Cork channelling success with discovery programme

Options. Real options. Cork’s hurling squad is finally beginning to show some depth. Management’s spring of discovery has borne fruit.

This time last year, Kieran Kingston’s charges faced into the championship with just one league win under their belt — and that the relegation play-off against Galway.

However, not even their Salthill survival could gloss over five straight defeats during the round-robin phase.

Adding to the lack of enthusiasm surrounding the squad heading into championship was the lack of experimentation that had taken place.

Aside from Patrick Collins receiving game-time between the sticks and John Cronin and William Leahy being looked at out the field in the odd fixture, it was the same old faces delivering the same old results.

It is from this viewpoint that selector Pat Hartnett had good reason to be positive when speaking to reporters at Páirc Uí Rinn on Sunday.

Okay, the result had gone against them and the performance was well shy of the heights reached against Waterford and Tipperary during the previous fortnight, but such has been the success of their discovery mission that the starting team against Tipperary in the Munster championship on May 21 could show up to six changes from the side which lined out at Semple Stadium in May of last year. Whatever the context, that’s progress.

Colm Spillane, who played a single league game in 2016 before sustaining a season-ending cruciate injury, started all six games in the past two months.

Moreover, he finished all but one; the Castlelyons corner-back was withdrawn 25 minutes into the Dublin defeat after picking up a knock.

The number four shirt is his come championship and Mark Coleman would appear to be a racing certainty to line out in front of him on the left flank of defence. Still U21, Coleman started and finished all six games. He also got on the scoresheet against Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick.

Dean Brosnan might not make the cut at midfield, but he at least provides solid cover.

The Glen Rovers hurler made his league debut when sprung from the bench on the opening night against Clare and earned selection in their last four outings. Defender David Griffin is another who will benefit from exposure at this level.

In attack, the performances of Shane Kingston, Darragh Fitzgibbon and, in particular, 20-year old Luke Meade have thrown up a myriad of selection headaches.

Patrick Horgan may have hit 0-15 against Tipperary, but this was only after he received a late call-up, following an injury to Kingston.

Add Bill Cooper, Conor Lehane, Alan Cadogan, Seamus Harnedy, and Luke O’Farrell to this list of forward options and the steep competition for places quickly becomes apparent.

Nine into six simply doesn’t go and it doesn’t look as if the newcomers will be the ones to lose out.

“The league has been satisfactory, relative to where we were last year. We blooded a lot of new players and a lot of new players have come in,” Hartnett reflected.

“We are what our record says we are. Last year, we won zero league games and won the playoff. This year, we won three out of five in the round-robin.

"I’d be positive, overall. We intentionally held back on the likes of Coleman, Fitzgibbon, Spillane, and Kingston. They’ve been immense.

“Luke Meade has been fantastic. Mark Coleman had a fantastic league. Shane Kingston and Darragh Fitzgibbon, too. Michael Cahalane has come out of there. Young Spillane is back from a knee injury.

"They are six big pluses for Cork. We’ve played six good games since the Munster SHL final and a lot of these new lads have been involved in all six.”