Why it’s all gone blue for Cork hurling
It will be a long time before Nowlan Park is artificially illuminated. However, it’s not a lit-up Páirc Uí Rinn that will have them believing they’re in another dimension. After all, they sampled it 13 months ago. No, that will be the bewildering sight of Cork men in blue jerseys.
As part of the 1916 commemorations and for one night only, Kieran Kingston’s men will don the county’s original colours with a large yellow “C” emblazoned across their chests. When a change of attitude is so badly required in Cork hurling, it’s their jersey that will be switched. Dare say, the gesture couldn’t have come at a worse time.
A fourth consecutive defeat, fifth including last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Galway, and that “C” may be considered Cork’s own scarlet letter. What might it stand for? Confused? Calamitous? Chastened?
To put the recent dismal run in context, not since the strike spring of 2009, when Cork fielded a third-string team, have they lost three consecutive league games. Even when they were relegated from Division 1A in 2013, their worst stretch of results was back-to-back defeats.
Their concession rate is among the worst of the Liam MacCarthy Cup teams. In their last 20 league and championship games, they have only managed to keep a team under 20 points on four occasions. On Saturday, Dublin became the fifth team to post 30 points or more against Cork over that same number of matches.
At the other end, goal shyness has become a debilitating characteristic of the Cork team this decade. Seamus Harnedy has scored three of Cork’s four goals in this campaign, the other coming from a Patrick Horgan free, but two of his efforts at the weekend were consolation scores. In the previous 20 outings, Cork have found the net on just 27 occasions. In just three of those fixtures have they managed more than two goals, both coming in league shoot-outs against Tipperary, which they lost.
Notice we make no differentiation between the Jimmy Barry-Murphy era and Kingston’s early reign simply because there has been no indication of development or change from this year to last. Early days, you might say, but the personnel remains largely the same. Five of the alterations to this season’s panel were there before. New faces like William Leahy and Stephen Murphy have so far been used sparingly. It was notable on Saturday Kingston mentioned the presence of a development panel. Even at this stage, dipping into it appears necessary.
Tactics-wise, Cork are where they were last summer — falling between two stools. A more defensive approach has been touted this season but their ability to ape Waterford’s sweeper system last July was called into question when Galway posted 2-28 against them while putting another 23 shots wide or short. Cork had picked off Wexford and Clare following their neighbours’ example but Galway exposed their unfamiliarity with the style. But does every player buy into playing deep? Has it now reached a stage where it is simply anathema to them? Reviewing their defeat to Dublin on RTÉ’s Allianz League Sunday, Cyril Farrell questioned whether the tactics suits Cork. “They brought back an extra man as a sweeper but when you do that the other six have to mark as tight, six inches in front. Only one can sweep and then you have to bring three or four across midfield. Now that’s completely alien to Cork.”
Sitting beside Farrell, Eddie Brennan rightly highlighted Cork’s lax defensive play. It’s repetitive at this stage. Both against Waterford and in the opening round in Pearse Stadium, the backs were alarmingly laissez-faire in shadowing their men. At the weekend, former Galway star Peter Finnerty said: “In a lot of cases in the modern game not alone with Galway, the art of marking has gone”.
It left Cork some time ago. Committing more players into Cork’s half, it seems, has given defenders a false sense of safety in numbers and in turn made them less accountable.
Passion has also gone missing. Having lost to them twice last year, Cork should have been up for Waterford last month. Instead, it took selector Diarmuid O’Sullivan’s enraged reaction to an unpunished foul on Aidan Walsh to trigger a brief and all too late rising. Cork now bring little fire to games. If O’Sullivan, as he has mentioned, is teaching defenders to be cuter, he may double up on the lessons because the message has yet to get through to them.
Against Kilkenny, Cork will likely retreat more into their shell knowing that — Harnedy and Conor Lehane aside — the chances of their forwards winning their own ball are slim. The ball will likely be played through the lines but as they don’t yet have the size or conditioning to combat Kilkenny’s ferocity that plan may not be too wise either. Playing into space and warping the Cats’ frame is the only means of troubling them. Cork may be donning different threads this weekend but an under-performing team in any colour remains an under-performing team.
Jim Gavin doesn’t strike you as a superstitious man but when he is attempting to lead only the third team to back-to-back All-Ireland SFC titles in 26 years he may look at the trends of the sides who have pulled it off.
Following their 2006 success, Kerry started against Cork in 2007 with 10 of the team that began the previous year’s final. Defensive pillars Seamus Moynihan and Mike McCarthy had retired, replaced by greenhorns Killian Young and Padraig Reidy. Beating Meath in 1990, Cork had 11 of their ’89 final starters. Among the missing were Dinny Allen who bowed out from the inter-county game as winning captain.
As things stand, a similar number of switches can be anticipated in the Dublin ranks this year. Like McCarthy, Rory O’Carroll may again be seen in a blue and navy jersey and Jack McCaffrey’s time away from the panel should be limited to this season but they have lost not only a third of their All-Ireland winning back-line but two current All-Stars, one of them the Footballer of the Year.
Thus far in Dublin’s league campaign, O’Carroll’s absence has been felt in the win over Monaghan where Conor McManus gave David Byrne a hard time. O’Carroll may have had a better handle marking Peter Kelleher last Saturday too.
James McCarthy’s brilliant form is similar to McCaffrey’s at this stage of last season but two flying wings are better than one. McCarthy, although he’s toggled between the half-back line and midfield this spring, now offers the only truly dynamic force from the back. Given the departure of McCaffrey who carried out his dual mandate to such effect on top of O’Carroll’s exit, it could be argued Dublin’s shortfall isn’t twofold but threefold.
The surprises of the weekend came in Omagh and Cavan on Saturday night where the all-Ulster Division 2 games passed off without much incident.
The Derry-Tyrone and Cavan-Armagh Ulster quarter-finals are unlikely to be so eventless come the end of May.
Instead, it was Tralee which provided the most heat.
Tensions between Donegal and Kerry began to simmer before their 2014 All-Ireland final meeting when Jim McGuinness’ style was questioned publicly by Kerry players.
In that game, Aidan O’Mahony’s detail on Michael Murphy has been a source of discontent in Donegal and among northern commentators.
In this newspaper 12 months ago, 2014 Donegal selector Damien Diver said some of Kerry’s tackling in the decider was “very cynical”.
Kerry aren’t above lowering themselves to agitate and aggravate but then neither are Donegal nor Dublin nor any of the leading All-Ireland contenders. Self-preservation is a combination of self-protection and getting one’s retaliation in first.
The genius of Roscommon’s fine run of form at the moment came in doing everything in their power both within and outside the rules to stymie Kerry in the closing stages of their game in Killarney last month.
To stay with the big boys, you must act big. It’s a shameful fact about the state of Gaelic football that such evils are necessary ones.
