Tom Kenny encouraged by Cork's midfield showing against Waterford

Cork’s two most recent All-Ireland hurling titles were won with a midfield partnership of Tom Kenny and Jerry O’Connor.

The pair’s coming together owed something to fortune – Kenny started at wing-back in his championship debut against Limerick in 2004 with John Gardiner at midfield. The pair were swapped and Gardiner would go on to form one of the best half-back lines of recent times with Ronan Curran and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín while Kenny immediately clicked with O’Connor, who had been switched from his wing-forward berth. From there, the partnership blossomed.

While it’s far too early to make a judgment on the current team, Kenny was encouraged by what he saw in the midfield sector in Sunday’s Munster SHC win at home to Waterford. While Brian Roche and Darragh Fitzgibbon were named at numbers 8 and 9 respectively, Fitzgibbon was given a roving brief – scoring four points in the process – while Luke Meade partnered the Bride Rovers man.

In his championship start, Roche won the Player of the Game award and Kenny was impressed with what he saw.

“He put in a great performance,” he says. “I know that, since the All-Ireland U20 win, Pat and the management would have great time for Brian, he was playing wing-forward that time.

“He brings a great workmanlike performance, there’s no airs or graces with him – and I mean that with the highest respect. He goes about his business and he gets the work done.

“He got a great point in the first half and was probably unlucky with one in the second half. 

He’s busy in the sense that he stops attacks from the opposition and then acts as a link man going forward, keeping a presence in midfield.

“Luke Meade is a very good ball-player, Darragh Fitzgibbon is a very good ball-player and that Cork team are probably crying out for someone like Brian Roche to do that unseen work.”

It worked well for Cork on Sunday as Meade and Roche dovetailed. As Kenny knows from experience, a positive start can be a strong foundation on which to build.

“Sport can be funny in that sense,” he says. "It clicked against Waterford and, all of a sudden, they have this relationship, without ever speaking about it – understanding each other and their styles of play.

“Luke Meade would always have been an intelligent player and Brian’s skillset seemed to complement that. Maybe they did sit down and talk about it but sometimes it’s best left on pitch in terms of letting them figure out how it plays out in the sporting arena.

“You can go and play off an instinctive feel, then – you don’t have to discuss, ‘If I’m going here, where are you going?’ as it becomes over-analysis. When you do it and it works, it nearly becomes ingrained in your mind and you can go again and do it, it becomes an unspoken word.

“They always seemed to have that presence in midfield but, then again, you’d question where Waterford were in terms of their structure and their set-up. Looking at the game, it seemed very haphazard – maybe they were given too much information, maybe too little or they might have just been unsure of what to do.

“Tipperary next Saturday will bring a totally different set-up for the midfield partnership but, for a partnership together for the first time, they worked really well.

“Hopefully, that’ll continue for them. On some days, they’ll meet difficulties but it’s a case of understanding that they can work well together.”

BLESSING

Other options around the middle include playing Fitzgibbon there in a more conventional role, newcomer Ethan Twomey – on the bench on Sunday – or even Mark Coleman on his return from injury.

Kenny feels that the squad-building during the league has reaped rewards.

“It was probably a blessing in disguise that they had so many injuries during the spring because it forced their hand in terms of trying out players,” he says.

“They had a relatively successful campaign in the league but using such a large number of players worked out in their favour because they know their options.

“Ethan Twomey was on the bench, he had a successful campaign with St Finbarr’s last year, and he could come into midfield. In attack, Paudie Power is someone who had a good league and is ready to step in.

They won’t have any qualms about introducing these players because they knew what they’re about. 

"If they had had a full hand in the league, they might have veered towards the tried and trusted and then be looking at the bench and wondering who they might bring on.

“They brought on five players on Sunday and they could bring on a different five the next day and be totally comfortable with any of them."