Talking Points: Cork's Brian Hayes the wrecking ball made for destruction

Cork go 100% in Munster SHC group phase, McGuinness sweats after Killarney, Sherlock has changed the game for Cork's footballers

Brian Hayes is the engine which makes this Cork team tick. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Eventually, it had to come, the dam finally had to break with the sheer volume of goal chances that had battered both defensive walls in the opening 33 minutes. Eoin Downey played a sideline into the path of William Buckley, who slipped Rory Hayes before careering down the central channel to set up Brian Hayes, who drove the ball past Eibhear Quilligan.

That had been the seventh goal chance in the Munster SHC clash at Páirc Uí Chaoimh to that point. Shane Barrett had the first opportunity straight from the throw-in but the shot was blocked. From the puckout, Ian Galvin drew a brilliant save from Patrick Collins. Four minutes later, Galvin batted the ball off the butt of the post and the Cork defence prevented a posse of Clare forwards from scrambling the rebound over the line.

Barrett did have a half-goal chance that he opted to pop over while Peter Duggan and Shane O’Donnell went close to billowing the net but both plays ended in Clare frees. And then the dam finally broke with Hayes’ goal.

It was inevitable when Hayes had been a wrecking ball in that half. Of the ten balls that were played into Hayes in that half, through either long puckouts, long deliveries or short passes, that possession led to 1-5, either through scores, assists, secondary assists or frees. Hayes bagged another point, which took his tally to 1-2, before being hauled off in the 45th minute.

Hayes is the engine that makes this Cork team tick but there are times when he is under-serviced too by Cork playing the ball too much around the middle - because when Cork get the ball into their inside line early, it’s murder for a full-back line trying to stop them. Sunday was another landmark day for William Buckley. As well as engineering Hayes’ goal, he scored 0-4, was fouled for two converted frees and had a hand in another score.

Cork’s running game is just so good that they don’t always have to be direct with long ball inside. When the game was a contest in the first 45 minutes, Shane Barrett was also untouchable, scoring 0-4 and being fouled for a converted free in that period. Barrett ended with 0-5.

Collating numbers became irrelevant after Hayes’ goal but Hayes’ numbers when the match was a contest again provided firm proof of how he is the engine that drives this Cork machine forward.

Donegal, McGuinness hoping a dream performance doesn’t turn into a nightmare

With two minutes remaining in Killarney on Saturday, Michael Murphy made his way towards the dressing room to another sustained chorus of boos ringing in his ears, smartly going for cover to defuse any potential flashpoints afterwards in a powderkeg atmosphere.

His punch into the midriff of Dylan Casey in the league final turned Murphy into a pantomime villain all afternoon. He was booed every time he touched the ball, but the Kerry crowd were looking for an excuse to vent their frustration on an afternoon that was alien to them, especially in Killarney. And particularly when losing to the same team by an aggregate margin of 23 points in the space of seven weeks.

The red card to Micheál Burns did ruin the game. Donegal managed the second half far better, but Kerry were so flat in that half that they can’t just write off this performance on the back of having to play 35 minutes with 14 men.

Kerry only had 14 attacks and were limited to just 11 shots and four scores with the breeze, but they were nowhere near as efficient as they needed to be when Donegal were so economical and accurate all afternoon.

Donegal’s conversion rate was an incredible 83%. It had been 90% in the first half when scoring 1-11 from just ten shots. Even when Kerry owned the ball for long periods against the breeze, Donegal were ultra efficient with their own possession, only turning over the ball twice in that first half, and eight times in total.

It was far easier for Donegal to control the game with an extra man but they were still supremely disciplined and accurate in the first half when they had to be when they were under such huge pressure on their own kickout. Kerry’s press was so aggressive that they won eight of Gavin Mulreaney’s restarts in that half, mining 0-5 from that possession.

Referee Sean Hurson gives Micheál Burns of Kerry a red card during the All-Ireland SFC round 1 game against Donegal. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor

Kerry just needed their conversion rate to be higher when Donegal were compensating for their deficit in possession with the efficiency and economy of their running game. Kerry were caught in a bind after the break between having to push up and risk being picked off, but they still didn’t play with urgency or conviction expected of Kerry in those circumstances. Kerry turned over the ball six times in the second half and Donegal translated that possession into 0-6. If anything, the sending off rattled Kerry far more than they probably thought it could.

The second half was a stroll for Donegal but ultra-efficiency was still the hallmark of this performance. Oisin Gallen nailed 0-5 from five shots, while he had the assist for Ciaran Moore’s goal. Michael Langan bagged 0-5 from four shots and also had a handful of assists.

After David and Paudie Clifford destroyed Donegal last July, Donegal got those match-ups right this time around, especially with Finbarr Roarty on Paudie. In total, the Cliffords were restricted to 32 combined possessions, eight shots and just three scores from play.

After the pain of last July, this was the dream performance from Donegal. Jim McGuinness will just hope now though, that the short-lived dream scenario doesn’t turn into a nightmare for him as he and Donegal face an anxious wait as the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) review the half-time row after he and other players and backroom members from both sides were involved in heated exchanges.

Cork footballers firmly arrive into a new world

The new rules have changed everything in Gaelic football but having Steven Sherlock back has changed everything even more for the Cork footballers in that new environment. In last year’s championship, Cork’s average score (in normal time) was 0.19.5. In the second half against Meath on Saturday night, Cork landed 0-19.

The Munster final performance was a big disappointment but Saturday proved how there is just more surety about this group now, which they emphatically showed when the game threatened to go away from them after the sending off of Colm O’Callaghan in the 51st minute.

Cork goalkeeper Patrick Doyle was outstanding in getting his kickouts away when Meath had an extra man but kickouts were a dominant theme of the trend of this game. Whipping up a raging tide that Cork just couldn’t row back, Meath sourced 1-6 of 1-11 from the Cork kickout in the ten minutes before half-time.

Cork found the early spark they were craving early in the second half by demolishing the Meath kickout, scoring an incredible 12 points in the opening ten minutes, 0-9 of which was sourced from the Meath restart. Cork were able to override the loss of O’Callaghan because they had been so used to dealing with setbacks throughout the match. Cork could have raised four green flags in the first half but they didn’t take any. Cork didn’t raise a green flag but they hit 0-30.

Their highest score last year (in normal time) was the 0-24 they posted against Limerick. This performance though, was a sign of how Cork have emphatically arrived into this new Gaelic football world.