Lynch fitness ‘down to the wire’
However the groin injury which ruled the veteran corner back out of the Munster final almost a month ago looks like side-lining him again this weekend.
Lynch is named in the starting fifteen for Sunday’s clash, but it’s a selection that is unlikely to be replicated at 2pm on Sunday in Croke Park. However such is his importance to the defence that Counihan and his aides are giving the Ballyvourney man every opportunity to make it against the Ulster qualifiers.
“Anthony is very much a 50-50 case that will go down to the wire. But we will give him until the last minute to prove himself.”
The Cork coach is more upbeat on John Miskella, another defender who missed the provincial final gut-check against Limerick. The Ballincollig man has come through the last two weeks with the squad and is likely to start. He is named in the half back line.
Counihan and his management team have had to slalom their way through county championship matches since completing the Munster campaign on July 5 , and have only really got down to brass tacks in the past fortnight. With mature reflection, was complacency a problem against under-rated Limerick? Probably.
“The players were disappointed (afterwards), they would feel they weren’t quite ready for it, and that there was a certain amount of complacency.
“But full credit to Limerick, you go into these ding-dong battles and it’s survival of the fittest.
“And I’d have to say that early on, Limerick looked like they wanted it a lot more than we did. Thankfully we turned that around after the interval.
“It was a massive game in its own right for Limerick, and we were on a hiding to nothing. But there were factors in that display that we were not at all happy with.
“Some people got a bit carried away after the Kerry game. We were disappointed with our display. It’s All-Ireland quarter final stage now, and that level of intensity is going to be ongoing from this juncture. We’d better learn to deal with it.”
While defensive changes may again be forced on the Cork management, the options are more form-based in attack. James Masters seems to be still struggling for his form, while the half forward line of Paddy Kelly, Pearse O’Neill and Paul Kerrigan didn’t get the job done against Limerick. That sensation they’re feeling is the talented Colm O’Neill breathing down their necks.
“Our half forwards against Limerick were doing a certain type of job,” explained Counihan. “They did quite well against Kerry but in the Munster final they suffered a bit. Maybe, though that was because other areas were struggling and they weren’t getting the ball. The lads themselves would know there’s plenty of room for improvement.”
It’s nigh on two decades since Cork won an All-Ireland SFC, but as the principal of the College of One Game At A Time, Counihan describes September conversations as “naive”.
“For us the stepping stones were completing back to back Munsters, which we’ve done, and seeing what the All-Ireland quarter finals brought us. When we set out at the start of the year, this is where we wanted to be and that it would involve a four week break. We knew there’d be county championship, but you can plan on that basis, whereas going through the qualifiers, it’s week after week.”
And what of those qualifiers, and the stories they’ve been generating? “Jeez, there’s massive pressure on Dublin, great expectancy,” the Cork coach mused. “Kerry under the cosh? That’s great stuff for Jack (O’Connor) and the boys in the dressing room, a great position to be in. To be put down with this fella and that fella writing them off? I’d much prefer to be in Kerry’s position than Dublin’s.”
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