Cork still finding their feet

ON the evidence of this display, characterised by an inconsistency over the two halves, followers will need to be patient if they are to see real progress from the Cork footballers in time.

With Westmeath substitute Dessie Dolan furious that his equalising ‘point’ in injury time wasn’t allowed, the home side was decidedly lucky to come out on top in the fourth round of the Allianz League on Saturday.

Dolan, not fully recovered from a hamstring strain he picked up in the Armagh game, was introduced seven minutes from the end of normal time in a game which went on for four minutes longer than the minimum two minutes which had been flagged.

Six points behind when they lost midfielder-cum full-forward Martin Flanagan after a second yellow card offence involving inspiring Cork captain Graham Canty, Westmeath produced some of their best football in clawing their way back steadily. And manager Tomás Ó Flatharta had no doubt they should have come away with a draw.

“The way we lost was hard to take – but it may make us stronger,’’ he commented. “I felt the ball was definitely gone over the bar and so did the players, but unfortunately it went against us.’’ Dolan, meanwhile, was emphatic that his score should have been allowed and his view was borne out by well-placed eyewitnesses. “It was fairly clear-cut, not one foot or two, but three feet inside. It was so disappointing,’’ he said.

On a very sticky surface, Cork made an impressive start with three points inside the opening four minutes. And, while they never managed to match that rate of scoring, they were generally in control against a Westmeath team which failed to reach the heights of their impressive victory over Meath a fortnight ago.

However Cork manager Conor Counihan admitted to being no more than ‘reasonably happy’ with the overall performance. “The way we started and the football we played in the first half was the pleasing aspect. I suppose the downside was the way we lost the grip,’’ he commented.

Certainly, the way in Cork moved the ball quickly up the field at the start and the forwards advanced it with the minimum of delay was reassuring to the supporters who braved the elements to see them play at home for the first time since the strike.

Canty was central to lot of their impressive play with a faultless display which included a late second half point, Noel O’Leary looked very sharp at wing-back and Nicholas Murphy’s strong play was complemented by Alan O’Connor’s hard work. Up front, all six forwards, including late replacement Kevin O’Sullivan, played their part at different stages.

It was a different story with Westmeath, who struggled to get good ball up to Denis Glennon, their best forward on the night, until Martin Flanagan went forward to support him. Additionally, Alan Mangan roamed to good effect at centre-forward, leaving plenty of space for Ger Spillane to exploit. Interestingly, Cork found it harder to get scores in the second quarter – by which stage full-back Kieran Gavin was more effective playing Michael Cussen from the front – but Cork finished the half five points clear, 0-8 to 0-3.

After adding on two scores (the second one from Canty) within 10 minutes of the resumption, Cork failed to score again until late substitute Conor McCarthy pointed shortly after Dolan’s injury time effort had been waved wide. Evidently, Cork are adopting a more direct style of game (with a very much reduced level of hand-passing) and Counihan’s take on that was that they are ‘trying to vary it.’

And, while pointing out that they came into the competition with very little preparation, he wasn’t happy with the quality of ball played into Cussen in the second half. “Most of it was at his feet. It did not give him a chance to do himself justice,’’ he said. Nevertheless, the big full-forward did have difficulty in winning his own possession under pressure.

On the fact that Westmeath competed well for 25 minutes with 14 men, Counihan mused: “It’s a question of one team throwing caution to the wind and the other team sitting back on their laurels a bit.”

However he added: “All I say is that the attitude is very positive and that’s a bonus. You win tight games like that when fellows are digging. And that attitude is there.”

* Aidan Mangan’s general handling of the game was good, but his judgement on the injury time at the end reflected a tendency to do the unexpected.

Scorers for Cork: D. Goulding 0-3 (0-1 ‘45, 0-1 free); K. O’Sullivan and J. Miskella 0-2 each; M. Cussen, K. McMahon, G. Canty 0-1 and C. McCarthy 0-1 each.

Westmeath: D. Glennon 0-6 (0-4 frees); A. Mangan 0-2; M. Flanagan 0-1.

CORK: A. Quirke; D. Duggan, G. Canty (capt.), K. O’Connor; N. O’Leary, G. Spillane, O. Sexton; N. Murphy, A. O’Connor; J. Miskella, K. O’Sullivan, K. McMahon; D. Goulding, M. Cussen, D. O’Connor.

Subs: P. Kelly for Cussen (55); S. O’Donoghue for O’Leary (60); M. Harrington for O’Sullivan (63); C. McCarthy for Miskella (71).

WESTMEATH: G. Connaughton; F. Boyle, K. Gavin, J. Keane; M. Ennis, D. Heavin, D. Healy; D. Duffy, M. Flanagan; D. Kelly, A. Mangan, D. O’Donoghue; M. Green, T. Cleary, D. Glennon.

Subs: G. Dolan for Green (27); P. Bannon for Cleary (44); D. Bannon for Kelly (47); D. Dolan for P. Bannon (63).

Referee: A. Mangan (Kerry).