Cork football: What we learned from the McGrath Cup so far

BEFORE we get into it, Kerry manager Jack O’Connor made a salient point in the aftermath of the Kingdom’s 3-20 to 0-10 McGrath Cup opening round victory at home to Tipperary.

“The main purpose of the McGrath Cup is to strengthen the panel, to bring that youth and enthusiasm and some legs into the setup,” O’Connor said.

It is against the backdrop of those comments that any analysis of the Cork senior footballer’s equally impressive win over a Clare team missing the majority of last year’s starting 15 needs to be tempered.

Still, there is nothing wrong with picking the bones out of a display that will have given John Cleary plenty of food for thought, albeit in the first week of January, ahead of facing Waterford.

More importantly, the Cork senior football manager and his backroom have a fresh set of data and match analysis to utilise ahead of their second McGrath Cup outing.

The Rebels’ 2-14 to 0-8 victory over an experimental Clare line-up on Clarecastle’s Astroturf playing surface saw the winners dig in during the opening half and move up through their attacking gears in the final quarter.

Considering the incessant rain and high winds, especially during the first half, John Cleary should be pleased with how his defence fared on opening night.

Forcing numerous turnovers, wing-backs Brian O’Driscoll and Darragh Cashman stood out. That duo’s ability to force Clare to cough up possession allied with Cashman’s two points demonstrated Kevin Walsh’s defensive setup at its most effective. Mattie Taylor’s contribution from the corner-back position was another positive.

Spreading players wide across their 45-metre line, patiently tackling and looking to counter-attack at speed, Cork showed early signs that last year’s newly introduced defensive system is now firmly bedded in.

Restricting Clare to eight points might not be headline-grabbing at this time of the year but keeping Waterford to a similar total and increasing the number of forced turnovers are achievable targets this weekend.

PROMISING

Up front, Clyda Rovers’ Conor Corbett delivered a man-of-the-match performance highlighted by his well-taken goal. Corbett’s work rate off the ball was as impressive as his finishing.

If he can stay injury-free, Corbett is showing early signs of developing into an attacking weapon who could cause a lot of damage on the edge of the square alongside Steven Sherlock or Brian Hurley.

Backing up that eye-catching display with a similar effort against Waterford will be essential to keeping the Clyda man to the forefront of John Cleary’s thoughts.

Probably the biggest positive for Cork to build on was the impact the Rebels received off their bench. Chris Óg Jones scored two points and, most impressively of all, Nemo Rangers’ Mark Cronin notched 1-3.

Cork needs impactful substitutes to have any chance of improving on last year’s National League, provincial and All-Ireland championship results.

In the immediate future, another positive pre-season performance and no fresh injury concerns are all John Cleary and Cork supporters should be looking for from this weekend’s clash with the Déise.

We will leave the final word to Jack O’Connor, ahead of a potential McGrath Cup final meeting with his age-old rivals, about keeping things in perspective at this time of year.

“It is nice to be giving the young fellas the start and allow some of the more established lads to be coming on. But the ultimate goal from these games is game time, getting some mileage into them all.”