John Horgan on hurling: Cork hope deeper squad can keep them in the Munster mix

HAS the group stage of the Munster SHC gone from being a three-horse race from five starters to a two-horse race from four starters?

That was the question posed in the aftermath of Limerick’s near demolition of Kilkenny in last Sunday’s National League final.

There is now an almost general acceptance that John Kiely’s men will be one of the three teams to advance into the All-Ireland series leaving the other four counties to battle it out for the remaining two places.

There are no nailed-on certainties in any sport and raging, odds-on favourites have fallen before en route to the winning post.

But such is Limerick’s squad depth, it was described as frightening by Anthony Daly in Monday’s Irish Examiner; their ability to raise the bar to similar levels, and the cohesion within the team that it would be a shock of gargantuan proportions if they were to fail to emerge from the group stage of the Munster Championship.

It’s still going to be a fierce provincial championship, maybe similar in Leinster but to a slightly lesser extent.

Assuming all of that, who is best placed at this point to join Limerick in the battle for the MacCarthy Cup? Remember, come the end of May, two major Munster hurling counties will be out of the race for the big prize. that will be handed over in July.

The league has not been too revealing as far as coming up with the two that will be joining Limerick.

By reaching the semi-final, Cork looked to be in a fairly good place regarding their championship prospects, but then they undid a lot of their earlier good work by coming up well short against Kilkenny in Nowlan Park — a Kilkenny team that was trounced by 11 points last Sunday and it might have been closer to double that if Limerick were more clinical. in front of the posts.

The priority for every management team at the season’s outset was to add more depth to their existing panel, something that Limerick are doing regularly from one season to the next.

How many of the other four Munster counties have done that to such a level that competition for starting places has become far more intense?

Cork boss Pat Ryan has called many, but how many will start against Waterford?

The injury situation will dictate quite a lot in the team selection. How many of the injured players that would be automatic starters will be ready for the last Sunday of the month?

There is the situation too that those who have not figured at all in the league will be going into the white heat of the championship with hardly any competitive game time behind them. That may or may not be a factor in the team selection, but it must give cause for some concern.

Back to those who have been auditioning for championship starts and the return might not have been what was required.

Some newcomers had good days during the league, others not to the same extent.

Consistency of performance is a major requirement and was the case with the players who were given the opportunity. Eoin Downey was in pole position to start at full-back against Waterford but suspension rules that out. Sean O’Donoghue’s availability because of injury has to be of great concern, and Cork don’t have the luxury of replacing Mike Casey with Richie English as Limerick did last Sunday.

Tipperary were flying high in the league until Limerick torched them in the second half of their semi-final. Of course, it must be said that Limerick are currently at a level miles higher than the rest.

PATCHY

The league form of Waterford and Clare was, for the most part, patchy. Maybe Waterford put no emphasis at all on it because of what transpired last season.

They will face Limerick in their championship opener without Austin Gleeson; a player of that calibre has to be missed.

Maybe Davy Fitz has something up his sleeve, but it’s difficult to see them really worrying Limerick on Sunday week.

Clare are a bit of an unknown quantity and didn’t seem to be overly interested in the league either.

They had some very good days last season, putting it up to Limerick more than anybody else did, but there’s too much reliance on Tony Kelly. Shane O’Donnell needs to be in top form too and he has had injury concerns.

The major difference between Limerick and rest right now is that if a key player on the Limerick team gets injured or is ruled out altogether, he can be replaced by a player of almost equal standing.

DEPTH

Do Cork, Clare, Tipp, or Waterford have that luxury; have they that depth of resources in all areas of the field?

Is competition for starting places as intense in those counties as it is in Limerick? The answer would appear to be a definite no. And they do have not near as many leaders as they do.

Limerick won the league, one could say, with a fair amount of ease; being tested by Tipp in the first half and by Cork in the second which resulted in a fine Cork win on the opening night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Whatever about being equal as far as resources go, the big priority for those in the chasing pack must be to measure up to them in the physical stakes. And as Anthony Daly stated again last Monday, the most frightening thing of all is that they have not come close to peaking yet.

But for the others, the cause must endure and the hope of dethroning them must never be lost.