Baker admits facing Rebels ‘a huge ask’

Following yesterday morning’s All-Ireland qualifier draws, Offaly being drawn to head for Cork in two weeks to take on the home side for the right to progress one step closer to an All-Ireland quarter-final, Ollie Baker had a touch of the Humphrey Bogart Casablanca blues — “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”

Of all the draws Offaly could possibly have got, they’re walked into this.

“Damn it, it couldn’t have been worse!” was his reaction.

“Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh? After the loss against Galway (Leinster semi-final, 5-23 to 3-15) you were hoping for some small favour to fall your way. A home draw at least, that’s what we wanted, but to have to travel down to Cork, to play the Allianz Hurling League finalists — that’s a huge, huge ask.”

Having been well beaten by Kilkenny in that league final, Cork bounced back on Sunday last, and will now surely be buoyed by a superb performance against Tipperary in the Munster semi-final, a narrow one-point loss which, with a little more composure in front of the posts, might even have been a win.

“Even though they didn’t win the game, it was still a top-class performance by Cork.

“It’s going to make our job all the more difficult but sure look, that’s the way it is, we’re going to have to take them on and see how we do. It’s a tall order to try and pick ourselves back up again but the Galway loss is history at this stage; we’re in the All-Ireland qualifiers now and we have to deal with that.”

Maybe this is a major opportunity as well as a major challenge?

“I’m not going to play the poor mouth about it, we’ll play them, see how it goes. From my experience of Páirc Uí Chaoimh I know there’s going to be a big Cork crowd, a very expectant Cork crowd, and Cork have always been a team that can rise to an occasion like that.

“It’s a really tall order, we know that, but we’re going down there with the intention of putting in a big performance, give it our best shot. We’re competing well at times but that’s not good enough when you meet the likes of Galway, Cork, Tipperary or Kilkenny.

“Any time you meet one of those teams you’re going to be the underdog and you need all your players performing 100%. If anyone is letting you down, that can put the whole team under pressure.”