Croker final too much for Cork’s newcomers

FORMER winning captain Tomás Mulcahy believes that playing in Croke Park in an All-Ireland final for the first time proved too great an ordeal for a number of Cork players.

He was commenting in the wake of Sunday’s defeat, and in particular on the number of wides the Munster champions struck in the game.

“No amount of talking can prepare a player for such a day,” he said. “The most seasoned of players will be tensed up. So what must it be like for lads who are taking part in their first final?

“I know a lot has been said on the wides tally we had, but that ultimately cost Cork the match. Who could have foreseen Eddie Brennan and DJ Carey being held. In fact it was the second time Carey had been held scoreless in an All-Ireland final against Cork.

“Without wishing to be too critical, we lacked leadership on the field. Players must be prepared to take a belt in order to get through for a score. There was far too much laying off the ball, in my opinion.

“If there is one thing Cork can take out of the game it’s that all the talk of Kilkenny being invincible is codswallop. For 25 minutes of the second-half Cork were totally on top and Kilkenny were rocking.

“When we went a point ahead we lost two glorious chances of points to go three clear. Had we got them I doubt if Kilkenny would have pulled it back.

“Unlike Waterford or Wexford, who will always give you a second chance, Kilkenny won’t. You get one chance against them. If you don’t take it they’ll punish you, and that’s exactly what they did.

“We had possession in the build up to their goal, but gave it away far too easily. In typical Kilkenny style they went down field and still we had the chance to clear the ball before it eventually came to Martin Comerford who scored the winning goal.”

There has been much made of the warm up Cork did before the match. Many argued that the players would have been better off driving sliotars at the posts. It worked for Cork in all their games prior to the final so why change the routine. Mulcahy made no big deal of it saying Kilkenny did a similar warm up when they came out.

“You can look for excuses until the cows come home, but the simple fact is Cork failed badly to take the chances they created and paid the supreme price. If only a third of the wides went over the bar we’d have won the match. That hurts most.”

Asked if Cork will be back, Mulcahy said: “Cork will always be in All-Ireland finals, but we need a few players with a bit more steel up front.”