Mulqueen: Cork need to be looking at forwards like Robbie Cotter and Tadhg Deasy

He was reflecting on his team’s performance, and said the two attacking forwards could play their part in the Cork senior hurling squad.

Sun, 25 Sep, 2022 - 17:25

Therese O’Callaghan

Blackrock hurling manager Louis Mulqueen hailed the talents of Robbie Cotter and Tadhg Deasy after Sunday’s Cork Premier SHC nine-point victory over Erin’s Own.

He was reflecting on his team’s performance, and said the two attacking forwards could play their part in the Cork senior hurling squad.

They contributed 1-3 and 1-4 respectively to a scoreline where 3-18 out of 3-21 came from open play.

‘Looking at Robbie’s form this year, I am not telling other people their job, but Pat Ryan needs to be looking at people like Robbie. He has got the feet and the eye. It is just for his confidence to come.

“I think Tadhg Deasy is going in that direction too. They are good young lads coming on the scene. I am only seeing it in my first year. Cork have a lot of talent coming though.

“What I like lately is, there is a bit of physicality in this championship. I think that will stand to Cork senior hurlers as you go along. There are lots of hits out there. There is no-one looking for frees. Everybody is taking them and giving them. That is the way Munster hurling is. When you look at Clare, Tipp, Limerick, it is a big physical game. Cork are now going in that right direction.” Even though Blackrock eased past Erin’s Own following a powerful second-half, he felt there is still work to do.

“It was workmanlike, we got over the line. I wouldn’t still be happy with the hurling we are playing. That wouldn’t win a county final. We got three good goals in the second-half which gave distance between a very determined team that hung in all the time. It was point for point. We scored and they would come back and get a point or two.

“It was a tight game up until we got the first goal. Then we got a bit of daylight. Then we got a second goal and then you knew you were a little bit more comfortable. We felt if we played today we were going to win.

“I wasn’t overly happy with the first-half. They were getting all the breaks. Our plan was to win the puck outs, but they were getting the breaks when we should have been getting scores.

“We needed to reassess that at half-time. The ball wasn’t going quick enough into Alan (Connolly) and Robbie (Cotter) but when it went in the second-half, they did the damage.

“It was a job well-done. Not overly happy that we have played to our potential yet. We have serious work to do to match whoever comes out of the second semi-final.

“We got out of a group of death. We won a very good quarter-final and a tough semi-final. We still have to play if we want to win a county final.” Their quarter-final win over Imokilly, after penalties, stood to them.

“Erin’s Own had no game going into today. If you look at ours, we had great battles. They were fought to the wire. our fellas knew there was stuff in the tank. There was energy there. The Imokilly game was a roller-coaster of emotions. And that really helped. Our lads have learned from the games.”