Counihan encouraged by increased Rebel support

CORK football boss Conor Counihan believes that supporters in the county are starting to get behind his team in light of their recent exploits.

Cork have already enjoyed a strong 2009 campaign with an NFL Division 2 title and a Munster semi-final defeat of Kerry leaving them heavily tipped in the All-Ireland markets.

Cork have traditionally had a low football support base in comparison to the county’s hurlers, but Counihan reckons that crowds are being drawn to the current crop.

“The support to date has been fantastic. It’s been a good buzz for the team to see the crowds behind them, that’s been very positive and hopefully people will maintain that. Generally supporters like a team with a bit of heart and a bit of spirit.

“In any good team you have to have characters and this team isn’t any different to teams of the past, they have a few. Obviously, they haven’t been as successful as other teams, but the reality is that there have been many good footballers who haven’t won All-Ireland medals and some average footballers do win them.”

Counihan has seen his side undergo an overhaul in the past couple of seasons with the successful U21 players of recent years integrated into the senior setup. The latest introduction to the lineup was Fiachra Lynch who was introduced as an injury-time substitute against Kerry but it was a decision that raised eyebrows as he was subsequently ineligible for Cork in last week’s Munster junior final.

“Fiachra has been performing very well in training over the past number of weeks and we were very conscious of that. He possibly would have been included in the panel for the (first) Kerry game but we decided to give him another go with the juniors.

“We’re very strong in terms of performance in training and the guy had performed over a period of time in that and obviously merited selection and that’s the basis that we’ve had all the time, and it’s the basis we’ll have going forward. The reality is that we’d like to believe that our A versus B games are highly competitive. You can play well in the county championship, but you could be a very average player, so I’d like to think that our training matches are that bit more competitive and tell us a bit more.”

Cork enter Sunday’s Munster final wearing the mantle of hot favourites, but Counihan is quick to point out that it is only a few weeks since his side were pitted as outsiders against Kerry.

“We’d be pleased with the Kerry display, but there are aspects of that we need to improve on too, we’d be very conscious of that. There was a period there in the second half where we allowed them back into the game and if we do that against Limerick I don’t think we’ll get away with it.

“Limerick gave us a few scares last year and the simple reason for that is that they’re a good side.”