New Cork are more than the sum of their medals
They are often the most accurate barometers and gauges of where a team is at but sometimes the digits just don’t add up.
Cork’s recent record at minor level is a continuation of their tale of underage woe but through my involvement with the Limerick minors over those last two seasons, the one county that impressed me most was Cork.
No disrespect to Galway, who won the 2015 All-Ireland title, but I thought Cork were the best team in the country that year. Limerick beat them in the Munster semi-final in the Gaelic Grounds but we were lucky. Last year, Cork beat Waterford, who had already beaten Tipp, but the hardest game Tipp got afterwards en route to their All-Ireland success was against Cork in the Munster semi-final.
The numbers may make a mockery of my opinion on Cork’s true status as minors over the last two seasons but it’s not always about success at underage. Serial underachievement certainly hasn’t helped Cork at senior level but the tide is turning. I tweeted last Saturday night that it’s often more about the quality you get off those teams than the end product of a cup. And the last two Cork minor teams have produced serious, serious quality.
We saw that first hand in Clare in the 1990s, when Clare couldn’t buy a win at provincial level. Waterford defeated Clare in Munster U21 finals in 1992 and 1994, going on to win the All-Ireland in 1992. They got some great players off those teams — Tony Browne, Paul Flynn and Fergal Hartley — but compare those numbers to what both of those Clare teams produced: Davy Fitzgerald, Brian and Frank Lohan, Conor Clancy, Jamesie O’Connor, Seanie McMahon, Ollie Baker, Fergal Hegarty, Stephen McNamara, Eamonn Taaffe. No comparison.
Then when Clare did finally win an All-Ireland minor title in 1997, we got minimal return from that group. John Reddan and Gearóid Considine played senior championship for Clare but nobody else did.
Sometimes when you win an All-Ireland minor title, players can think they have it all worked out. We’ve seen that so often with Galway over the last two decades. The point that’s often missed is that the players who don’t win often have that hunger and raw desire that underage success can sate. Limerick lost the All-Ireland minor final to Tipp last year. Of course I’d love to have won it. I’d love even more to win it this year but sometimes it’s more about bringing through players, and quality people, than winning All-Irelands. That might sound ridiculous coming from someone involved in a county that rarely wins All-Irelands but it gives me great satisfaction to see Peter Casey and Kyle Hayes playing with the Limerick seniors now. They are good enough to be senior hurlers for Limerick for a decade. And I’d much prefer that potential legacy than their careers to amount to no more than an All-Ireland minor medal. It’s pretty obvious now that Cork’s future will be framed around their young guns — Shane Kingston, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Mark Coleman, Luke Meade and David Griffin. They are serious, serious players. Having been involved with the UL Freshers this year, I’ve seen some of those guys up close even more. People think Kingston is fast. Well, Fitzgibbon is even faster.
Last Saturday was a great start for Kieran Kingston and his management but they’ll be very conscious of kicking on now. After their hammering by Tipp, and with such a young team, everyone will be expecting Dublin to be handy pickings. You couldn’t predict anything other than a Cork win but that is playing right into Dublin’s hands.
Dublin have worked really hard to date but the most disappointing aspect against Tipp was the lack of spirit, which is a minimum requirement. Dublin will be a different proposition if they bring the fight and battling spirit (the return of Eamon Dillon and Chris Bennett will really help) they need but this is another opportunity for Cork to show that this is a new and potentially prosperous era.
Apart from Davy Fitz, Derek McGrath was the happiest manager in the country last week after Waterford’s win against Kilkenny. In other years, Waterford would have lost, or drawn, that match but another season of battle-hardened experience stood to them. Despite racking up such a big score, I honestly wasn’t overly impressed with Tipp against Dublin. It just came too easy for them but that won’t happen tomorrow in Walsh Park. The ball certainly won’t hop as easily into Aidan McCormack and Jason Forde’s hands. Padraic Maher was everywhere because he got no physical challenge.
Tomorrow, he and his team-mates will run into a tornado of white jerseys.
Tipp will have to adjust to that increase in tempo but I think last weekend will have stood to Waterford far more. Derek will also want to get another two points on the board, especially at home, which will give Waterford the luxury of some breathing room in such a claustrophobic division. I fancy Waterford by a couple of points.
With the Ballyea lads no longer available until after March 17, which further depletes a squad already thin on backup, Clare face a huge test in Ennis tomorrow. Kilkenny will be looking for more than just two points, especially after the way Waterford bullied them last weekend. And yet Kilkenny still showed massive, massive commitment levels, with some fellas doing everything to go through the pain barrier. Imagine the ferocity they’ll bring if they marry that commitment with the hurt of being bullied still so raw?
Whoever loses will be under massive pressure for the rest of the campaign. Ennis is Ennis, the crowd will come out and back the team, especially with this being the new management’s first fixture in the Park. Clare were poor against Cork but it was encouraging that they created so many goal chances. Still, they’re down too many bodies and Clare will need to produce 25% more than what they showed last weekend to win.
It’s strange that a promotion decider effectively arrives as early as Round 2 but that’s what at stake in Pearse Stadium tomorrow. The advantage Wexford have is the road-test they got from Limerick last week, whereas Galway got zero challenge from Offaly, who look to be at an all-time low.
Wexford will be really fired up but they have been nowhere near the level Galway have been operating at over the last couple of years. The Fitzy factor will definitely make up some of that ground but not enough in such a short timespan to bag the most valuable points on offer this weekend.
Finally, best wishes to all the clubs competing in the junior and intermediate club finals in Croker today. It is a magic day out for the parish.
Special mention for my friends from Mayfield who I’m reliably told are travelling by the thousands!
