next game, taking the learnings from the previous win and striving to improve to keep the graph going in the right direction.
Last time out their game plan was built on a strong shape, work rate and heart. They will look to add to this tomorrow.
They set up to contain Kerry, to stay in the contest for as long as possible and then deliver a knockout blow if possible. It worked to a tee.
Ironically, Tipperary will probably adopt a similar approach tomorrow. Cork’s approach will dictate what type of match we have, and I will be curious to see if they come out and go after the game. I hope they do because if both teams set out with a containment policy we will end up with a low scoring stalemate.
There are some interesting parallels with the league game in February. Back then in the previous game against Down, Cork had been very impressive at the back, but less so upfront winning on the scoreline of 0-16 to 1-8. They were not clinical and missed a few key goal chances. For the two weeks in the lead into the Tipperary game, they clearly focused on attacking play in training and scored an impressive 3-13 that night.
Significantly though they also conceded 21 points. They looked to be searching for that elusive balance between attack and defence when Covid-19 struck. For the Kerry game, they clearly erred on the side of caution but will probably look to be a bit more expansive tomorrow.
While conditions were a factor against Kerry, I am sure they will have looked at aspects of their attacking play. For a start, they will aim to improve their conversion rate. Last time out they converted 54% of their scoring chances. A combination of shot selection, skill execution and the conditions fed into this.
To win silverware this will have to go north, significantly. They have probably built shooting drills and conditioned games into their sessions over the last fortnight to address this.
They will also look for variety in attack. Of their 1-12 total 1-8 came from turnovers, be they forced through effective tackling or by Kerry turning over the ball by not putting it dead. They will have worked on alternative scoring methods.
An obvious area for improvement would have been the area of kickouts to scores. They only scored one point off the Kerry kickout and two points from their own.
On their own kickout the tactics were interesting. They went long with all but one, winning 61%, which is low by current standards. I will be interested to see if they look to vary this tomorrow because winning and moving kickouts on at pace can help with attacking diversity.
From the Tipperary perspective, they have been building nicely since the resumption of action and are on a solid winning run. They have beaten a good Clare team already in the championship and did enough against a plucky Limerick.
Bill Maher, Robbie Kiely and Jack Kennedy are all playing well. Conor Sweeney is a big threat up front and is enjoying life playing central at 14. Against Limerick, the introduction of Brian Fox and Liam Boland at half time was critical to their comeback, with the former kicking the match-winning score.
Michael Quinlivan was very good in the third quarter when Tipperary hauled themselves back into the game, showing good leadership and taking the fight to Limerick as they scored 1-6 on the bounce. Surprisingly he was peripheral for much of the rest of the match. For Tipperary to win tomorrow he will need to perform at his 2016 levels.
Colin O’Riordan is a good ace in the hole to have and it will be intriguing to see can he have the impact that Conor McKenna had for Tyrone on his return. I think it will be hard for him to perform at that level but it is a fascinating subplot.
Tipperary won’t fear Cork, but I was surprised this week how bullish David Power was publicly. I think his message would have been more powerful if it was delivered to his players behind closed doors to motivate and assure them.
If the whole country is thinking Cork are going to win, let them at it. The time for the surprise is Sunday, rather than alerting the opposition a few days out.
Opportunity knocks for both teams. Kerry will come roaring back with a vengeance next year, driven by the failure of this season.
Tipperary can win a first Munster Championship in 85 years, but Cork possibly have even more to gain. Win and they will feel that they have arrived as a team with the sky the limit.
Lose and they are back to square one. The All Blacks have a great expression about going for the gap.
We are about to find out if Cork have the courage and capabilities to do just that.
