Patrick Kelly: It’s football, but not as we knew it!
Colm O'Callaghan of Cork in action against Niall Sharkey of Louth during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Cork and Louth at Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
As I took my seat at the Blackrock end of the South Stand on Saturday an ominous sight greeted me. Louth were mid warm up with numbers one to fifteen defending inside the 45 metre line while the nine or ten subs worked the ball over and back struggling to make any inroads. Mickey Harte directed operations with the look of a man who liked what he saw.
It took just ten seconds of the match for this scene to be repeated as Cork gathered possession from the throw-in and the Louth cavalry duly retreated into their well drilled defensive structure. This pattern was repeated ad nauseam in what was up there as one of the most unenjoyable matches I have ever watched. To consolidate matters Louth not only conceded Cork’s kickouts but also to a man dropped inside their own 45 before Chris Kelly could even get the ball down on the tee. The sight of Sam Mulroy lining up a free with the rest of his teammates already stationed inside their own 45m line was new to me. It was more akin to Ronan O’Gara slotting a penalty for Munster before joining his teammates for the opposition half way line restart. It’s football, but not as we knew it!
I’m well aware of the backlash to some of the criticism of last Sunday’s Ulster final with plenty of people highlighting that all sports have teams that play with different systems and styles depending on their own comparable strengths and weaknesses. In some quarters it was felt that the Derry Donegal arm wrestle was intriguing as opposed to boring. I understand that viewpoint and appreciate the occasion would have added to the atmosphere in Clones. However, in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday you could hear a pin drop such was the pedestrian nature of the game. The fact that rule changes was a point of discussion at halftime with a few former Cork teammates tells you how drab the first half was.
Cork, to their credit did most things right in my eyes. They started six forwards and tried to play them high up the pitch. Any modern day coach would have been in their element shouting mantras such as “width”, “depth”, “recycle”, “loop”, etc. among any other buzzwords you can think of. Cork did all of those things well and didn’t get sucked into Louth bodies too often.
Cork were in a tricky situation where there was only so long you can play around the blanket defence before someone had to take a chance and try to break a tackle. This inevitably led to some turnovers that won’t look pretty in video analysis but understandable given the impasse.
Cork tried to apply pressure high up the field but with the amount of Louth bodies deep, they were content to slow them down and set up their own defensive shield. Seán Powter played as Cork’s plus one and marshalled things excellently while also getting forward in the second half to create a goal. Louth’s first half goal did however come from one of the few times Powter tried to apply pressure around the opposite 65’ and his absence was exploited as Louth carved Cork open for a goal that seemed so unlikely.
Cork will be disappointed with their percentages on the Louth kickout. Cork won just three of the opposition’s 16 kickouts despite an aggressive high press. Louth generally had 14 outfield players in their own half for kickouts and with Cork trying to hold back a few men to cover a counter attack they allowed pockets to be picked too easily.
One tactical trick that I felt Cork missed was on display last weekend in Clones with Derry’s positioning of up to five players in the full forward line on slow attacks. The knock on effect of drawing five markers back on to the end line is that there are fewer bodies to clog up the scoring zone around the D. Cork, with a greasy ball, found it difficult to create openings in the high percentage scoring zones.
While playing sensibly keeping possession, Cork lacked variety. The presence of half-time substitute Brian Hayes and the odd visit of Ian Maguire and Colm O’Callaghan to the edge of the square were ignored on every occasion. They may be low percentage passes but one or two a half can drag the cover back on subsequent attacks, freeing up space further out.
Two men who didn’t need much space or much of an invitation to shoot were Brian Hurley and Stephen Sherlock. It was a day when even the slightest opening for these two was worth a pot. Sherlock’s reliability from deadballs is a huge asset to Cork and Hurley was the best he’s been all year with his finishing and work rate.
Louth to their credit came at Cork after Hurley’s goal and it made for an interesting final ten minutes. They rattled off 1-3 in those final moments when they pressed Cork’s kickout and threw caution to the wind. They will regret waiting so long before coming out of their shell. Promotion to Division Two was always their main target for this year and we’ll see next spring if they can continue to make progress.
Cork will go again next weekend buoyed by another solid display. They appear to be a team who now know their preferred starting side and tactical setup. Survival in Division Two, a decent showing against Kerry and now a qualifier win under their belt, Cork are now entering bonus territory. A win next weekend would transform an adequate season into a positive one with the potential for an All-Ireland quarter-final slot up for grabs.
