Christy O'Connor Talking Points: Clare need silverware, Cork survive and Donegal's evolution
ON THE LINE: Tempers flare between Tipperary and Clare players. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile
When Cork defeated Tipperary in their final round robin match in 2022, it was a massive win for a number of reasons; it secured Cork’s progression to the All-Ireland series; they were also the first team in the history of the Munster round robin to qualify after having lost their first two games.
Two years on and Cork have managed something similar, qualifying for the knockout stages again after losing their first two games. Similar to 2022, Cork also Cork won successive games within seven days.
That may seem routine but it hasn’t been. One of the greatest challenges with the round robin format is the emotional investment required that doesn’t exist during the league. Managing those emotions, and how certain teams react to setbacks, is what ultimately distinguishes how well – or how well set up – a team will do in a condensed championship.
Getting to that pitch of emotional engagement every week is difficult. Prior to this season, only a handful of teams had managed to win successive games in successive weeks in the Munster round robin; Clare (2018, 2022, 2023), Limerick (2019, 2022), Tipperary (2019) and Cork (2022).
Just like 2022, this year has seen a similar trend, with three teams – Clare, Limerick and Cork – winning games on successive weekends. Clare are the one team who appear to have mastered the art most, having now managed that feat on four occasions in five campaigns. That consistency, and being able to constantly arrive at the right mental and physical pitch for big games in such a short period of time, is another reason why Clare remain at the top of the Munster round robin table.
In the five round robin campaigns, Clare top the table when it comes to points, having accumulated 29 from the 40 that have been up for grabs. In two of the previous four competitions, Clare topped the group. Limerick had never topped the group across their four previous campaigns until this year. Limerick have accumulated 27 points, two less than Clare, but Limerick have the silverware. And that’s the big challenge for Clare now – to turn the numbers into a Munster title.
Back in 2020 and 2021, Limerick set a new standard for shooting when they regularly reached their target of 50 shots per game. Limerick always believed in the inherent statistical value that the team that takes the most shots normally wins. Limerick usually are that team but, over the last two years, Limerick weren’t always that team. It was also obvious that they were no longer getting anything close to 50 shots off. And yet, Limerick were still winning.
Yesterday though, showed a return to their 2020-21 numbers as Limerick got off a staggering 51 shots. Their shooting efficiency was only 59 per cent but they had so much possession that Waterford were only able to get off 27 shots.
What will please Limerick most though, was how so much of that possession stemmed from turnovers, and how so much of Waterford’s 40 turnovers stemmed from incessant Limerick heat. In total, Limerick sourced an incredible 0-19 from turnovers.
Scary numbers for everyone else to read.
After Cork hammered Tipperary last Sunday, when the Cork supporters had invaded the pitch for the second week in succession, when happy chaos and delirium was raging all around them, the Cork players still didn’t know how to feel.
There was no precedent to their emotion because there had never been situation like it before, where a team had to wait in hope on other results to determine whether their season will continue, or if it is dead in the water.
In 2018 and 2019, Tipperary and Waterford respectively didn’t play on the final day of the Munster round robin during those seasons but they had already been knocked out of the championship. Limerick were able to put their feet up for the final round in 2022, safe in the knowledge that they were already in the Munster final. Clare were in the exact same position last year.
It had been something similar in Leinster as Offaly and Carlow were already relegated in 2018 and 2019 before the other four teams played their last game, while no team has been redundant for the final round since Leinster went to a six-team group in 2022.
Prior to this year, the only time hurling teams had to wait in limbo was the chaotic minutes after the Dublin-Galway and Kilkenny-Wexford final round robin matches in 2019, when players, managers and supporters were frantically seeking results and clarification around their future. Yet all of those teams only had to wait minutes to find out their fate, whereas Cork had to wait seven days to see what might happen next.
Not playing a championship match never caused so much anxiety and stress.
On the night of the Ulster final two weeks ago, when the Donegal squad returned home to be greeted by a huge crowd, Jim McGuinness spoke as much about what was to come from this as opposed to basking in what Donegal had just achieved.
McGuinness certainly made no secret of his side’s ambitions for the rest of the summer. “After the next 24 or 48 hours, they'll be a different animal,” he said. “They'll be here, while they were there [gesturing] today - purely because they are Ulster champions. We have to find a way to harness that. There’s only one thing left, that's the reality. And we have to go after that with everything we have. That's what we intend doing.” McGuinness knows full well that winning an All-Ireland will require Donegal going to that next level but, as they showed in 2011, 2012 and 2014, Donegal have a habit of turning into that different animal as Ulster champions under McGuinness.
Donegal were unable to harness that power after winning Ulster titles in 2018 and 2019, when winning just two of their six games in the Super 8s. When Donegal met Tyrone in a decisive final round Super 8s match in Ballybofey in 2018, Tyrone won by seven points. Moreover, it was Tyrone’s first championship win against Donegal in Ballybofey since 1973. It also ended Donegal’s 21-game unbeaten sequence at the venue.
Donegal won their next four championship matches at Ballybofey between 2019-’22, but their championship record at MacCumhaill Park was decimated there last year when Derry and Tyrone comprehensively turned them over in Ballybofey.
That was never going to happen against Tyrone under McGuinness, who has never lost a game in MacCumhaill Park as Donegal manager. Saturday night was the 16th time a team went away from Ballybofey defeated by a McGuinness side.
The manner of the victory though, was the most impressive aspect. Donegal’s conversion rate was 70%. They only turned over the ball 10 times. Of Donegal’s possession stats, they got off a shot on 80 per cent of their attacks. They had 10 different scorers from play.
It was a different game from the sides’ Ulster semi-final in late April but Donegal were a different team on Saturday night, especially with the pace and power they showed. Already, McGuinness’ side look like that different animal.
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