Devil-may-care day a throwback to a bygone era
After a couple of years of strategising that would do justice to the military theorists of St. Cyr, Cork and Dublin reverted to the orthodox alignment in Jones’s Road and went toe to toe, with Cork coming out ahead.
All of that is not to say that tactical innovation is dead. Far from it: Dublin boss Anthony Daly tried to free a man to protect his full-back line in the final quarter, though trying that with 14 players was pretty difficult.
But there was still something liberating about the way yesterday panned out. Recognisable half-back lines. Clear-cut midfield.
Full-forward lines that operated close to the opposition goal.
The game lacked the compression that many teams have sought to impose on their opponents in recent years, and there weren’t any complaints from the spectators.
Cork’s late goal made the game safe for them, but their manager, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, was frank enough about Dublin losing Ryan O’Dwyer to a red card with a quarter of the match left: “That’s always an advantage, a break to get for a team, to be honest – if you use it intelligently. Conor O’Sullivan has played that role for us, he reads the play very well and we used him as the extra man. Certainly it was a break we needed.”
Credit Barry-Murphy for the truth. After a tit for tat first half, Dublin had the momentum, driven on by Danny Sutcliffe and Liam Rushe, but O’Dwyer’s second yellow stopped them in their tracks.
Anthony Daly disagreed with the red card, and you can read his thoughts elsewhere. But the Clare icon was also forensic in analysing the Cork goal, and characteristically generous in his best wishes to the victors.
“It was a ball we had (the goal), to drop into our danger area maybe.
“Who’s to say if we got level, if we won a puck out? You know, what if? But sure it’s all hindsight now anyway. Fair play to Cork. We wish them the very best of luck in the final.
“Obviously, I’ll have a vested interest if Clare are in the final, but you know, I’d be very fond of Jimmy (Barry-Murphy) and Ger (Cunningham) and Seanie (McGrath) and the lads.
“They’re good lads. We were down there for a training camp in April, and no problem, they gave us Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the training on the Sunday. They’re a good crowd.”
Given the season we’ve had so far we probably should have been expecting someone to be put off, and when O’Dwyer walked the game tilted significantly Cork’s way.
Anthony Nash bombed over the resulting free, Paul Ryan then missed a Dublin free and Jamie Coughlan’s subsequent point put Cork ahead and they were on the road.
As Barry-Murphy said, O’Sullivan played the free role well, having gained vital experience in match conditions against Kilkenny in the previous round.
However, the game was a live issue until Patrick Horgan – standing exactly where the inside forwards are supposed to stand – decided to follow in a speculative ball and finished to the net when Gary Maguire dithered.
His manager pointed out that a team with 14 men tends to run out of options on a field as big as Croke Park, and that was how the end game played out, with Cork containing their opponents. When the final whistle went, the men in red were a long, long way from their relegation defeat to Clare.
“It’ll be a great Division 1B next year, there’ll be great teams in it,” said Barry-Murphy.
“Seriously, though, it didn’t worry me in the slightest. Nobody likes being relegated because it’s a tag that goes with your team but while I wasn’t proud to be relegated I’ve seen teams come back from relegation before.
“It gives us time to regroup and to build up a young panel again. Well, the league is something we’ll consider in, say, six months’ time.”
Barry-Murphy has a more immediate call on his attention in September.
“Tom Kenny, Brian Murphy, Anthony Nash have been around a while, so has Shane O’Neill, so it’s not all young fellas, we have experience as well.
“I remember when I was 19, 20, there was no pressure on me – it’s when you get older you feel the pressure far more. I hope they realise that and enjoy it.”
Cork have a few questions to settle. Though Barry-Murphy shrugged off the lack of goals, they needed one yesterday and it wasn’t so much created through cunning play as a gift.
They’ll also face the dilemma about Brian Murphy, who’ll be available to play in the final: do they chance a player who’s just recovered from a serious injury and who hasn’t trained much? or do they go with the men who’ve served them thus far?
