No excuses from Ben O’Connor but Galway defeat 'not a true reflection' of Cork

The Rebels were stunned by a rampant Galway on Saturday.

RESPECT: Galway manager Micheál Donoghue, and Cork boss Ben O'Connor. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Ben O’Connor insisted another second-half no-show in Croke Park was “not a true reflection” of his Cork team.

O’Connor’s opening remarks in the post-match press conference were to the point. “It is what it is. They were better than us on the day. Outworked us, outhurled us. No excuses.” 

Five points up, Cork’s lead was reeled into one by the break, although O’Connor was still reasonably happy with his team’s display as Brian Hayes made hay in the full-forward line.

The similarities to the Munster final defeat to Limerick were obvious. "I wouldn't say confident, but we gave them a few points before half-time that killed us,” said O’Connor. “We had a nice cushion at that stage. Did they get the first two or three as well straight away then didn't after half-time?

“It was an area that cost us, the same as the Munster final. Once they got on top of us, we had no comeback for them. They often made it near-on impossible.

“That's not a true reflection of our lads. For everyone watching today, people are saying, ‘Oh, Cork again.’ We're better than that, but we just didn't do it today.” 

O’Connor felt most for the players and supporters and will absorb the brickbats that are following the loss. “I don't care about anyone else. It's our supporters who travelled up, and the 36 fellas we've got in the dressing room, all the backroom (team).

“We've been meeting three, four, five nights a week since last September. So, look, I'm disappointed for them. A lot of people don't realise the time and effort it goes in, and I'm looking at it with my Cork glasses on – that's the same for every other county. So, we'll get criticism for the next couple of days and we'll take that, and we'll drive on.” 

O’Connor acknowledged Cork didn’t take chances to settle themselves after Galway had jumped into a six-point lead. “We had a couple of chances to put the ball over the bar and get set again, but we didn't.

“We tried to force goals. I suppose. Look, it's very easy for us to be out on the sideline and say ‘tap the ball over the bar’, but you're looking up at the clock and you're seeing us running out.

“But, look, the boys had the guts to go for it. They thought the goal chances were there. We were telling fellas all year to do that all year, so we can’t be going around now saying we didn't want them to go for it.” 

O’Connor tried to put some distance between last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Tipperary and this despite the uncanny resemblance of the second-half collapse. “This is a new bunch. Every one of them fellas came up the same as they did last year, came up to do as good as what they could today.

“It didn't happen for us. As I said, we were outworked. We were outhurled for long periods of it. And still, with 10 minutes to go, we were still in it. I suppose the last seven or eight minutes, they really took over.”

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