No blame from Brennan as top-class Sherlock puts on clinic

Steven Sherlock of Cork kicks a two-point score despite the tackle of Ronan Ryan. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Steven Sherlock did not score from play in the opening half. He got off a single shot, that lone effort travelling wide.

It was a first-half unrelated to the 24 Munster final minutes where he didn’t put boot to ball, but it was still another opening championship half where his presence on the scoresheet from open play was unavoidably scant.

The record was stunningly corrected on the three-quarter-hour mark. A pair of scoreboard-turning orange flags arrived within 32 seconds of each other.

The first was nothing short of ridiculous. Receiving the pass from Colm O’Callaghan, he took a single step before dropping the ball onto the right boot.

His third orange flag from play on 65 minutes, and with 14-man Cork having been reeled back into a 1-24 to 0-27 stalemate, was easily the most important and arguably bettered the first for its impressiveness.

The unshakable self-confidence married with the sumptuous kicking is why a bad day can be comfortably erased and followed with 0-14 brilliance.

“No better man to pull the trigger,” said John Cleary.

“The lads set them up very well for him, especially the off-the-ball running and movement to free him up. Look, Steven has that in his locker.” 

Robbie Brennan could find no fault with his rearguard’s attempted shackling of Sherlock. All he could do was acknowledge the awesomeness of the Cork No.15.

“Ronan [Ryan] is obviously really good at that man-marking job. He has done a good job on him most times he has marked him and had a good first half on him. But Sherlock is a top-class inter-county forward and the one he kicked in front of us, I don’t know how he got it to his boot so quick, that is top-level stuff.

“I couldn’t be giving out to our boys there. We had bodies there, he is just really good at it.” 

Cork’s other two-pointer from play - from six orange flags in total - was provided by David Buckley on his full championship debut. Conor Corbett came off the bench and fisted the clincher.

In the continued absence of Dara Sheedy and Brian Hurley, Cork’s overall attacking effort contained none of the bluntness of Killarney, even if three first-half goals were left behind.

“Dave has been in the panel all year, just waiting for a break. Been going well in training the last couple of weeks and was selected, so I'm delighted for him.” 

“Very harsh” was Cleary’s verdict of the straight red card shown to midfielder Colm O’Callaghan.

“It isn't, to me, a deliberate strike or anything like that,” said the Cork manager. “He's trying to free himself. He was trying to get away, the player was holding out of him, and he just put his hand back.” 

The dismissal didn’t derail Cork. An appeal is inevitable. There’s the potential for derailing if the ultra-consistent midfielder is not cleared for Round 2A.