A stroll in the sun as Cork win at half pace
AS you would expect, Cork were well ahead of Limerick in quality yesterday. Once Aisake O hAilpín was taken down early on – and Patrick Horgan smacking the resultant penalty to the net – the pattern of the game was clear.
Cork’s ability to respond to any Limerick point with an immediate point of their own was a symbol of their authority. Cork were happy to take points at regular intervals and all their first-choice forwards, with the exception of O hAilpín, knocked over scores at various stages.
Cork were very comfortable once they got ahead and Limerick were not strong enough to cause the Rebels’ defence any real problems. Cork won well and Paudie O’Sullivan’s excellent run and well-taken goal merely reflected their huge advantage on the day. They were physically stronger and more experienced, and better hurlers overall. Cork introduced their full complement of five subs without taking from their performances as the result was a foregone conclusion from the beginning.
This would not have been a hugely satisfying victory for the Cork players. They played at little more than half-pace at times and it was far from championship intensity, though wing-forward Niall McCarthy did his confidence no harm with some valuable assists and five points from play. It was a difficult game to get up for and Cork will be happy to get out of Páirc Uí Chaoimh and into the final without any major injuries.
CORK boss Denis Walsh will be well pleased with his victory and, more importantly, the manner in which it was achieved. Cork’s performance was little more than adequate, with many shortcomings.
That latter point will please him hugely.
The Tipp performance against Tipperary was an A-plus performance; as a coach it’s difficult to take players to task on some little flaw in a performance like that. Players sometimes perceive the coach to be nitpicking in that instance, pointing out one or two things that went wrong.
Yesterday’s performance was well below the Tipp level. It contained poor team play and poor option-taking, which will occupy the video room for some long sessions.
One 65 in the first half was a case in point. In any conditions Ben O’Connor would normally knock over those chances but in yesterday’s glorious sunshine he chose to play a short ball and Cork lost possession.
Cork showed little worthwhile combined play up front and should have opened up the Limerick defence on a more regular basis. They played like individuals, hitting long, aimless cross-balls and slow ground balls inside which are normally swept up by defenders. Cork were a little indisciplined also, giving away scoreable frees that would be punished severely by a better outfit than Limerick. All in all, it was adequate, making it the ideal day for the Cork manager.
LET’S call a spade a spade – Limerick were never going to win this game, but just before half-time their wing forward Sean Herlihy swung back and connected with Cork’s Shane Murphy.
Referee James Owens correctly showed Herlihy a straight red card.
Herlihy had been fouled by Murphy but instead of going down to get his free he got himself sent off, and Limerick lost any chance of staying close to Cork with this incident.
They’d made life difficult for themselves by missing easy frees in the first half, including a penalty. Thomas O’Brien showed he was accomplished from placed balls in the second half – why he wasn’t on the frees in the first place is a question for the Limerick management.
It’d be unfair to criticise any Limerick player yesterday, as it was unfair to criticise the position they found themselves in from the beginning, but as a team they were out of their depth. Kieran O’Rourke gave an impressive display while Graeme Mulcahy got three good points from play. A Limerick banner regarding the county going backwards in hurling was unfurled in Cork yesterday. Hurling needs a strong Limerick and hopefully some reconciliation or development can take place to ensure that Limerick’s A team are playing in 2011.
