Job done but Ben O'Connor accepts Galway style has proved difficult for Cork

Cork manager Ben O'Connor after the win over Offaly, Pic: ©INPHO/Tom O'Hanlon

Unscathed from their narrow Munster final defeat, it was a case of making hay while the sun shone in FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Cork smoothly negotiated their way into an All-Ireland senior hurling championship semi-final against Galway on Saturday week in Croke Park (3.30pm).

It was a visibly relaxed Ben O’Connor that offered his perspective following a comfortable 26-point quarter-final winning margin over Offaly.

“Since the Munster final, fellas were just mad to get back on the field,” he said.

“Lucky enough there was only two weeks, so there was going to be no complacency, fellas knew what to expect.

“They drove it on themselves. We trained on the Tuesday, we did a light session, then we were off until the Saturday and then they came back in.

“Even for myself, you’d be disappointed for a few days, but it wasn’t the be-all and end-all losing the Munster final, because of the way the championship is.

“Years ago, that was it, knockout and gone, whereas now it’s on to the third competition, the All-Ireland series and we'll be going gung-ho again for that.” 

There was no need for any major adjustments either, no need to alter the game plan.

“Fellas just knuckled down and said ‘We’re starting a new competition, we'll drive on for that.’ 

“I suppose coming up, people were saying we were a raging hot favourite, so you'd be afraid maybe in the back of fellas’ heads that that was going to be a problem, but it wasn't.

“It isn't that we're winning All-Irelands every day of the week, so they're not going to get carried away or get caught on a day.

“You get something out of every game, that's after clearing the memory banks and we’re just driving on.” 

For a third consecutive year, Cork are through to the last four.

“The panel is a good bit different this year,” O’Connor continued.

“There’s new fellas in and they're driving it and the older fellas are accepting the challenge and they're driving on as well.

“Five fellas came on and they got their game-time, with another six fellas above in the stand, they got no game-time. They’ll be disappointed but we had ten fellas at home, so, look, it's a hard place to be when you're not getting game-time, but all them fellas will be training again next week and they'll give it their all for a red jersey.” 

The manager was thrilled to welcome back his captain Darragh Fitzgibbon.

“It was great and to suffer no ill-effects of the operation, either. He was blowing there just before half-time, it was after a couple of long runs, lung-busting runs, but no, it was good to get a gallop into him as well.

“I suppose, on the downside, Mark Coleman and Rob Downey picked up a couple of knocks, so we'll assess them during the week.” 

In his first championship start Alan Walsh bagged 2-1, Brian Hayes nabbed a hat-trick while Shane Barrett scored 1-3 - they were among 14 different Cork scorers.

“There were another five or six (goals) maybe that we didn't take as well.

“You see there with the boys, some of them had a chance to take a shot and they popped it into a fella in a better position. That's all we're looking for, is to get the ball into where they think the best chance of scoring is.

“We have been getting goals for the last few years, but we haven't been getting them this year.

“So maybe that's a start now, that they can take a bit of confidence and drive it on.” 

The Tribesmen are next up.

“They have a different kind of style,” explained O’Connor. “We found it very hard to play against them in the league.

“It's going to be a tough battle, you know what you’ll get out of Galway and there's a lot of young fellas with good pace and the older fellas add a bit as well.

“We’re looking forward to it. We wanted to be in Croke Park and we’re going to Croke Park now.”