Late start tuned us in, says Rebel star Horgan

CORK’S two-goal hero Patrick Horgan says the delay to Sunday’s Munster SHC game was a help rather than a hindrance.

The Cork-Tipperary clash was delayed by 15 minutes to accommodate extra-time in the Down-Donegal Ulster SFC game in Ballybofey, but Horgan said yesterday that the extra-time Cork spent on the pitch wasn’t a problem.

“To be honest, I found it a help,” the Glen Rovers man said yesterday.

“Your warm-up is so structured now that sometimes you might only get one or two shots in on goal before a game, you don’t have to rush.

“We train there twice a week but that’s not in front of 40,000 people; the fact that we were out there a bit longer meant you had a few minutes to get used to the crowd, we were able to take a few more shots and get the eye in before the game actually began.”

Horgan scored a goal from a first-half penalty to give Cork the initiative and despite missing against the same opposition in last year’s championship, he had no doubts about going for goal again.

“When you get a penalty you nearly have to go for goal – it’s a free shot on goal from 20 metres, you won’t get too many of them in a game. You’ve got to goal, really.

“The opposition want you to go for a point, too. If you just pop it over the bar, even if it’s a tight game, then that’s a result for them and a backward step for your team, so to be honest you have to go for it.”

Aisake O hAilpín won the penalty, and Horgan paid tribute to the tall full-forward – and his other teammates.

“Aisake worked his socks off, so did everybody. We just work away and we managed to link up – we’re after playing a good few games together at this stage, so we’d want to have a good understanding.

“A lot of people had written us off before the game but we knew well that we hadn’t really played well against Galway in the league final. But we also knew how much work we’d been doing in training. We know how good we are and how well we could play if we got going, and that’s how it worked out on Sunday.”

Horgan said Cork weren’t affected by the underdog tag.

“We didn’t pay much attention to the favourites thing. We knew we weren’t at the level everyone was saying we were, that if we clicked we’d do well, and that’s how it turned out. Everybody was going on and on about the league final, but people seem to forget that we had a few good performances in the league before that. That’s what we were thinking of ahead of the game.”

Now Cork face Limerick in the Munster SHC semi-final. Horgan says he and his teammates must take the attitude they played with on Sunday into that game.

“We have to treat Limerick now the same as Tipperary – even more so, because last Sunday thought us that when you’re big underdogs, you can still turn over the favourites, and we’ll have to be very careful with that game.”