Cahill’s comments spurred us to easy victory, says Allen

CORK selector John Allen says the comments of Antrim manager Dinny Cahill leading up to the All-Ireland qualifier were a motivating factor for his side.

“Whatever degree of complacency there might have been among our lads, and we took every precaution to make sure there wasn’t any, was blown away by his comments,” said Allen, who delighted in seeing his side back into another All-Ireland semi-final.

“We didn’t expect to get it as easy as we did. The game was over as a contest after 10 minutes. Getting our tactics and fitness right was no problem. The real problem was getting the lads right for this particular game and when Dinny Cahill’s comments emerged it helped us in a big way psychologically.

“It meant the players knew they had to win the game themselves and not hope that Antrim would let us win.

“We were surprised at the amount of time and space we got on the ball and probably could have doubled our score.

“The way the game went allowed us the opportunity to use our full complement of substitutes and even allowing for the fact that the game was well and truly won, a number of them did very well.

“It was important that they got the opportunity to play in Croke Park and got the feel of the atmosphere and the stadium. That can only be good for the squad and it gives the selectors options.

“There was no intensity in the match, which surprised us. But we are not complaining. We are back where we want to be, but Wexford will be a different kettle of fish.

“We played Wexford in a challenge game in Ardmore earlier this year, which was a bit of an eye-opener for us. Few gave them a hope against Kilkenny and again they proved a lot of people wrong.

“Having watched them in both games, Wexford are playing a different brand of hurling from last year. They are playing fast ground hurling and have a number of very good players all over the field who will pose a lot of problems for us.

“Wexford have a score to settle from last year and we want to get back into the final, so it has the makings of a great game. A plus for us is we have played two qualifying games, one of them a real cracker against Tipp which is bound to stand to us.

“On the other hand Wexford are without match practice, which might hinder them, but when you reach this stage of the championship, every team has an equal chance of winning.”

Allen confirmed training has been put on hold for a week as the county championship kicks off in a big way this weekend.

“The players have gone back to their clubs in preparation for the championship. That’s important also, and I hope none of them picks up a serious injury which might rule them out of the Wexford game. It would be a pity if any player was to miss out.

“The Munster U21 final is on tomorrow week, which will mean four players - Cian O’Connor, Martin Coleman, John Gardiner and Kieran Murphy (Sars) - won’t be available to us until the Friday.

“It means we’ll have only six days of training with the full squad before the Wexford match. Not the ideal situation.

“Looking back on the season so far, the selectors are very pleased with the progress to date. We know we are far from the finished article but we can only continue to work very hard in pursuit of our ultimate goal, which is winning the All-Ireland title.”