John Horgan on hurling: Battling qualities will stand to Cork when it matters

THERE are some games that require just getting the job done without ever shooting out the lights.

Cork and Wexford was one of those games at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday with the home side just about doing enough to secure the national league points on offer and as a result, ensuring that the team will have at least one more competitive game in the semi-final of that competition before the far more important business of the Munster championship begins.

This was one of those encounters that will not have a lengthy stay in the memory bank, the first half, in particular, from a Cork viewpoint being far too lacklustre.

Being very honest, the opening 35 minutes were forgettable, the negatives far outweighed the positives and on a murky day by the Lee the only saving grace was that things surely would get better.

The stats from the first half did not make for happy reading, Cork failing to score at all for the opening 20 minutes and not getting on the board from open play for 25 minutes.

When the whistle sounded for half-time they had managed to register just six points in total, three from play and three from the placed ball.

Wexford hadn't done too much better, splitting the posts four more times and going in 0-10 to 0-6 to the good.

First and foremost this was a day when redemption must have been uppermost where Wexford were concerned after the mauling that they endured at the hands of Clare in their previous outing.

In that opening half, they did that to a certain extent without ever setting the tongues wagging but from where they were coming from it was a vast improvement. After all, against Clare in the opening half they conceded 4-18.

EXPERIMENTAL

Cork, with the management still very much in experimental mode, were, for the most part, pretty poor. You could count on one hand the number of players who made the desired impact with the attack as a unit not nearly up to scratch.

In fact, the four points that they trailed by at the interval might have been a lot more if Wexford were more clinical with their final delivery.

It was surprising that the 15 players that started for Cork re-emerged again for the second half but when the substitutions were made they worked the oracle and the unbeaten run that had been in place since the season began was maintained.

And that is something that plenty of credit must be given for, seven games played between the Munster League and the national league and seven victories recorded.

And all of that was achieved without quite a number of key players that will be integral to the championship prospects.

Cork have mixed the very good with the indifferent in this national league campaign but at all times plenty of character has been in evidence.

Not playing particularly well and still digging out the victory illustrates that when the need is at its greatest the required step up has been made.

The second half on Sunday was a vast improvement on the first with more players showing for the ball, being more aggressive in attack and as a whole stepping up to the plate.

The management will have been pleased with the impact some players made. Shane Barrett was the best of the forwards and his three points from play were well executed.

Padraig Power finished well for the opening goal and substitute Cormac Beausang's confidence will have been boosted with the game's decisive score, the goal that gave Cork the lead for the first time and ultimately the victory.

Shane Kingston converted well from the dead ball while Ciaran Joyce was again a standout figure in the number six jersey.

Tommy O'Connell and Brian Roche were always industrious and Patrick Collins made one great save but team boss, Pat Ryan would have wanted more from more players, players who are hoping to force their way into the championship squad. Wexford probably believed that they deserved to get something out of the game, all the more so given the fact that they led for 71 minutes.

Lee Chin's return to the fray was one of the positives that Darragh Egan will take from the exercise and his four points from open play was a fine return.

Team boss Egan will have been happy with the response after what transpired against Clare and there was certainly something to build on going forward, all the more so after they lost a few players to injury during the course of the 70-plus minutes.

They are still probably ahead of Dublin in the pecking order in Leinster as far as emerging into the All-Ireland series in the summer is concerned, third in that order to Kilkenny and Galway.

BIG RETURN

Back to Cork, Seamie Harnedy's return to the fray, his first action of the season has to be viewed as a positive and his second-half introduction certainly was a factor. He got stuck in quickly and wanted to be involved.

Alan Cadogan got in a few minutes too after getting the call and the whole exercise over the past few weeks and whatever lies ahead in the knockout stages has been towards constructing a squad that will give you the best chance in the cutthroat campaign that the Munster championship will be.

Cork and Tipp are secure now in the knowledge that they are into the last four of the secondary competition and Limerick and Kilkenny are looking good too. If that comes to pass it would certainly make things very interesting and what the approach of the four counties would be.

This Cork squad, and we emphasise squad because the starting 15 has changed from week to week,  is certainly building up a nice bit of momentum.

The younger players are gaining in confidence although when the championship 15 is revealed for the opener against Waterford you would still expect 11 or 12 of last season's team to be still in place. That's, of course, fitness permitting.

Last Sunday's victory for Cork will soon become a footnote in the story of the season but, to be fair, it's so far, so good.