Options aplenty as Cork crush Offaly but cruise won't help Croke Park journey
Cork's Alan Walsh reacts. Pic ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon
The sun shone and shone strongly. The tailbacks at the Watergrasshill toll stretched endlessly and tested even the most serene patience. Thurles was alive with colour and charisma in a way it had not been for the first of the weekend’s quarter-finals. 40,185 filed into Semple Stadium. All that was now required was some semblance of a contest. Instead, we got a red massacre.
Cork and their army of followers are on the road back up to Croker. A third consecutive All-Ireland semi-final appearance.
No more than last year’s semi-final destruction of Dublin did nothing for their subsequent decider readiness, this 26-point cruise will prove of very little use for the meeting with the maroon on Saturday, July 4.
The value of the outing was the 52 minutes into the legs of Darragh Fitzgibbon, the Cork captain returning for his first involvement since May 9. There were first championship starts for Hugh O’Connor and Alan Walsh, the latter launching a loud semi-final bid for the shirt of William Buckley. There was a first championship start in just over three years for midfielder Brian Roche.
Options, options, and more options for Ben O’Connor.
The Offaly players were let first back down the tunnel at half-time. Their management did not follow them. Johnny Kelly, Barry Teehan, Seamie Callanan, and Brendan Maher were locked in conclave out on the field. A thousand guesses as to what that conversation entailed.
For all the experience and nous of that four-man group, there was nought they could say to the head-sunken players already retreated to the quiet peace of the dressing-room. And a welcome peace it was from the incessant green flag raids by the red crowd at the opposite end of the Semple Stadium tunnel.
Cork came into this All-Ireland quarter-final having managed only six goals across five games. It was their worst Munster campaign on that front in seven years.
By half-time, they were one short of that six-total. Five netted, five more almost enjoying the same conclusion. A scoreline reading 5-14 to 0-6.
Offaly went with a sweeper from the throw-in. No.9 Cathal King dropped to centre-back to pick up Shane Barrett, allowing Killian Sampson to drop deeper again and operate as a spare, covering defender.
Whatever cover Sampson provided was wholly insufficient. The Offaly full-back line was relentlessly and ruthlessly mobbed. Cork returned to the mantra of the Pat Ryan era. That is, why bother with white when there is half a hint of green.
Shane Barrett stood out from the off. He didn’t need to shake any net for his effectiveness or impressiveness to be noticed and appreciated.
Barrett clipped their opener. He was fouled for their second. He was responsible for their third on eight minutes, albeit by that stage the goal deluge had begun. A deluge that Barrett would of course be part of.
Mark Coleman, who had assisted Cork’s opening white flag, also assisted his team’s opening green flag. His fourth-minute sideline was fetched by Alan Walsh. The Kanturk clubman, making his first championship start in red, applied an emphatic finish.
Walsh’s second arrived 12 minutes later. On this occasion, his aerial ability pulled down a Diarmuid Healy delivery.
If William Buckley offers sprightliness and a penchant to roam smartly, Walsh offers a second target inside. Management need to decide which will better serve them against Galway and possibly further into July.
There was also a Brian Hayes first-half pair, the Cork No.14 completing his hat-trick on 38 minutes.
It was known entering this game that Offaly would struggle to match the physical maturity of their opponents. Far less envisaged was how routinely and comfortably they’d be cut open. Cork were too often at their ease in engineering and executing green flags. You don’t expect such non-resistance when at the last six of the championship. It was, in that sense, a revealing weekend for the Leinster championship.
The size of Cork’s lead went from one ridiculous margin to another. We reckon it peaked with William Buckley’s 49th minute point for a 29-point - 6-19 to 0-8 - advantage.
Offaly ran in two goals thereafter, Oisín Kelly and Adam Screeney giving cause for momentary applause from the vastly outnumbered Faithful.
Cork ran their bench early and often. Hayes and Barrett were both whipped by the three-quarter-hour-mark. Robbie O’Flynn, William Buckley, and Seamie Harnedy all added their names to a 14-strong scoresheet.
Diarmuid Healy, while part of that scoresheet, was not among the goalscorers. He didn’t need to be. While acknowledging the paucity of Offaly’s defensive challenge, Healy was sublime in finding space and picking off passes.
Croke Park and Galway await.
B Hayes (3-0); A Walsh (2-1); S Barrett (1-3); A Connolly(0-7, 0-4 frees, 0-2 ‘65s); D Fitzgibbon (free), B Roche, D Healy, S Harnedy (0-2 each); S O’Donoghue, E Downey, R Downey, M Coleman, R O’Flynn, W Buckley (0-1 each).
A Screeney (1-3, 0-1 free, 0-1 ‘65); B Duignan (0-3); O Kelly (1-0); E Cahill (0-2, 0-1 free, 0-1 ‘65); L Hoare, T Guinan, D Bourke (0-1 each).
P Collins; S O’Donoghue, D Cahalane, N O’Leary; E Downey, R Downey, M Coleman; B Roche, D Fitzgibbon; H O’Connor, S Barrett, D Healy; A Connolly, B Hayes, A Walsh.
W Buckley for Barrett, B Walsh for Hayes (both 44); R O’Flynn for Fitzgibbon, S Harnedy for Roche (both 52); G Millerick for Coleman (58).
L Hoare; C Burke, B Conneely, P Taaffe; R Ravenhill, K Sampson, T Guinan; D Ravenhill, C Doyle; S Rigney, D Bourke, E Cahill; C King, B Duignan, A Screeney.
R Kelly for R Ravenhill (HT); O Kelly for Rigney (41); C Spain for D Ravenhill (48); E Burke for Cahill (50); L Watkins for Doyle (65).
S Stack (Dublin).
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