Limerick v Cork MHC: Barry Walsh back for Rebels

Barry Walsh returns as one of two changes to the Cork team for up what is effectively an Electric Ireland Munster MHC semi-final against Limerick at TUS Gaelic Grounds tomorrow night (7pm).

The Killeagh wing-forward had been named to start in last week’s loss away to Clare but sustained an injury prior to the game and was replaced by Jayden Casey. That switch is reversed, while Brian Lynch comes in at corner-forward in place of Seán Meade.

With the five counties (Kerry competed in Leinster this year) playing in a round-robin format that follows the same schedule as the senior competition, there is a difference in terms of how the latter stages are formulated.

Whereas in the senior, the top two counties play the Munster final and the third-placed side advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals, at minor there is one automatic place in the decider up for grabs. The teams finishing in second and third then play in the one semi-final, with the county coming second having home advantage.

Clare have already finished their four-game programme, with last Tuesday’s win over Cork leaving them on six points – however, they cannot finish top of the table and so must win the semi-final to reach the decider. There is some consolation for the Banner, though, in that they will definitely finish second, entitling them to home advantage in the semi.

Tipperary and Waterford play tonight but, with both counties having experienced three defeats each up to now, their game will not have an impact in terms of the knockout stages and is essentially a play-off for fourth place in the table.

Cork’s visit to the Ennis Road in Limerick will determine first and third place. While the Rebels suffered their first loss last week after wins at home to Waterford and Tipp, the mission has not markedly changed as a win tonight would put them on six points along with Clare and Limerick, with the Shannonsiders having won their three outings up to now.

A three-way tie would be sorted by scoring difference and Cork already have the best record, with +15, while Clare have +9 and Limerick +8.

Should Limerick win, they would be on eight points with Clare six and Cork four, while a draw would leave the counties in the same order but on seven, six and five points respectively.

Even if Cork had beaten Clare, they would still have needed something from Limerick and manager Kieran Murphy hopes that the clarity of the task will be a help to his team.

“We’re treating it like a semi-final,” he says.

“Last week was an unusual one in that we didn’t know how it would affect us in terms of what we needed but obviously we were disappointed with how it panned out.

“The response from the lads has been good, though, and we’re looking forward to Tuesday night.

“The beauty of the league system is that you’ve another game coming quickly rather than having to dwell on a bad result.”

Having scored 3-19 against Waterford and then 2-12 in tricky conditions against Tipp, Cork were restricted to just 12 points in O’Garney Park in Sixmilebridge last Tuesday. The absence of Barry Walsh was a factor in that – the Killeagh attacker had scored 2-5 and 1-4 respectively in the first two games as well providing a strong presence in the half-forward line and creating scores for others.

He will face a fitness test to ensure he is ready but Cork are optimistic that he will be able to start.

Trailing by 0-9 to 0-8 at half-time against Clare, the Rebels began the second half well and moved 0-11 to 0-10 in front but didn’t score again until injury time, by which stage Clare had brought their tally to 17 points.

Cork struggled to win their own puckout during that second half and that is an area that they will look to improve on.

“The workrate wasn’t at the same levels that it had been,” Murphy said, “and Clare really got on top in the second half from puckouts, especially from our one.

“It’s something that we’ve worked on trying to improve.”

CORK (MHC v Limerick): O Walsh (Youghal); O O’Callaghan (Liscarroll/Churchtown Gaels), D McCarthy (Passage), C Cronin (Midleton); C O’Callaghan (Dungourney), Ben Walsh (Killeagh), D O’Leary (Ballincollig); J O’Leary (Lisgoold), Conor McCarthy (Glen Rovers); J Murphy (Dromina), Z Biggane (Charleville), Barry Walsh (Killeagh); B Lynch (Youghal), B O’Flynn (Sarsfields), F O’Brien (Erin’s Own). Subs: F Murphy (Killeagh), S O’Callaghan (Aghada), J Galvin (Éire Óg), J Casey (Youghal), J O’Brien (Cloyne), P Walsh (Carrigtwohill), Conor McCarthy (St Finbarr’s), R Dooley (Douglas), S Meade (Killeagh).