Bowen lauds Rebels’ winning start

CORK senior hurling selector Martin Bowen praised his charges yesterday following their comeback victory over Dublin last Sunday.

Cork were nine points behind at one stage of the first half but rallied to win by five points in the end, having been instructed to contest the ball more aggressively at half-time.

“It was our first day out and we’re happy with the win,” said Bowen. “But we were certainly worried in the first half against Dublin. At one stage of the game we were nine points down, and that was a big lead to concede.

“In the first half we felt the lads needed to challenge for the ball with more aggression to win the breaks and so on. That’s something we hope will improve with more training and more games.

“Still, we were confident that we’d be able to come back, and a lot of credit for that has to go to Neil Ronan in particular. He was very sharp around the square for his goals, and that’s something we’ve been trying to emphasise, that we need to be getting more goals. Hopefully we can continue to do that.”

Not surprisingly, given their long lay-off due to the dispute in the county, Cork’s touch and judgement weren’t that sharp early on.

“We were expecting that there’d be a bit of rust there, and there was,” said Bowen.

“After all, it was our first real competitive game of the year, and you have to make allowances for that.

“Compared to the pace of the challenge games we had, against Limerick and Galway over the last couple of weeks, there was a big step up in the intensity last Sunday, and the fact that we haven’t been at that pace for a few months always meant that we were going to take a while to settle.”

Dublin weren’t minded to allow Cork time to settle either, pressurising the Leesiders from the start.

“From the Dublin point of view, the circumstances surrounding the game meant it was probably their best chance of beating us, and in fairness to them, they were well up for it. They chased us and put us under pressure all through.

“We were expecting that — at this stage of the league all teams are fighting for their lives and nobody’s going to lie down.”

Two of Cork’s three debutants were withdrawn on Sunday — Eoin Cadogan and Patrick Horgan — but the third, Brian Corry, chipped in with two points from play. Bowen says Cork will continue to bring new players through, however.

“Brian did well for us, but we won’t be judging any players on the basis of one game, that wouldn’t be fair at all. We have new players on the panel this year and we want to give them all a fair chance.

“It’s a learning experience for those players so we’ll be patient. After all, we want to strengthen our panel, and you can’t do that overnight. Those players need time to develop and we’ll be giving them that time.”

Cork have only one real injury worry after the Dublin game, with corner-back Cian O’Connor still hampered by the leg injury which forced him off in the first half of that game.

“He seems to in trouble alright,” said Bowen. “He’ll be out for a week or so. At this stage we have to have him properly assessed but I spoke to him at work and he’s hobbling, so it looks like he’ll be out of consideration, for the short term at least.”

Regarding this weekend’s game, against Antrim in Belfast, Bowen confirmed that Cork will be considering all their options for selection.

“The injury situation will dictate who’s available, but we’ll be going in with a strong team, and everyone on the panel will be under consideration.

“We were hugely heartened by the attitude the lads showed last Sunday — to be fair, it was fantastic. If they show that kind of application in every game, then that’s all you can ask.”