Critics get their answer on occasion that matters
I never believed any of the stuff that was coming out about disharmony in the camp, about players being unhappy; again I think this display yesterday was an answer to all that.
We talk of great management, but look at the work Cork put in yesterday. They got their team ready for a battle, got their team ready for the day that really mattered, and were Cork ready! Cork got their match-ups right all over the field; Clare were caught.
I wondered if they could beat Cork four times in one year, I wondered if they could beat Cork when it most mattered; again we got those two answers yesterday.
Look at the Cork match-ups: in defence, Brian Murphy going to centre-back to mark Tony Kelly; Tom Kenny to wing-back on Colin Ryan — both worked. Better again, in attack, Seamus Harnedy to wing-forward where his size and power posed problems for Brendan Bugler, and then a lesson learned from the league relegation playoff, Patrick Horgan at full-forward. Both of those players were outstanding for Cork yesterday.
Another man I admired yesterday, Conor Lehane. Things weren’t running right for the youngster but he never gave up and eventually, I would say, he ended up having a good game overall.
My man of the match for Cork though, wasn’t any one of those — it was Conor O’Sullivan, the corner-back. Anthony Nash was brilliant in goal but O’Sullivan excelled in covering all through, knew what he was doing on the ball all the time, and held Conor McGrath very well — to such an extent McGrath was replaced eventually.
As a Clare man this morning I’m disappointed, I won’t pretend otherwise. We had great hopes for this team and I actually tipped them to win this game. But as a long-time follower of hurling I’m delighted for Barry-Murphy particularly, for the men he has with him in his back-room team, and for Cork hurling generally.
Cork in championship are a different animal, and the Cork defence in particular personified that. They were fiery, like six Jack Russell terriers, all with the tail cut short — eat you on the ball!
They’re in a Munster final and fair dues to them for that, but lest anyone go on with ‘Oh, ye all wrote us off’ nonsense — we did not. Even those who were tipping Clare were doing so reluctantly, knowing the bite there was in Cork.
I was at a wedding in Glandore on Saturday, my son Anthony taking a beautiful Cork woman, Alicia Nyhan, as his bride — there’s no doubt about who has the bragging rights now on that honeymoon! To Clare — I think they’re a bit over-rated. I know where the praise is coming from, and they do have outstanding players won two U21 titles, but they haven’t done anything great at this level yet.
Cork outplayed Clare on the field but outfoxed them on the line also. I wondered how some of the star Clare forwards would play when they were closely marked; Cork shackled a lot of those players. Yes, Clare created goal chances, but no point talking about that afterwards — you’ve got to take those chances, that’s what championship hurling is about. Cork were the better team yesterday, by a distance.
If Clare are to improve they have to start being more intelligent on the ball, a little more composed. And they need leaders to step forward in every game, not just every now and again.
Davy Fitz, Louis Mulqueen and Mike Deegan now have a big job on their hands to pick this team up again, and if they draw the losers of Dublin/Kilkenny it’s not going to get any easier for them in the next round.
The potential is there but they’re going to need to circle the wagons, have an honest look at themselves.
I just wonder, are they too programmed? Are they trying to put too much structure into their game? To the Leinster championship and Dublin/Kilkenny. We all expected Dublin to put up a fight. They did that but they didn’t win, and against Kilkenny especially, that’s the name of the game.
Can Dublin come back and beat them in a replay? That’s the big question, isn’t it? Dublin faced a big task yesterday, they face an even bigger task the next time — ask Galway!
In the qualifiers, Wexford had their expected win over Antrim, Waterford likewise against Offaly, while Westmeath beat London. It’s all shaping up nicely isn’t it? Those of us who were predicting an open championship in Munster, in Leinster and in the All-Ireland itself are so far being proved right.
