Rampant Rebels issue timely warning to champions

Cork 1-27 Wexford 0-12

Undoubtedly handicapped by their six weeks lay-off after winning the Leinster championship, Wexford were behind by 12 points at the interval and, but for another outstanding display from goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry, would have suffered a hammering.

In the event, it was still much more than an embarrassing failure, even in mitigating circumstances. Cork taught them a lesson in the finer arts of the game by excelling in all the basic skills and by dominating the play to a remarkable degree. It was as close as to a perfect performance as one could expect, a tribute both to Donal O’Grady’s preparation of the team and to the players for the professional manner in which they set about undermining the Wexford challenge from the opening minutes.

By popular consensus, Ronan Curran’s brilliance at centre-back from start to finish earned him recognition as top performer in what was essentially a 15-man performance, to which newcomer Cian O’Connor made an important contribution. But, who could say that the commanding play of Diarmuid O’Sullivan, the excellence and consistency of Sean Óg Ó hAilpin, the artistry of the O’Connor twins or the flair and elegance of Tom Kenny made them any less deserving of the accolade.

While there was no real indication of the impending Wexford collapse after 15 minutes, at which stage Cork led 0-5 to 0-2, there were obvious signs in the way the Cork defence dealt so capably with early pressure. Several times in that period Diarmuid O’Sullivan was called on to prove himself under the dropping ball and he won it convincingly on each occasion.

That dominance quickly spread to the rest of the defence, was enhanced by the strong play of Tom Kenny and Jerry O’Connor at midfield and matched by the superiority which the attack rapidly achieved. Wexford supporters would have taken early encouragement from the play of Doc O’Connor at left corner back and the admirable effort put in by Adrian Fenlon at midfield, in the face of overwhelming odds.

This manifested itself in exemplary support play, perfect distribution and almost unerring accuracy in shooting from play. And, once more, the two O’Connors (who shared 14 points between them), embellished their play with the style and panache they displayed here with Newtownshandrum in the club final five months ago.

Wexford’s situation quickly deteriorated when, after struggling to create scoring opportunities, some very bad man-marking at half-forward allowed the Cork backs the luxury of being able to place their clearances to the benefit of the forwards. With both Niall McCarthy and especially Timmy McCarthy playing their part in the half-forward line, Cork’s command of the play was absolute.

Fitzhenry came to Wexford’s rescue twice in the 11th minute, first when a timely challenge on Timmy McCarthy resulted in a point instead of the goal promised from a perfect Brian Corcoran pass. Then, he turned a powerful shot from Ben O’Connor over the bar.

The Wexford management tried different arrangements in their attack (including moving Paul Codd to full-forward), but nothing worked for them. In thought and action, their players - with a few notable exceptions - were invariably off the pace, obviously suffering from their lack of match practice.

Cork picked off their points at will before the inevitable goal came, from an unlikely source. Tom Kenny made his name last season as a half-back, but his emergence as a midfielder of quality was confirmed with a 29th minute goal, which came from a Curran pass after he had outfoxed Eoin Quigley. It propelled them into a 1-13 to 0-4 lead.

To all intents and purposes, they had booked their passage back to the All-Ireland final, because nothing which happened in the second half even hinted that Wexford were capable of recovering.

There were some redeeming features, just a few, in Wexford’s play, with a greater effort signifying their determination to avoid a whitewash. Keith Rossiter impressed after coming in at left half-back, Declan Ruth was much more forceful and Darragh Ryan was a bit more involved, having been kept busy by Corcoran all through.

Apart from improved play from Mitch Jordan, and the persistence of the Jacob brothers and Codd, minimal progress was made in attack, even after the introduction of Larry Murphy.For Wexford and future provincial champions, the new format next year may offer more hope. Nobody could deny that the present structure seriously inhibited them (and Waterford), but full credit to Cork for such a splendid display of hurling.

Scorers: Cork - B. O’Connor 0-8 (0-5 frees, 0-1 ’65); J. O’Connor 0-6; T. Kenny 1-1; J. Deane 0-4 (0-1 free); N. McCarthy, T. McCarthy and J. O’Callaghan 0-2 each; K. Murphy and M. O’Connell 0-1 each. Wexford: T. Mahon, P. Codd, M. Jordan, D. Ruth (0-1 free, 0-1 ’65), P. Carley (0-2 frees), 0-2 each; E. Quigley and M. Travers 0-1 each.

CORK: D. Óg Cusack; W. Sherlock, D. O’Sullivan, B. Murphy; S. Óg Ó hAilpin, R. Curran, C. O’Connor; T. Kenny, J. O’Connor; B. O’Connor (capt.), N. McCarthy, T. McCarthy; K. Murphy, B. Corcoran, J. Deane. Subs: J. O’Callaghan for T. McCarthy and J.P. King for Deane (61st minute); M. O’Connell for J. O’Connor (64th); J. Browne for Sherlock (67th), P. Mulcahy for O’Sullivan (68th).

WEXFORD: D. Fitzhenry; M. Travers, D. Ryan, D. O’Connor; R. McCarthy, D. Ruth, J. O’Connor (capt.); A. Fenlon, T. Mahon; P. Carley, E. Quigley, P. Codd; R. Jacob, M. Jacob, M. Jordan.

Subs: K Rossiter for O’Connor and D. Lyng for Mahon (second half); L. Murphy for M. Jacob (46th minute); C. McGrath for Carley (59th); B. Lambert for Quigley (65th).

Referee: B. Kelly (Westmeath). Not having been a great admirer of Barry Kelly in the past, I would credit him with an impressive refereeing performance.

*Att: 63,223.