Relieved Cork skipper Seán O’Donoghue looks to Thurles after epic victory

The Inniscarra man emerged from a testing night against the All-Ireland champions, Limerick.

Sun, 12 May, 2024 - 09:16

John Fogarty

No prizes for guessing who was the most relieved man in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.

Seán O’Donoghue’s smile emerged from the Cork dressing room before him. Understandably so after captaining the team to a championship-sustaining first win of the campaign.

A first success after four SHC defeats on the trot, a streak of misery that appeared like it was going to be extended as Limerick led by four points as late as the 67th minute.

The visitors had brewed a 12-point turnaround and in their pot was Seamus Flanagan’s second of third goals gifted to them by O’Donoghue as he succumbed to pressure from Gearóid Hegarty after collecting a short puck-out.

It was a nightmare repeated for the Inniscarra man having seen his pass from another quick restart intercepted by Aaron Gillane for Flanagan’s first goal in the opening half.

Coming as the body blows did following his sending off against Clare 13 days earlier, who knows what shape O’Donoghue would have been had Cork not pulled off a most glorious win. He had a lot to be grateful for.

“We were on the wrong end of a couple of decisions and poor mistakes we made over the last two games,” he said. A few small things are the difference between winning and losing. I messed up for a couple of goals but thankfully the boys dug me out. I’m just delighted, so proud of them, like.”

How did O’Donoghue reset after those goals? A third followed for Flanagan in the 58th minute but he was the one picking the ball out of the net and encouraging Patrick Collins to go again.

“I just think you can’t go hiding. In those situations, it’s very easy to turn your back on the short puck-out or look away or look disinterested. I think you’re letting the team down then. You’re better off getting on the next puck-out and trying to rectify yourself. That’s all you can try and do but unfortunately when you make a mistake in the full-back line it’s often a goal.”

The final whistle brought sweet relief after a testing couple of weeks for O’Donoghue following his double yellow card dismissal in the defeat to Clare. Shown the line for his foul on Shane O’Donnell, he wished the world could have swallowed him up.

“The Clare game, I felt I was going alright. The first yellow card, I felt was a small bit harsh. The second yellow card could have been a bit harsh. Both on the edge, both were given but on another day neither of them could have been. It was heat of the moment that I stepped out in front of him and I probably shouldn’t have. Unfortunately, I let the boys down that day but just try to do my best for them.

“I never thought I was going to get sent off for Cork. I was low enough alright for the first week. You feel like you can’t say a whole pile in training or you can’t talk about the game or anything like that. Everyone at home was, ‘Will they talk to you?’ You might think you’d be grand but I was low enough for the week but I didn’t want to go looking for sympathy off the lads either. I just wanted to carry on as best I could.”

Even eight points to the good on Saturday, O’Donoghue never considered it sufficient. “Hurling nowadays, you’re never too far ahead. A few years ago, Tipperary were up 12 points on Limerick at half-time and ended up losing. The game goes so fast nowadays. You could be winning by six points, you blink and it’s a drawn game. A goal goes in, two goals goes in, it’s a fair whack.

“I thought we reacted very real and everybody showed fierce fight and fierce honesty in showing for the ball, which is what you need when you’re under the cosh. At times, some teams might have fellas who can go missing but when we were under pressure 15 fellas stood up and the lads who came off the bench as well.”

The pitch invasion was a physical manifestation of the relief but unbridled joy in downing Limerick with all but Cork’s last gasp. O’Donoghue basked in that moment with family and friends. “Everyone was saying ‘well done’ and ‘thank you’ and I was saying, ‘No, thank you’. You can see what it means to the Cork public. There’s a lot of genuine supporters out there and a lot of them are our families so it’s as much for them as it is for us.

“People who are going to back us after a poor day rather than those who nail us. You don’t want to do it for them at all. You don’t want to change their opinion. It’s just really about the people who are behind us, you want to make them proud.”

The win was toasted on Saturday night, a recovery session in the gym following on Sunday. All roads lead to Thurles now.

“There’s a bit of a buzz there,” the skipper understated. “It’s just getting back to business because there’s no point beating the All-Ireland champions and then going up and not performing against Tipperary. We need a huge performance to give us the best chance of getting into the All-Ireland series.”