Walsh boost as Rebel young guns offer glimpse into future
Eamon was a brother of the well-known hurling legend Joe and he was steeped in Kilkenny, head of the supporters’ club for many years and did a huge amount for the modern Kilkenny team over the last decade and more. He died last week after a short illness, my sympathy to his family — there’s a corner of Langton’s that will never be the same.
To the games, and as I predicted on Saturday Galway beat Dublin and Kilkenny beat Waterford, which throws this division wide open again. I didn’t get the Cork/Tipp game right, but it ! was the game I was at, in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, and so it’s the game we’ll focus on today — on one half of it anyway.
Prior to the second-half the only entertainment we got was from the four trad musicians down on the field before the game started, and from the Respect game involving the youngsters on the pitch at half-time.
In the first-half I saw people yawning, talking to each other, nothing happening on the field to attract their interest. And remember, these were two teams with a good chance to make a statement yesterday, not just in the league but for later on in the season as well, then they meet in the Munster championship in May.
There were nearly 8,000 fans in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and really, for a game of this importance you’d have expected more.
Little wonder that people are staying away — with every euro a prisoner nowadays everyone is being very careful about their spending, and they’re not going to fork out for stuff like this. I’ve said this already this year, and I’ll say it again — for the last two rounds of the league the GAA must drop their prices.
I have a question though, on the entertainment value — after half-time there was a distinct improvement in the standard of play, so, why we couldn’t we have had that in the first half?
We saw both teams indulge themselves in lengthy and elaborate warm-ups — what was wrong, were those warm-ups not long enough? Or perhaps were they too long?
Anyway, enough of that. I’m going to by-pass the first-half completely, instantly forgettable for all of us, especially forgettable for most of the players. And I’m not going to say anything about Michael Cussen either — I’ve said my piece on that. So, let’s go to the second-half.
Within five minutes of the restart, and having been a point behind at the break, Cork went four points up, Luke O’Farrell with the goal. Why? Because they played with a bit of urgency, and from there to the end we had a real match.
I want to give the Cork management credit here; they’ve introduced a lot of new talent to the scene this year, and I was very impressed yesterday with Stephen McDonnell, with late starter James Nagle, and with Luke O’Farrell, all of whom played well. Pa Cronin also starred, in his best position of midfield, Cian McCarthy likewise at centre-forward – well done to Denis Walsh and company for the players they picked, and the positions in which they were picked (apart from the one).
I think we saw the future for Cork in a lot of positions yesterday, and the experience gained from these type of games, second-half especially, will bring them on. Mind you, when it all boiled down to the last few minutes we were still looking at the Cork old guard stepping forward. Ronan Curran, looking sharper and fitter than I’ve seen him at any time this year, and Jerry O’Connor, impact again in midfield, and both with a fantastic point apiece.
A negative though. I like Eoin Cadogan as a player, but I didn’t like the way he stayed down after the little altercation he had with John O’Brien. If you’re man enough to go head to head with your opponent, as Eoin did with John, then be man enough to stay on your feet, or get back on your feet if you’re put down.
Eoin stayed down, worked a second yellow card for O’Brien, who was then sent off — not a nice thing to see.
To Tipperary, their injury woes continue, outstanding corner-back Paddy Stapleton carried off yesterday — has to be a real worry now for the Tipp management. One worry they don’t have — the character of this team, though here again the fightback was led by an old-stager, Benny Dunne’s individual goal bringing them back into it.
What it told us most of all, and with an eye on the championship at the end of May, there is nothing between these two teams; hopefully we’ll see a full 70 minutes of action in Thurles!
All round, the draw was a fair result.
