Cork v Offaly: Talking points as hurlers stay in mix for league semis
Robert Downey looks to create space. Picture: Inpho/Leah Scholes
Having scored four goals in their opening three Allianz HL games – two against Clare and one each against Kilkenny and Waterford – Cork managed five in the one match.
Pat Ryan hailed hat-trick hero Alan Connolly’s ability in this regard, providing another dimension to his attacking roster.
“Alan goes for goals – that’s the difference between Alan and other players,” he said, “He will always go for goals.
"Patrick [Horgan] wasn’t there today, Robbie [O’Flynn] wasn’t there today, Brian Hayes was rested with a bit of a quad injury after the Waterford game so we didn’t want to play him from the start but you could see how good he played when he came on. We have plenty of options in that area.”
Hayes and Darragh Fitzgibbon also netted while Connolly had a first-half effort saved and Luke Meade and Fitzgibbon were denied in the second half.
Dalton and Connolly became the 30th and 31st different starters used by Cork across their four matches – Conor Lehane is the only ever-present among that grouping.
Having the options and knowing how to use them presents a challenge of sorts for the management but that’s not something that Pat Ryan is complaining about.
“We’ve plenty of players,” he said, “some fellas might say that we don’t know what our best 15 is but we think we’re getting there.
“We have plenty of players that are competing and it’s about narrowing them down to 26 and 15 and see what impact fellas can have coming off the bench for us.”
While Clare’s win over Kilkenny books a semi-final spot for them, the battle for the other place could be an interesting one.
Cork are now on four points, one behind the Cats – a win away to Wexford for the Rebels combined with another Kilkenny loss, in their last match away to Waterford, would be enough to secure a berth in the last four for the third year in a row.
Even if Kilkenny do bounce back and progress to the latter stages, Cork will need to get something from Chadwicks Wexford Park if they are to be part of the seven-team Division 1 in the reconfigured league for next year.
However, defeat on Slaneyside and Cork would be flirting with the possibility of ending up in Division 2. It should make for an interesting Saturday afternoon.
App?
