Ó hAilpín: Rebels may opt to use sweeper
Throughout this campaign, Davy Fitzgerald’s side have played with seven defenders, allowing their speedy forwards to benefit from extra space, and the 2005 All-Ireland-winning captain feels his native county will look to counteract that.
“If we can get a 15-on-15 match-up, I think that’s where the winning is for Cork,” he said in an interview carried on gaa.ie.
“We saw the way Clare have been doing it all year. They play seven guys in the backline and Pat Donnellan is their spare guy. Do Cork push a guy on top of the spare man and play seven forwards versus seven backs, or do they do the mirror image of Clare on their side and have a spare man?
“I think Cork will probably do a mirror image of Clare. They’ll have a sweeper guy deployed in the Cork backline because I think Clare want a five-man forward line, because if there’s one thing they’re good at, they’re good at using the expansive ground of Croke Park. They’ve got a couple of flyers in the forward line, so Cork will be using their extra man back there to fill up the spaces and clog up ball going into spaces.”
As a result, Ó hAilpín believes that the midfield battle — which he describes as “a war zone” will be crucial in determining the winner on Sunday.
“The key is what happens in the middle third. Who applies more pressure on who, and so determining the quality ball. The middle third is going to be a war zone, with lots of work required. It’s the team that can get the quality ball in and beat the spare man, that’s where I feel the winning will be.”
The Na Piarsaigh clubman also paid tribute to Cork manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy and the impact he has had.
“People forget, Jimmy in Cork is an absolute, total icon,” Ó hAilpín, who was speaking as an Ulster Bank ambassador, said.
“The man is a living legend. To have a person like him in the dressing room, even just talking to you, addressing you, that alone gets your adrenalin pumping.”
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