Christy O'Connor's Talking Points: It's now clear these Rebels have Limerick's number
IN CONTROLE: Eoin Downey of Cork clears under pressure from Peter Casey of Limerick during the Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship Round 2 match between Cork and Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Surrounded. Engulfed. Ensnared. As Shane O’Brien was scrambling to try and win a breaking ball off a Limerick puckout in the 63rd minute of Sunday's Munster SHC clash, O’Brien hadn’t a chance with four Cork players around him. By that stage, Limerick had brought O’Brien out to the half-forward line to try and secure possession. Because they couldn’t get him on the ball close to goal. All afternoon.
After scoring his second point in the 11th minute, O’Brien didn’t secure possession again until the 36th minute, which also resulted in a point. In the second half, O’Brien was restricted to just two possessions; he hit one wide and was fouled for a converted free.
It was unrealistic to expect O’Brien to carry such a big load in the absence of Aaron Gillane. That was clearly built into Limerick’s gameplan because they were doing more shooting on sight from distance. Gillane’s absence was eventually telling in the second half because Limerick just weren’t efficient enough - their conversion rate was just 43 per cent after the break.
Cork though, deserve a huge amount of credit by how well they shut down that supply. Limerick had threatened to cut Cork open in the first ten minutes with the bountiful supply of ball into their full-forward line but Cork gradually got a handle on that flow by dropping bodies back closer to the full-back line, or getting more heat on the intended Limerick targets.
The Cork half-back line of Rob and Eoin Downey and Mark Coleman were impressive. Coleman did concede seven shots to Cathal O’Neill but he was giving up that space by trying to keep some defensive shape. Cork also always had decent control too around the middle from the outset of the second quarter. Cian Lynch was incredible in the opening 15 minutes when providing five assists but Lynch only had six more possessions before being sent off in the 50th minute.
Considering that they had an extra man for close to 25 minutes, losing this game would have haunted Cork. They still only had the same amount of shots as Limerick (40 each). Cork shipped 1-13 off turnovers. They could have had another couple of goals. But Cork still ground it out.
Limerick will point to their second half inaccuracy, their failure to get enough ball into the full-forward line, particularly O’Brien, the dismissal of Lynch, the loss of Gillane, conceding too much off the Cork puckout (1-10) – and yet, they still could have won the game.
The flipside though, is that Limerick have now failed to beat Cork in four of their last five championship games.
When Conor Turbitt scored Armagh’s second goal in the 41st minute against Fermanagh in Brewster Park on Saturday evening, Armagh already had 2-20 on the board. With half an hour remaining, and Armagh ahead by 20 points, Kieran McGeeney’s side looked set to dole out one of the biggest beatdowns in provincial championship history. And then Fermanagh made sure they didn’t by reminding them that this is the Ulster championship.
Ulster is such a brutal environment that teams rarely get railroaded to the degree with which Armagh had threatened. Armagh still won by 11 points but Fermanagh were incredible after that Turbitt goal when scoring 1-18 in the final 29 minutes. The game was long over by half-time when they trailed by 16 points but Fermanagh showed all the conviction and accuracy in that half that had been completely absent before the break.
Fermanagh missed a staggering 14 shots in the first half. The third-lowest scoring team across the four divisions were always going to come under pressure to build any scoreboard pressure or momentum. And then, out of nowhere, Fermanagh contributed to the highest-scoring game in Ulster championship history.
That record had been set last year when Armagh and Antrim amassed 63 points, but that total was surpassed on Saturday by two points. Armagh racked up 1-34 in that match against Antrim 12 months ago but their 2-32 here set the record for the highest score in the Ulster championship. And it could have been far higher. Two goals could have been at least six for Armagh.
This match produced a whopping 73 shots, which are hurling numbers. Those digits were embellished by the outstanding individual contribution of Fermanagh’s Darragh McGurn, who bagged 1-12 from play, 1-11 of which came in the second half.
Nobody could have seen that coming after Turbitt’s goal but McGurn had already found his range by then, having clocked 0-5 in the opening nine minutes of the half. And McGurn and his team-mates continued to rage against the machine to ensure that the machine didn’t completely roll over Fermanagh.
In the 43rd minute of Saturday’s Clare-Kerry Munster semi-final, David Clifford’s 2-point attempt dropped short and, after Cillian Brennan and Mike Breen scrapped for possession, Paudie Clifford clipped the ball to the net once it came loose.
Kerry’s second goal from David Clifford also came from a similar play. Clifford’s point attempt (after his marker Ikem Ugwueru was again taken out of the equation by a controversial screen play for the second time in the match) dropped short. Seán O’Brien and Brendy Rouine were under the ball but O’Brien did enough to impede goalkeeper Tristan O’Callaghan and the ball went straight to the net.
Those two goals were decisive but they also effectively told the story of the game. Kerry were a little short overall – but it was still enough to get the job done.
Kerry didn’t get off anywhere near the amount of shots they’d have liked – but they were still highly efficient. The standout statistic of the afternoon was the wide count; Kerry only kicked four wides across the 70 plus minutes; Clare had just one wide.
It wasn’t as if both sides were nailing everything, especially Kerry. Mark O’Shea rattled the crossbar in the 50th minute. O’Callaghan made a great save from O’Brien eight minutes later. Killian Spillane’s point came from an Evan Looney point shot that dropped short into the arms of Mike Breen, who set up Spillane.
Kerry eventually got on top of the Clare kickout, with Clare only retaining 22 per cent of their own restart in the second half. Kerry’s priority in the coming weeks will be trying to get bodies back but so will ratcheting up the pace for Cork. Tom O’Sullivan’s injury is another concern but at least Diarmuid O’Connor played 70 minutes, while Gavin White came on for the last 15 minutes.
Paudie Clifford is still naturally chasing match-sharpness too after an injury layoff but he still scored 1-1 from play and assisted another 0-2. And David is still David. Despite being closely marked by Ugwueru, David Clifford still scored 1-3 from play from seven shots. And one of those shots led to his brother’s goal.
It wasn’t an intended assist but being short was enough for Kerry on the day.
Yesterday’s victory against Offaly completed a good week for the Galway hurlers, but Saturday also marked a noteworthy seven days for Galway in their storied history against Kilkenny. The win for the minors in Nowlan Park ensured that, for just the second time ever, Galway beat Kilkenny at minor, U20 and senior in the same season.
They had already done so for the first and only time in 2018 but the fact that they managed it all in the one week – with the U20s overcoming Kilkenny on Wednesday – made it all the more sweeter again for Galway.
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