Anthony Daly: This was a match Cork simply had to win
Cork's Darragh Flynn celebrates after the game with Eoin Carey. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
When we were recording our Irish Examiner podcast earlier today, Mark Landers didn’t sugarcoat or water down the importance of tonight’s Munster U20 final against Tipperary.
Landers cut straight to the point. Cork had to win.
It had been a poor year for Cork hurling. The seniors had struggled. The minors, who were heavily-fancied, ended up getting beaten by Limerick by 12 points.
Another U20 final defeat to Tipp would have almost been too much to take. That was the pressure on these young Cork players’ shoulders, but, manfully they stood up and got the job done.
Even watching the match from in front of the fire in west Clare, you could almost feel the whole Cork hurling public exhale deeply at the final whistle. When Tipp had suddenly shaved a six-point deficit down to one score and Eoghan Connolly dropped that last second free into the Cork square, you were nearly thinking, ‘Surely Tipp aren’t going to poison Cork again with another late goal?’
Cork held firm and that was a metaphor for the whole evening. The players kept their heads and held their composure while Pat Ryan and his management team weren’t afraid to make the changes again to get the job done. The bench may not have contributed 1-12 like they did against Limerick but the impact of the subs was decisive, especially Shane O’Regan and Jack Cahalane.
Some of them were big calls. Cork changed their midfield.Taking off Alan Connolly was another big decision especially when he hadn’t missed a free and placed balls were always likely to be decisive late on.
Nobody saw this match developing a six-point margin coming down the home straight but Cork hit the front at the right time because they had got a grip on the last quarter by that stage. Yet, with the madness that is hurling, Tipp could have nicked it again at the death.
Cork were the better team. They fully deserved to win but Tipp will have regrets. Eoghan Davis made three excellent saves when a Tipp goal, especially in the first half, could have opened some daylight between the teams.
Shane Barrett was a deserving man-of-the-match because five points from play was absolutely colossal in such a tight game.
He came on for the seniors against Dublin but I knew very little about him prior to the U20 game against Limerick. But from what I’ve seen in the last two matches, he looks like an excellent prospect.
Barrett is really tidy and economical in tight scenarios and his point in the first half with three Tipp guys around him was the score of the match. There was hardly any backswing in his stroke but Barrett still had the power in his wrists to get the ball over the bar. When he got his point to put Cork ahead 0-14 to 0-13 I wrote down on my notepad ‘Massive score’. It was.
Cork were economical with the chances they got from play whereas Tipp seemed to butcher that final pass once too often when goal chances were on . Conor Bowe never really fired and if Andrew Ormond had started the game the way he finished it, the result could have been different; most of his 1-3 came late on.
Tipp started like a team that had targeted a good start after being so slow out of the blocks against Clare and Waterford. But they didn’t translate enough of that possession into scores and Cork really began to hit their groove by the 20th minute when four rapid-fire points saw them stretch ahead by double scores.
Tipp were always going to charge back at them and Cork never lost sight of what they needed to do. They were strong and robust in the tackle and they stood up well in the physical battle. They also had some excellent performances at the back; Eoin Roche was really impressive at full-back while Ciaran Joyce grew into the match as it developed.
At the other side, Eoghan Connolly was brilliant for Tipp; he was defiant to the last while his four long range frees were superbly struck. I’m sure it's a tough trip home for Connolly and his team-mates tonight but Cork know all about long journeys home after defeats to Tipp in U20 finals.
And the whole county fully deserve to bask in the warm afterglow of this success.
