Patrick Horgan: Cork v Tipp was my first championship game as a spectator
STARVED OF SUPPLY: Cork need to hit their inside forward duo Alan Connolly, pictured, and Brian Hayes, with a better supply next weekend. Picture: INPHO/James Lawlor
Cork are exactly where they’d want to be after the first round in Munster, job done but still have loads to work on. Tipp are under savage pressure now though, no point in saying otherwise.
There was a lot of talk about revenge for the All-Ireland final but while that was in the back of everyone in Cork’s minds, it was more important just to get up and running for this year. New management team under Ben O’Connor, coming off of a disappointing league final and with Limerick next Sunday. Now I know that’s down the Páirc but they love playing there. So if Cork lost you would have been questioning everything.
It was my first championship game as a spectator but I was in the studio for The Sunday Game so it was very different that way. But look I didn’t find it too strange. Fellas would be asking ‘do you miss it?’ but the way I am, if I’m not in something, I’m grand.
In county set-ups you have to be putting in those five sessions a week for months on end to deserve to be there when the ball is thrown in. And I’m busy out, involved with the Cork U20s as selector, there’s the club, family, work.
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You’d be nearly saying to yourself, ‘how did I make that commitment for so long?’Â
Obviously I was delighted that Cork won but I was nearly more disappointed by Tipp. They were so flat. They did fine in the first half but there wasn’t the same pace or energy you normally get with a Liam Cahill team.
In the second half, they ended up being outscored 0-11 to 0-1 in a spell where it was lost for them obviously but they couldn’t stay with Cork, and they weren’t able to get the sliotar up the pitch.
Now I know they brought it down to four points at the end and Alan Tynan stuck a great goal but there was nothing penetrating about their attacking play. They weren’t really taking fellas on.
I’m not sure what fitness work they’d done but a lot of lads didn’t play very much in the league, the likes of Robert Doyle and Michael Breen. It might be just they were short match practice but you saw it when Breen was pulled up for catching the sliotar three times and had a good bit of space in front of him. There were a lot of ‘tired’ mistakes.
Even Darragh McCarthy when he came on. He didn’t have the same fire as last year. Jake Morris would normally be turning fellas inside out, taking on every defender. We didn’t see much of that apart from a few times in the first half.
They’ve to go down to Waterford next Sunday and whoever loses there will be as good as out. I think Waterford have targeted this one all year because they knew it would be tricky going up to Ennis, their home games are where they’ll be looking to pick up points. Waterford did well against Clare, ended up with four goals and that was without using their inside line enough — they took way too many pot-shots out the field.
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I hope Tipp can turn it around because I really like their style and their players. I know people think I haven’t given enough credit to them for winning the All-Ireland last year but when Tipp are going well they’re class to watch.
Cork decided to freshen things up a bit and you expect that with a new management team. They brought in two new forwards in William Buckley and Barry Walsh and it couldn’t have gone much better. Dream stuff really, they were one-two in the man of the match voting.
Barry was nearly trying to do too much early on. He got caught in possession a few times and that can knock your confidence but he ended up having a savage game. He got four points but his work-rate and running stood out and he sent a class ball into Brian Hayes for his point.
Buckley was brilliant. He was on a lot of second balls, picking up breaks, being in the right position and he was so clinical. I would have a slight worry about the amount of ball going in to the full-forward line though. If I was there I’d be looking for a lot more because you need double-digits of passes coming in. It’s no good if you only get three or four balls sent your way because you’re under unreal pressure to win them then. Any bit of spoiling and your man gets a real lift.
Alan Connolly and Hayes hardly got a ball in that first half though it was a bit better in the second half. You just need that mixed game even though we’ve always been very good in Cork at running the ball with the types of players we have.
There’s a knock-on effect because if there’s good ball going in the opposition half-back line have to sit off more to clog the space. You can pick off your scores off the field then and have more options around the middle for puck-outs.
You wear teams down with a variety so that’s somewhere Cork definitely need to find the balance.
Cork did very well defensively and I was delighted for my two club men Eoin and Rob Downey. We all know how much they’ve been questioned, not just around the country but here as well. That kind of talk wouldn’t impact them at all though. They’ve performed at a high level before, both of them have won All-Stars, and they know their ability.
That’s the way with hurling, what you do today is forgotten about tomorrow. You’ll always have ups and downs. I wouldn’t question the boys and I always laugh when I hear ‘they don’t have the legs…’ Go run with them and you’ll see how fast they are. It always looks worse for a big man when a forward goes past you.
It goes back to space. And closing it down. Take Seán O’Donoghue. In the league final he couldn’t do anything about the ball being delivered in for Aaron Gillane. He didn’t have that problem in Thurles.
You can’t leave a fella isolated and that’s for the half-back line as much as the full-back line.
Free-taking was brought up by Anthony Daly on RTÉ Sunday and I know Cork missed a few from out the field but I’d have no problem at all with the boys, they’re all well able. I’ve hit enough frees with them before training to know that.
Tim O’Mahony, Alan Connolly, Mark Coleman and plenty more can send them over the bar. For the longer frees I’d leave Coleman hit them, I think he’d have a high enough percentage.
The most important thing is nearly sticking with one. Don’t chop and change, if you’re on them, you’re on them.
Connolly’s done very well on the closer frees in the last few games. The only one he missed in Thurles was hard.
Now I do think long-range frees are right up Deccie Dalton’s street. Grand if you don’t start him but I’d be carrying him on the panel for his striking ability, even to come on late in the game, penalties, all that.
It’s the same with Shane Kingston, who wasn’t on the 26 either at the weekend. He’s proved himself loads of times in tight games. The Limerick game in 2024 and the same in beating Tipp, coming off the bench and hitting points straight away. He was man of the match against Kilkenny five years ago as a sub and made the difference in the Munster final last year.
You need those lads to help you swing games. They should definitely be on the panel against Limerick.
