Anatomy of a meltdown: how Galway shut down Cork

The Rebels were swarmed, smothered, stunned by the Leinster champions on Saturday. 

HUNTED: Cork's Cormac O'Brien tries to escape the suffocating pressure of Galway's intensity from the likes of Darren Morrissey, Darragh Neary, Cian Daniels, Joshua Ryan, and Daithí Burke at Croke Park on Saturday. Pic: Daire Brennan/Sportsfile

1-12 to 1-7. 29.43 on the watch. Cork coming off an unanswered 1-4. That’s where we pick it up.

You know the headline stats hereafter. You know that Galway outgunned the favourites by 1-19 to 0-6. You know that Galway reduced them to five second-half points.

Saturday was shock and awe from the maroon corner. Here’s a collection of less-heralded stats to further shock and awe. Here’s how Galway shut out and shutdown Cork.

Across the closing 10 first half minutes after the above-mentioned Cork 1-4, Ben O’Connor’s side managed only three shots. One was successful, the other two fell short.

Patrick Collins’ two long puckouts in this period were lost. From the four short puckouts retained, Cork’s decision-making wobbled. They began hitting to 50/50 contests where the Galway defender had as much advantage as the red forward.

Of Galway’s five points to arrive within the minimum at half-time, three were from turnover ball. Shane Barrett miscontrolled. Mark Coleman missiled a pass straight to the covering Pádraic Mannion. Joshua Ryan outmuscled Alan Connolly underneath a Tommy O’Connell delivery.

When you’ve that starting course digested, here’s come the second wave of information.

In the opening 17 minutes and 40 seconds after half time, Cork managed three shots. Outside of Shane Barrett’s 37th minute point, there was a Brian Hayes wide and Cormac O’Brien attempt dropped short. Barrett sought to improve this dreadful figure but was blocked down by Cathal Mannion.

Factor in the earlier first-half information and that’s now six shots and two scores in 27 minutes of hurling.

The 12-point swing has a couple of parents. Strongest attachment is to Galway’s half-time decision to press up on the Cork puckout. The easy, short option that existed in the opening half disappeared.

Of Patrick Collins’ 11 second-half puckouts sent long, nine were lost. Cork failed to win a long puckout between the 38th and 74th minute. Eight were sent long in the interim. None of the eight ended in a red hand.

There was an incredible third quarter sequence of six consecutive long restarts being lost. Galway sent three of them back over Collins’ crossbar.

Having pushed up to cut out short ball to O’Leary, O’Donoghue, and Rob Downey, every white soldier bar Jason Rabbitte would then immediately retreat to wage war when possession hit the deck.

The examples of Cillian Trayers and Darren Morrissey producing clean fetches on the opposition restart were in the minority. Far more pronounced was Collins hitting to a one-on-one contest, only for Darragh Neary, Conor Whelan, and Tiernan Killeen to arrive on the scene as a second and supporting Galway teammate, leaving Alan Connolly, Barrett, and Robbie O’Flynn outnumbered and outwitted.

Galway regularly created two-to-one breakdown mismatches. Cork never copped on to such.

Galway players were tactically alert, their Cork counterparts stationary and stupefied.

The en masse retreat wasn’t just effective at puckout time. There were 20 second-half instances of Cork being turned over because of the pressure applied on the player in possession or the intended red target of a Cork pass. 1-7 of Galway's second-half total arrived from turnovers.

Two examples stick out. One before and one after Fitzgibbon’s sending off.

The first, on 49 minutes, saw Alan Connolly snap up a sideline cut and take off. Three of the oldest players on the pitch - the Mannion brothers and Conor Cooney - hunted Connolly down and dispossessed him. Five short passes later and Tom Monaghan pointed from halfway.

Skip ahead to 63 minutes. Barrett, with four white shirts in close proximity, sprayed a pass to Cormac O’Brien. Gathering possession at the second attempt, he was also surrounded by four Galway players. Rumbled, he passed to Robbie O’Flynn who was ensnared by Daithí Burke, John Fleming, Cian Daniels, and Morrisey. Padraic Mannion joined the act. Possession spilled loose, Trayers securing the turnover.

Swarmed, smothered, stunned. Cork’s decision-making ending up in headless territory had much to do with their opponents' joined-up workrate.

“That second half, it felt like everything was going our way for a part of it. It felt like every ball that was coming down on top of us, we were turning them over, turning them back, and there were two or three getting in tackles on the Cork player,” said Galway captain Darren Morrissey.

“That's something we targeted before the game. We didn't want them to get their heads up and didn't want them getting an easy ball. And while they did get in a good few and caused awful damage at some stages [in the first half], we knew if we could contain that ball going in somewhat and we had lads coming back, that we were in a great position to turn it over and work it from back to front then.” 

His head still spinning from the sensational upset, Morrissey is presented with the piece of information showing his defence having limited Cork to just three shots across the entire third quarter.

“That’s a fair stat. I didn’t realise we were that on top,” he replies.

“We've worked an awful lot over the last few weeks on our own game-plan and not worrying about others. It really showed in the second half, we were flowing. Lads were getting on the right side of the breaks. It seemed very simple what we were doing but it was very effective.” 

Morrissey was minor captain on the 2017 afternoon when Galway landed a famous All-Ireland double. His senior career has had little to celebrate up until the last month.

“It's been a tough few years. A few of the older lads would agree that it's been some of the lowest years of our lives. The same as the Leinster final, to have a victory like that is very special.” It’s an 11-point hammering that makes a mockery of the so-called Munster-Leinster imbalance. Morrissey wasn’t shy in adding his say to this now torpedoed narrative.

“A heap of shite,” he declared. “The Leinster championship set us up awfully nice for games like today when nobody was giving us a chance. They were saying that Munster teams would blow all of us out of the water. We didn't mind having that underdog tag at all and it worked out nicely for us.” 

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