Storming second half sees Cork secure third U20 hurling title in four seasons
ON SONG: Cork captain Michael Mullins celebrates with his teammates in the dressing room. Picture: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
Further evidence of Cork’s rude conveyor belt health. A third All-Ireland U20 title in four seasons. The prognosis that Cork are coming is becoming increasingly difficult to argue against.
There’s already a long list of players from Cork’s 2020 and 21 All-Ireland winning panels who’ve graduated to the county’s senior set-up. There’s already lads from the current crop who’ve been given their cap and gown by senior boss Pat Ryan. Ben Cunningham saw minutes in the Munster SHL earlier this year, Eoin Downey hurled Munster championship in recent weeks.
A couple more from this Ben O’Connor managed team will surely follow suit in the coming seasons. Diarmuid Healy and his ball-winning ability along the half-forward line seems a certainty. Captain Micheál Mullins is another you’d fancy to make the cut.
Manager Ben O’Connor is another who has done his own graduation credentials no harm at all. An All-Ireland title in his first season managing a Cork team can’t and won’t be ignored come future appointments.
The winning of this All-Ireland is very easily dissected. Cork took a flamethrower to Offaly dreams in the eight minutes after half-time. 1-6 without reply. A two-point interval lead now 11 strong. Contest settled.
The goal arrived at the very beginning of this sequence. Nine seconds after the restart, to be exact. Micheál Mullins repeated his Munster final heroics with another superb individual goal.
The ever-excellent Ben Cunninghan accounted for four of the six points. Jack Leahy and William Buckley completed the set. That pair finished with four each from play. Sterling contributions, particularly Buckley.
The closest Offaly came of their opponents thereafter was seven. They managed only four scores during the first 28 minutes of the second period. Only two point-scorers in total, Adam Screeney and Dan Ravenhill, spoke to the number of Offaly forwards who didn’t make an impact.
Only time will tell what damage has been done to the Offaly revival by this latest All-Ireland final defeat.
As well as their lightning second half start, another key factor was Cork somehow managing to dampen enough of the Adam Screeney first-half show to lead by two at the break.
It took Cork an awfully long time to get to grips with both the Offaly corner-forward and the superb deliveries he was being fed for the 24 minutes he gloriously bent this final to his will.
When the diminutive Kilcormac-Killoughey flyer put over his fourth free six minutes shy of the interval, it brought his tally for the day to 0-6 and Offaly’s overall tally to 1-8.
Of that 1-8, Screeney had had a hand in all bar one point. He was fouled for four of the five frees he converted. He added two more from play. It was he who played possession to Cormac Egan for the penalty foul on 12 minutes that was drilled to the net by Dan Ravenhill.
Cork full-back Shane Kingston can count himself a lucky boy that referee Chris Mooney opted for yellow, rather than red, as punishment for his tackle on Egan. The latter didn’t seem at all right for the remainder of the half and was eventually subbed off at the break.
Kingston was one of three Cork defenders to see yellow in the first half. Darragh O’Sullivan, who took over Screeney-watching duties from fellow corner-back Mark Howell, was also booked, as was Ben O’Connor. Eoin Downey probably should have been sanctioned too for a pull across the Offaly sharpshooter in the buildup to the penalty.
For all that water taken on board by Ben O’Connor’s Cork, they would have taken such confidence from going back down the tunnel 1-11 to 1-9 in front.
The Cork goal was a necessary shot of oxygen. Offaly had hurtled 0-4 to 0-1 clear inside seven minutes. The Faithful majority in the crowd of 29,380 were raucous and roaring.
The goal was an Offaly mistake. Mark Troy repelled Ben Cunningham’s initial drive. Sam Bourke failed to clear, Diarmuid Healy punished the error to maximum effect.
Healy assisted a Jack Leahy point in the ensuing play. Cork, in the time it would take you to apply a squirt of suncream, had gone from three behind to 1-3 to 0-4 in front.
A second burst late in the half, yielding as it did four-in-a-row from Mullins, David Cremin, Cunningham, and Leahy, again took Cork from second to pole position on the grid.
From there, they never took another backward glance.
A 14th All-Ireland for Cork at this level. The queue of talent outside Pat Ryan’s door grows again.
B Cunningham (0-9, 0-5 frees); W Buckley, J Leahy (0-4 each); D Healy (1-1); M Mullins, T O’Connell, D Cremin, A O’Sullivan (0-1 each).
A Screeney (0-9, 0-7 frees); D Ravenhill (1-4, 1-0 pen, 0-2 frees, 0-1 ‘65); C Doyle, S Rigney (1-0 each).
B Saunderson (Midleton); D O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig), S Kingston (Ballinora), M Howell (Douglas); J Dwyer (Ballincollig), B O’Connor (St Finbarr’s), E Downey (Glen Rovers); M Mullins (Whitechurch), T O’Connell (Ballincollig); D Healy (Lisgoold), W Buckley (St Finbarr’s), B Cunningham (St Finbarr’s); R O’Sullivan (Na Piarsaigh), D Cremin (Midleton), J Leahy (Dungourney).
E O’Leary (Glen Rovers) for O’Sullivan (45); A O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig) for Cremin (48); C Walsh (Kanturk) for Leahy (56); C Doolin (St Finbarr’s) for Dwyer, B Keating (Ballincollig) for O’Connell (both 58).
M Troy (Durrow); P Taaffe (Belmont), J Mahon (Kilcormac-Killoughey), B Kavanagh (Kilcormac-Killoughey); T Guinan (Kilcormac-Killoughey), S Bourke (Durrow), L Watkins (Shinrone); C Spain (Kilcormac-Killoughey), C King (Carrig & Riverstown); D Bourke (Durrow), C Egan (Tullamore), C Doyle (Clara); A Screeney (Kilcormac-Killoughey), C Mitchell (Kilcormac-Killoughey), D Ravenhill (Durrow).
S Rigney (St Rynagh’s) for Egan (HT, inj); B Egan (Clara) for Mitchell, R Kelly (Lusmagh) for Taaffe (both 40); J Hoctor (Carrig & Riverstown) for King (46); A Watkins (Birr) for Spain (53).
C Mooney (Dublin).
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