Mr Mo Mentum on Dublin’s side as Limerick show lack of composure
Mo thrives on lack of composure from opponents and Limerick were guilty of this sin down the stretch in their All-Ireland Qualifier defeat to Dublin in Thurles on Saturday night.
Games turn on small things. A basic mistake decided this one. Two Limerick defenders went for a high ball at the edge of the square with Dublin’s Mark Schutte.
It was a classic blunder. The wily Dublin corner forward Dotsie O’Callaghan waited for the break and goaled. Reinebold’s Mr Mo Mentum always picks the winner and he stayed with Dublin from there to the finish.
Dublin played a two man inside attack with ‘corner forward’ Paul Ryan moving out to the half line.
Schutte was well marshalled by Seamus Hickey. However, they had no answer for Ryan, who was magnificent, scoring six points from play. Limerick dominated the early stages of the game leading1-8 to 0-3 after 26 minutes.
Dublin began with Johnny McCaffrey as a holding player in front of sweeper Liam Rushe while their colleagues man-marked in defence. Dublin had plenty of possession through short puck-outs but they seemed confused in the middle third and long ball forward was poorly directed. Effectively Limerick lost the game in this period of dominance.
Their forward line lacked a goal threat with Graeme Mulcahy at half forward.
Dublin’s management then introduced Dotsie O’Callaghan. His movement and enthusiasm made a huge difference. McCaffrey was pushed forward with Rushe now marking David Breen. Dublin were revitalised and rattled off nine unanswered points.
As the clock wound down Limerick’s long deliveries from defence played into the hands of Rushe who thundered into the game driving Dublin forward
Manager Ger Cunningham will be pleased with his evenings work. He made some very good sideline calls and answered his critics!
The manner in which Cork won will have pleased their management and supporters no end.
“The forward unit needs to lay down a marker with an aggressive disciplined display from the off.” - These were my final words on Saturday and the forward unit’s high work rate and application from start to finish contributed hugely to Cork’s success.
Patrick Horgan played at centre forward and was hugely influential, although he stills needs some ‘one to one’ guidance to improve his support play.
Cork had three unanswered points at the end of the first half, with a great last score from Pa Cronin and again finished the game with a strong surge.
Onfield leadership is a basic requirement for any team. Seamus Harnedy provides this in spades in every game but pride of place goes to Bill Cooper this week. He was a colossus. His physicality and never say die attitude as he drove forward and tracked back continually, aided and abetted by Brian Lawton,went a long way in propelling Cork to victory.
This ‘tracking back’, largely absent from Cork’s play until the Wexford game reached new heights against the Banner and the ferocious work rate by all the forwards forced the Clare defence to strike under pressure.
Down the closing stretch this greatly reduced Clare’s favoured choice of attack - offloading to runners through midfield.
Clare will look back at this game and rue some missed chances. As early as the tenth minute Conor McGrath sliced through the Cork defence. He could have gone a little further and shot for goal but offloaded an awkward pass to Shane O’Donnell and the chance was lost.
In the context of the game it was a big moment. Clare manager Davy Fitzgerald may regret not confining McGrath inside for the full game as a goal at any stage would have been a huge score.
All Cork’s substitutes made good contributions while Colm Galvin was the only Clare replacement to make an impact.
I can’t understand why such a quality player didn’t start and wasn’t introduced until the 48th minute.
Cork manager Jimmy Barry Murphy got the defensive match ups spot on and this was a vital factor in the game. Discipline was also key. Clare had only three points from frees while Cork held Clare scoreless for the last 12 minutes.
Cormac and Brian Murphy were outstanding while Mark Ellis played cleverly at the back.
Cork scored five unanswered points down the stretch, leading by three at the close. Traditions die hard. But in two games JBM has altered tradition.
Cork now have a system — and it works.
