Board rules out postponement bid

CORK GAA chiefs have turned down a bid from the management of the senior hurlers to postpone next weekend’s county senior championship quarter-finals.

The dramatic All-Ireland semi-final victory over Clare came at a price, with five Cork hurlers left nursing injuries, including Neil Ronan, Brian Corcoran and his Erin’s Own colleague, Kieran Murphy.

“We originally agreed that the quarter-finals should go ahead next weekend, but the injury situation obviously altered our thinking,” explained coach John Allen last night.

“Fellas are under pressure to play with their clubs, and feel they’ll have to line out, with injuries if necessary. Naturally, that’s a concern for the selectors, though I understand the County Board’s view.

“We have a chance now to make a bit of history by becoming the first Cork side to win back to back All-Irelands since the seventies, but you can’t blame the Board for wanting to advance the county championship,” Allen accepted.

The perennial fixtures crux is complicated by the involvement of the Cork footballers in the All-Ireland semi-final and the dual involvement of Na Piarsaigh and St Finbarr’s in both county hurling and football championships.

Erin’s Own will pay the heaviest price of Cork’s success in Croke Park, with Brian Corcoran and Kieran Murphy likely to miss Sunday’s quarter final meeting with Newtownshandrum.

Corcoran suffered a recurrence of the shoulder injury he sustained in the Munster final win over Tipperary, while Murphy cracked a bone in his finger after his late introduction on Sunday.

Neil Ronan picked up an ankle injury and could miss Ballyhea’s Premier IHC clash with Youghal, while Wayne Sherlock of Blackrock (dead leg), and Newtownshandrum’s Jerry O’Connor (groin) are also struggling for the weekend.

Meanwhile, the Cork coach rejected the notion that substituting All-Stars Brian Corcoran and Ronan Curran represented the biggest gamble of his fledgling managerial career, insisting: “we had no choice.”

Allen and his four selectors have won universal praise on Leeside for the switches that saved Cork’s All-Ireland title, but the St Finbarr’s man reflected: “We didn’t look on it as a huge gamble.

“You are talking about a situation where we are six points down after 50 minutes of an All-Ireland semi-final. Our backs were to the wall, but it would have been a lot worse for the selectors to sit on their hands and do nothing.

“We took off one All-Star and replaced him with another (Wayne Sherlock for Ronan Curran). And Neil Ronan is no bad forward to be bringing on for Brian, who was struggling with a recurrence of his shoulder injury,” the coach said.

Allen offered a revealing insight into the sideline strategy and planning that can make or break a Championship effort.

“We (the Cork selectors) have often been accused of being ultra-conservative, but we also know that we’d have received a lot of flak for making the changes on Sunday if they didn’t work out.

“In the past, we’ve been slow to change things at half time when Cork were in arrears. But invariably, the lads have turned it around in the second half. But against Clare, we were 20-25 minutes into the second half, and struggling in key areas, so by the time we came to discuss the changes, the selectors had their minds made up. The decisions didn’t take long,” he said. “Before any game, we’d plan the first, second and third substitute on in each area of the field, so there would be a broad plan in place.”

The Cork coach also intimated there will be precious few changes in personnel for the All-Ireland final, and jumped to the defence of his club-mate Ronan Curran.

“A player of Ronan’s calibre does not suddenly become a bad hurler. It’s well to remember that this half back line (of John Gardiner, Curran, and Sean Óg Ó hAilpin) has been exceptionally good for a long time, and anyone would be slow to change that dynamic.”

Neil Ronan’s influential appearance will also give the selectors some food for thought over the next few weeks, even if the view persists that the Ballyhea man offers most as an impact substitute.

“There is nothing cast in stone, and I can’t say there won’t be changes. The nature of the quarter and semi finals last year was completely different to this time around. After putting up huge scores against Antrim and Wexford last season, it might have been difficult to change anything.

“But the displays of the substitutes against Waterford and Clare has certainly given us options. Any manager would love to have six of seven players pressing for a start, but I’m satisfied that we have the best 29 senior hurlers in the county at our disposal at present. And we looked high and low across the county over the past three League campaigns.”