Christy O'Connor: What can Cork hurling clubs do to turn the tide of Munster defeats?

AT the end of their heart-breaking one point defeat to Ballyea last Sunday, the St Finbarr’s players and management made their way over to their band of supporters in the North Stand in Cusack Park to acknowledge their loyalty and vocal backing throughout an absorbing contest.

All the players and management were devastated but they were all still visibly heartened and lifted from the weight of emotion and goodwill pouring down from the stand onto the pitch.

“What the players have done for the Barrs this year has been fantastic,” said St Finbarr’s manager Ger Cunningham afterwards. “They came up here to do themselves, the club, the Togher parish and Cork proud. And I think they died on their feet.” 

Doing so in Munster against all the odds – especially having a man sent off so early against a seasoned outfit away from home - was even more satisfying considering how much of a wasteland the province has been for Cork clubs over the last decade.

The defeat means that, since Newtownshandrum last won a Munster title in 2009, the win rate of Cork clubs in the provincial senior hurling championship has now plummeted to as low as 7.69%.

The average losing margin is a shade below six points but the nadir was in 2017 when Blackrock were hammered by Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh by 22 points. That was the first of three consecutive Munster campaigns where the Cork representative was the county final runner-up after Imokilly won three in a row between 2017-’19.

Midleton put up a decent showing the following year against Ballygunner, while Borris-Ileigh dominated the first half against Glen Rovers in 2019 before eventually winning by three points.

When the Glen were county champions in 2015 and 2016, they were beaten by seven points by Ballygunner in 2015. The following season, the Glen beat Patrickswell (to record Cork’s only win) before losing the final to Ballyea by eight points.

MOST COMPETITIVE

Of all the Cork champions over the last 13 years, Sars were by far the most competitive in the Munster championship. They were twice beaten narrowly by De La Salle from Waterford — by two points in 2008 when the sides were level 11 times, and after extra time in 2010.

The 2010 defeat was especially harrowing as Sars led by two points in additional time when Bryan Phelan missed a late 65, but a Sars player had run across Phelan as he was taking the shot.

A free was awarded 13 metres inside the 65, which Phelan converted, before Kevin Moran tied up the game in the 63rd minute with a huge score. De La Salle went on to win Munster before losing to Clarinbridge in the All-Ireland semi-final with the last puck in extra-time.

In 2012, Sars were undone by a late goal against Thurles Sarsfields in Semple Stadium, while they lost to Kilmallock in Kilmallock after extra-time in 2014. 

In each of those four years Sars lost, they were beaten by the eventual Munster champions.

Although Sars only won one game in Munster (against Clonlara in 2008), and they never even reached a final, there is something in the fact that they were a seasoned outfit which won four Cork titles in seven years between 2008-’14. Similar to Newtown in the 2000s, when they won four titles, Sars were an ambitious group with hardened experience in Munster.

Although the Glen won successive titles in 2015 and 2016, there have been five different Cork representatives in Munster in the intervening years. Compare that to this year’s Munster finalists – Ballygunner have won nine in a row in Waterford, while Ballyea have won four titles in seven years in Clare. This is Ballygunner’s fifth Munster final appearance in a row.

Not having those experienced sides in Munster has been even more of a struggle when Cork clubs have had to go away so often. Since Newtown were last Munster winners in 2009, the Cork champs have had a home draw in three of 13 provincial fixtures. 

A Cork club hasn’t had a home draw now since Midleton played Sixmilebridge in Páirc Uí Chaoimh in 2013.

Although Thurles Sars dominated Tipperary for much of the last decade, having to go away so often also contributed to the poor record of Tipp clubs in Munster.

PHYSICAL

Another theory why Cork clubs have done so poorly in Munster is because winter hurling doesn’t suit their style, that they are not physical enough. Yet while that was very obvious last year in the Midleton-Kilmallock game, that accusation couldn’t be levelled against the Barrs last Sunday. A big, strong and physical team is only going to get better and stronger again when their talented young players grow and mature even more.

For now though, none of that is relevant for any Cork club because the county championship is so hard to win. The Barrs were brilliant champions this year, and outstanding ambassadors for Cork in Munster. But getting out of Cork next year will be a whole different ordeal again because they are the team to beat now.

Yet if the Cork championship keeps improving to the same level it has, and if the hurling becomes even more hard-hitting and physical than it was this year, the Cork champions will definitely be better set up to do better in Munster than they have been doing.