Rebels look vulnerable at the moment
My own memories of 12 seasons with Meath were of a tiredness after a match or training that may just have abated when the next game or session would come around. With the huge increase — to four or five nights’ training — nowadays I can only imagine the fatigue levels of a modern inter-county player. With that in mind we should cut them some slack.
With a mental starting point of Cork conceding 1-12 to Kerry in the first-half of last year’s Munster final, I was keen yesterday to see what surgery Conor Counihan would carry out to his defence as this year got underway in Armagh. Wing-forward Conor O’Driscoll played in defence, thus leaving Graham Canty to play a free-role. This makes a lot of sense to me and Canty showed he still has a lot to offer to Cork both in football and leadership terms. Of course the downside is this leaves Cork playing with five forwards against six backs. If their movement is poor the outfield players are not going to kick the ball in and give away possession.
With the exception of Donncha O’Connor, Cork’s movement up front was poor, which led to a lot of slow build-up play and little penetration. For the 33 minutes Cork had the full complement of players, they only had a fluke of a goal and three points to show — and no goal chances created.
Cork scored six goals in eight league matches last year but improved on this with 11 in five championship matches. Yesterday was a regression in that aspect of this team’s development. Notwithstanding that Cork played half the match with 14 players, their total of 1-7 was lower than their worst total of 2011, 2-6 against Mayo. On yesterday’s showing, Cork should play their conventional six backs and six forwards and continue to work on developing a goalscoring dimension. If they turn their regular total of 0-16 into 2-16, they won’t be beaten by anyone.
Paul Kerrigan’s sending-off had a massive effect on yesterday’s draw. Armagh had a single free on the board before the dismissal (courtesy of keeper Ken O’Halloran picking the ball off the ground) but managed nine points after the sending-off. The fact that the incident happened in front of the main stand ignited the previously muted home crowd and turned what was a glorified challenge match into a tussle that Armagh tore into with almost championship intensity. Kerrigan should be annoyed with himself as he had the chance to walk away from the situation with probably just a yellow card for both players; he elected not to and looks like facing a hefty suspension as a result. I have often felt Cork could do with more aggression but not channelled in this way. I feel they would be smart to accept that Paul was wrong and the officials got it right. Learn from it and move on.
Apart from having the extra man, Armagh got on top at midfield in the third quarter, mainly through Malachy Mackin who drove forward and won frees, also kicking a great score. Cork were vulnerable when Armagh ran at them, they conceded frees and three defenders picked up yellow cards. Not all these were frees but if you don’t pick up runners, you give a referee the chance to award frees. Where Armagh previously had shown Cork too much respect, they got stuck in and tackled ferociously, turning over casual Cork players in possession a number of times. Cork substitute Sean Kiely showed great leadership to kick a score from the sideline to break a sequence of seven unanswered Armagh points and used the ball intelligently when it was needed.
Canty then forced a brilliant turnover which ended in a Mark Collins point. Cork will be relieved to have come away with a point. In their defence, their free-takers are normally reliable but the pitch was so bare it made kicking off the ground very difficult. Fintan Goold was a good option for winning kickouts but didn’t work his marker hard enough to be an option for his own defenders.
Cork look vulnerable for now. They have a lot to do in terms of deciding their tactics, their attitude and work-rate. Their discipline is normally excellent but they don’t want to go down the road of having players missing through suspension on top of current injuries. Just like Dublin’s physios played an important role in keeping Bernard Brogan injury-free for the championship, Cork’s physios will play a key role in returning their injured forwards to optimum performance. They also need Aidan Walsh back to the levels he reached in the 2010 All-Ireland final. A young player serving many masters is entitled to a dip in form but this is a crucial year for him.
To finish on a positive note; the best piece of skill yesterday was Donncha O’Connor’s first half point, kicked over his shoulder from a tight angle. It was worth the entrance fee.
