Jimmy Barry-Murphy upbeat as red-hot Cork find their range against Dublin
Cork hit three points in the opening three minutes and never let up, tattooing 21 points in the 38 minutes of the first period. Dublin rallied after half-time with 1-12, but Cork hit 0-13 in reply and won comfortably. No wonder their manager was smiling.
“Our first-half display was excellent,” said Jimmy Barry-Murphy. “We got some great scores, and some of our teamwork, the way we worked the ball to get scores, was very encouraging. The players were very good tonight.
“We said we were very disappointed with our display against Kilkenny. We were a lot better against Clare and we wanted to be consistent, to build on that. That’s been a valid criticism of our performances in the last couple of years.
“Coming to Croke Park is always a motivating factor for players. It’s great for us to play here and it was more of a help to us than it was to the home team, I’d say.”
His opposite number Ger Cunningham, a former teammate and ex-Cork selector, was hard pressed for an explanation.
“Hard to put a finger on it in relation to what was different from the Tipp match and the Kilkenny match. You have to give credit to Cork. They started with great intensity. We weren’t at the pitch of the game at the start, for whatever reason.
“Maybe if we had got the goal with David Treacy, it might have settled us a bit. We were fumbling ball. We were a bit nervous.”
In that first half, it was difficult to see anywhere Dublin were winning — Cork’s half-backs were utterly dominant, midfielder Daniel Kearney was driving forward, and the movement of Cork’s forwards in particular was causing huge problems for the Dublin defence.
“That was part of it,” said Cunningham of his opponents’ movement. “It was everything. Their work rate was good. They moved the ball very well. Their movement was good. It was a combination of everything.”
Dublin were better when Paul Ryan came on before half-time but even at the break, 13 points in arrears, it was damage limitation.
“I suppose there’s not much you can say, in a situation like that,” said Cunningham. “Realistically, they let themselves down in relation to the performance on the pitch when they know, and we know, they’re way better than that.
“And I think they showed that in the second half. The first-half performance wasn’t a realistic impression of how good a team they are.
“But you have to give credit to Cork. They racked up a lot of scores. And maybe some decisions as well that didn’t go our way. But in the end, we can’t have any complaints about the result.”
Cunningham was right on both counts. With Ryan energetic in the middle, Dublin were more potent, and a goal from a close-in free on 50 minutes would have made the final quarter interesting. But Anthony Nash turned Ryan’s effort away, and Mark Ellis’s long-range score was an emphatic rejoinder.
“It didn’t look good when we lost our first game,” said Barry-Murphy. “But winning two games in a row is very good. Galway will be tough in Pearse Stadium next week, then Tipp at home, but hopefully we can build on this.
“In fairness to Dublin, the league’s a bit like that. You get days when it just doesn’t go for you. We were like that against Kilkenny, we were critical of ourselves and the public were entitled to be critical of us, and I think there are days like that in this league.”
It was interesting to hear Barry-Murphy mention consistency, a term used a couple of weeks ago by Clare boss Davy Fitzgerald about Cork. The Cork boss will be happy to see his team put two quality performances back to back, and the semi-final slot which looked remote after their opening defeat is now far more attainable.
Scorers for Dublin: P. Ryan (0-9, six frees); D. Treacy (0-3, one free), L. Rushe (1-0); S. Durkin, D. Sutcliffe, N. McMorrow (0-2 each); D. O’Callaghan, C. Cronin (0-1 each).
Scorers for Cork: P. Horgan (0-14, none frees, 1 65); S. Harnedy (0-5); L. O’Farrell, R. O’Shea (0-4); M. Ellis, L. McLoughlin, C. Murphy, D. Kearney, C. Lehane, A. Cadogan and B. Lawton (0-1 each).
Subs for Dublin: P. Ryan for M. Schutte (30); B. Quinn for Keaney, C. Cronin for O’Dwyer (both half-time); D. O’Callaghan for Dillon (57); C. Boland for McMorrow (62).
Subs for Cork: S. McDonnell for Joyce (7); B. Lawton for Walsh (52); S. Moylan for Cadogan (55); A. Spillane for O’Farrell (60); A. Walsh for O’Shea (64).
Referee: A. Kelly (Galway).
Difficult to pick a point where Dublin were competitive. If, as Ger Cunningham suggested, David Treacy had goaled in the first half, would it have settled them?
Ger Cunningham facing his own county.
0-21 scored in 38 minutes by Cork at HQ. Nor far off a score every other minute.
Cork had a lot of stars but Lorcan McLoughlin was class from start to finish.
None.
Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s forwards in particular caused havoc with their movement.
Alan Kelly was quick to penalise offences and Dublin were the team that suffered.
Cork travel to Galway next Sunday and Dublin must go to Ennis the same afternoon.
