Clare tactics backfire as relentless Rebels on the march again
Cork won the toss and elected to play against it, and they were only behind by three points at half-time — a great position to be in.
They took the game by the scruff of the neck in the first 15 minutes of the second half and rattled over eight points to lead by five.
Clare went 20 minutes without scoring, from four minutes before half-time until the impressive Paudge Collins hit his fourth point.
Cork did all the hurling in the second half, restricting Clare to four points while knocking over 0-15 themselves. Cork’s defence were very comfortable all through this second half, with Conor O’Sullivan dropping in front of Clare danger man Darach Honan.
I didn’t understand the Clare tactical approach in the second half. Honan was played as a lone forward and Clare flooded the midfield area. This created a situation where there were lots of Cork defenders close together, blocking any route to goal. As the half wore on, Clare’s only tactic was to run from deep at Cork’s massed defence, but they ran out of ideas and when Honan did get possession, he was surrounded quickly by opponents.
Anthony Nash was good and dealt comfortably with anything that came his way in the closing stages, while the Cork forwards worked hard at closing down their opponents, making good interceptions. Clare might have been better off playing an orthodox sextet up front, as their defenders took wrong options when they tried to work the ball out of their half of the field.
Also, Clare’s fitness had been impressive during the league but Cork’s momentum carried them home, scoring seven points as they came down the finishing stretch.
2. Things could have been very different at half-time yesterday if Clare had taken two goal chances early in the first half.
Cork’s selected full-back, Brian Murphy, was delegated to man-mark Clare danger man Tony Kelly and he followed the Clare man everywhere he went. This meant there was a huge gap in the centre of the Cork defence, however. Paudge Collins came in for Shane O’Donnell (who picked up a virus in the weeks before the game) and roamed across the half-forward line and as well as scoring three points, caused a lot of problems for the Cork defence.
Clare had Darach Honan up front by himself — he got a good supply and was winning the battle with his marker, Stephen McDonnell, who over-committed himself at times.
Goal chances come along seldom enough in championship matches but when they come early and they’re spurned, they usually don’t come again: ask the aforementioned Collins, Honan and Conor McGrath — who failed to pick the ball when put through by Honan on 24 minutes, summing up his day.
The normally lethal finisher also missed a gilt-edged chance five minutes into the second half: a peach of a delivery by Pat Donnellan put him clear. Conor O’Sullivan, who stuck to his task impressively, put McGrath under pressure and he struck wide from close rang.
This was the turning point of the game — by that stage Cork had levelled and Clare needed a response. Whereas in the first half they’d exploited space and created goalscoring opportunities, these dried up in the second half.
They also lost John Conlon early on with concussion and with him went the necessary physical presence needed to win some ball against the breeze in the second period.
3. Cork manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy will be pleased with this display, naturally enough. His introduction of Jamie Coughlan just before half-time added some impetus to the attack, with some good points in the second period.
Cork captain Patrick Cronin was introduced with 10 minutes left and hit over a good point also. Daniel Kearney, playing an old-fashioned game of driving from half-back line to the half-forward line, had a big influence, particularly in the second half.
Kearney’s reading of the play was very good and he made some vital interceptions. The forwards’ workrate was much better as they competed more forcefully for the ball; much of the supply they got in the second half was in the air, but they competed well for possession. Patrick Horgan was full of enthusiasm, hitting four points from play, and he battled well for possession.
It would be difficult to find fault with Cork’s overall display in the second half. They failed to test Clare keeper Patrick Kelly on any occasion, though Seamus Harnedy pointed when his strong run created a goal chance, and Cian McCarthy shot for a goal inside the first three minutes when a point was the better option. The Cork management will also want to scrutinise the first-half defensive display on DVD before the final.
Clare keeper Kelly did drive one puck-out wide, an indication of just how strong the wind was, and it was difficult to be precise with deliveries into the wind, but Cork were guilty of some aimless ball from half-back and midfield that favoured the Clare defence: Christopher Joyce started at midfield and Cork have some work to do to create an effective duo in this area.
Conor Lehane struggled in the first half but improved after the break: being part of a winning set-up will bring on the confidence of these U21 players no end.
Management will be pleased with this display as they won without hitting the high notes for 70 minutes.
They now move onto a Munster final but can expect Limerick to present a more forceful challenge.
