Cork hurling in good health with a third U20s title in four seasons

THIRD TITLE IN FOUR SEASOS: Cork are All Ireland U20s champions for the third time in four seasons. Pic:  Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

All-Ireland U20 Hurling Champinship Final

Cork 2-22 Offaly 3-13 

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 this latest winning batch who’ve been given their cap and gown by senior boss Pat Ryan. Ben Cunningham and Colin Walsh saw minutes in the Munster SHL earlier this year, Eoin Downey hurled Munster championship only last month.

A couple more will surely follow suit in the coming months and seasons. Diarmuid Healy and his ball-winning ability seems a certainty. You’d fancy captain Micheál Mullins to make the cut too.

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 overseeing a Cork team can’t be ignored come future appointments.

As to the importance of a third U20 success in four seasons, O’Connor said it brings the county a step closer to ending their 18-year Liam MacCarthy famine.

“We haven't won at senior for a good few years. This is another step towards that. We hope to get a few fellas off this that can go on and strengthen the senior panel and get us closer to what we want - and that's winning an All-Ireland senior.

“You are not going to get eight or nine off any U20 panel. But if you keep winning U20s and you keep bringing through two or three, you'll get there.” 

The winning of this particular All-Ireland is easily dissected. Cork took a flamethrower to Offaly dreams in the eight minutes after half-time. 1-6 without reply. A two-point interval gap pushed out to 11. 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 effort.

The ever-excellent Ben Cunninghan accounted for four of the six points. Jack Leahy and William Buckley completed the set. The pair finished with four each from play. Sterling contributions.

The closest Offaly got thereafter was six. They managed only four scores in the 28 minutes after half-time. The goals by Conor Doyle and Shane Rigney on 41 and 65 minutes respectively were the only two Offaly scores that didn’t arrive from Adam Screeney and Dan Ravenhill.

Their play became sloppy. They were completely outmuscled in the middle third. Only time will tell what damage has been done to the Offaly revival by this growing collection of All-Ireland final defeats.

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 to nudge his team two clear, it brought his tally to 0-6 and Offaly’s tally to 1-8.

Of that 1-8, Screeney 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 10 minutes that was rifled home by 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 high tackle on Egan.

Three yellow cards for Cork defenders spoke to the pressure they were under. Behind them, Brion Saunderson pulled off a fine save to deny Egan a second Offaly goal.

And yet for all that water taken on board, Cork 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 Cunningham’s drive. Sam Bourke failed to clear, Diarmuid Healy punished.

Cork, in the time it would take you to apply a squirt of sunscreen, had gone from three behind to 1-3 to 0-4 in front. A second burst of four unanswered points later in the half again took Cork from second to pole position on the grid.

From there, they sped off into the sunset.

A 14th U20 All-Ireland for Cork. The queue of talent outside Pat Ryan’s door grows again.

Scorers for Cork: 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).

Scorers for Offaly: 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).

CORK: 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).

Subs: E O’Leary (Glen Rovers) for R 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).

OFFALY: 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).

Subs: 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).

REFEREE: C Mooney (Dublin).