Win over Tipp a step in right direction for Cork

EVEN Cork hurling experts are finding it difficult to explain the seven-day transformation of the county’s senior side.

After failing dismally to Offaly a week previously, the Leesiders bounced back in no uncertain manner to take the spoils in spectacular fashion against Tipperary on Saturday.

The concession of 4-11 may be a concern but the 4-15 amassed is a sign things are going in the right direction. Still, the Cork coaching team and selectors are still unable to find the reason for the change of fortune.

“It’s difficult to pinpoint the turnaround in form in a week”, said team mentor Fred Sheehy, “but it was most welcome. We were very disappointed at failing to Offaly having won our two previous games.

“However there was an obvious spring in the step of the lads against Tipp. We needed a win to get back on track and the lads certainly showed a tremendous appetite for the game.

“The pace of Sunday’s game was way ahead of anything we played so far this year. That was helped in no small way by the excellent sod on the Thurles pitch, and of course no Cork player worth his salt wants to be beaten by Tipperary in a hurling match.

“Tipperary people will say the same to you about Cork, so there was every incentive for both teams and it helped to produce a very keenly contested match. We also finished well, which was very pleasing, but there is still a bit to go before we are the finished article.

“It was a very encouraging performance and a step in the right direction for us. With the stretch in the evenings we’ll get out into the fields for hurling practice, something we haven’t been able to do up to now except at weekends.”

The management team and the players are now eagerly anticipating the high quality opposition which awaits in the second phase of the League, more so with the approaching championship.

“Phase two of the league will give us three more quality matches against Galway, Clare and Kilkenny which is ideal preparation for the championship.

“We’ve used the league to see how players, particularly the newcomers, cope at this level, and they’ve all done well. It’s a question of building on the Tipperary performance now and the extra games will be very beneficial.”

And of course, victory against their Munster neighbours is always sweet, be it league or championship, Sheehy admitted.

“Beating Tipperary was very important to us. There is a possibility that we could meet them in the Munster championship semi-final and we wanted to put down a marker for that game”.

Meanwhile, the Cork selectors received a nasty scare over the weekend when Diarmuid O’Sullivan was taken to hospital following an accidental clash during a challenge game between his club Cloyne and St. Finbarrs.

O’Sullivan collided with a team-mate and there were fears he suffered serious damage to his knee.

However, those fears have been allayed and while he is expected to be on crutches for a few days, it’s purely precautionary.

The former full back is currently undergoing a rigorous training schedule in order to be fully fit for the championship semi-final against the winners of the Clare/Tipp game, on June 8.