McCarthy: we were ready for a battle

IN VICTORY or defeat, you couldn’t imagine much of a change in the attitude or demeanour of even-tempered Cork senior hurling manager Gerald McCarthy, but then again, maybe that’s what over 40 years at the top level, on and off the park, do for you.

Yesterday, however, on his championship return to the Cork management team, his first time as the sole number one, there was a smile on the face. “We got the right result, hard-earned I think really, even though it looked like we were going to run away with it at one stage.

“Clare came back strong. We settled in quite nicely but that was partly because Clare aided us by missing some very easy scores in the opening ten minutes. Had they got those it would have been much closer.”