JBM admits Rebels must raise game

Cork hurling manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy has admitted the county’s poor form is something of a worry to management.

The Rebels will win the Allianz Hurling League Division 1B if they beat Wexford at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday (2pm), but despite three wins and a draw in their previous four games, performances have been below par.

While concerned, Barry-Murphy is hopeful of an upturn.

“It’s something that we’re looking at, we’re not sure ourselves,” he said.

“Maybe it [the late start] is part of the reason, David Matthews has been doing a lot of work with the team trying to make up for lost time, compared to last year, when we did a lot more work pre-Christmas.

“It could be a factor, we had a lot of travel last week, it’s easier this week with less physical work. There’s more focus on sharpening up the lads and getting ready for Sunday, hopefully they’ll show a response to that. We want to see good form on Sunday and then carry it into the quarter-final the next week.”

Limerick’s draw with Offaly last week means Cork’s destiny is in their own hands. Barry-Murphy – who was speaking at the Heineken Ireland headquarters, where it was announced that Murphy’s and Beamish stouts are to become official partners of Cork GAA — is eager to make sure there is no complacency.

“At the start of the year, our main ambition was to get out of Division 1B, if we could,” he said.

“Our form hasn’t been great, let’s be honest about it. The players are conscious of it too, they’re not playing as well as they’d like to be and we’re all aware of that. We’re still unbeaten but at the end of the day we’d like to be playing better.

“We are where we are now, we have a chance of automatic promotion but so do Limerick and Wexford. We’ve got a game at home so it’s up to ourselves to perform on the day.”

Cork’s team will be named tonight, and throughout the league Barry-Murphy and his selectors have sought to use as many players as possible. He has been pleased with the response.

“We’ve been able to give fellas a chance, which we said we would. You don’t always get the chance to do that in 1A and no disrespect to the teams we’ve been meeting, but we’ve been able to give opportunities.

“They’ve all had an opportunity now and we’ll reassess it after the league, we’ll review the panel completely then.”

Meanwhile, two of last year’s minor side are included in the Wexford team for Sunday’s game.

Liam Ryan, who started the Laois game at right full-back, is switched to right half-back in a direct swap with Keith Rossiter, while Conor McDonald comes in at centre-forward. Willie Devereux drops to the bench, while Jack Guiney is preferred to Gary Moore at full-forward.