Christy O'Connor on Cork v Clare: Tactics important but Páirc clash will hinge on raw aggression

THE Munster championship has always been a bear-pit and, while it’s no longer a knockout format, it’s almost as if the bear-pit has been repositioned into deep and shark-infested waters since it was changed to the round-robin system.

Nobody is safe. No team can switch off for a second. Attacks can come from anywhere. Some can be fatal, but in the history of the Munster round-robin championship, Sunday’s Cork-Clare match is a first in terms of the jeopardy it entails so early in the season.

This is the first time that two teams which lost their opening match are meeting again in Round 2. And doing so just seven days later has ramped up the pressure even more.

TUNNEL VISION

In modern elite sport, every squad and management is only focused on the now, on what they need to do now to make sure that the result is better than it was a week earlier. Everyone only has tunnel vision but the stakes have been increased even more considering the potential damage another defeat could now inflict.

If Cork lose again, where and how are they going to get the four points they’ll need to qualify? They overcame that challenge two years ago after losing their first two games, beating Waterford and Tipperary away. Yet that task would be all the more difficult again now with Limerick coming to town in Round 3, before having to go to Thurles to take on Tipp in Round 4.

Both teams are under serious pressure but Cork are under far more strain considering the frustration in the county, at not just the result, but the team selection last week against Waterford.

Pat Ryan has naturally made changes but the timing of this match, allied to its importance, means that such radical reconstruction with six changes is surprising - but welcome.

Whatever happens next, Ryan has surely come to a firm conclusion in his own mind as to what he needs to do going forward regarding certain players within the panel. However, Sunday is about staying alive. The future – whatever that entails – can take care of itself in its own good time.

All Ryan was focused on this week was the learnings of last week and trying to put them to good use. Comparing numbers is never an accurate gauge when the opposition is different but they are still worth looking at. Cork got off 39 shots against Waterford, which included 30 from play. As a comparison, Clare got off 33 shots against Limerick, just 22 from play.

On the other hand, Waterford managed 46 shots against Cork, whereas Clare restricted Limerick to 10 less shots at the target - 36.

Ryan will have also noted the high volume of goal chances that Clare did create against Limerick – five. Clare only took one but they should have had at least another two.

Despite only scoring 0-1, Shane O’Donnell had assists for 1-3, while he also set up another goal chance that Nickie Quaid saved. O’Donnell’s numbers are all the more impressive again considering he only had nine possessions.

Do Cork have any defender to stop O’Donnell if he gets that bouncing ball into his hand in front of his man? Given that he has a similar physique, body shape and is loaded with pace, Seán O’Donoghue looks like the only defender able to match up to O’Donnell. O’Donoghue also showcased some of his last-ditch defending skills in dangerous situations around the goal against Waterford.

Peter Duggan is another player who will have exercised Ryan’s mind. In the first half against Limerick, Duggan caught four balls, with 0-3 accruing from that possession. Duggan is a huge aerial weapon and, while Limerick surrounded him with more bodies in the second half, he was still completely underserviced as an out-ball option in that period.

OFF FORM

Clare have the forwards to hurt this Cork defence but some of their better strikers are not in the form Clare want or need them to be. David Fitzgerald was the player of the league up to the final but he has only managed three scores in his last two games. Mark Rodgers’ levels have also dropped. The 15 minutes that Tony got last Sunday was the only game time Kelly has seen since the middle of last year after being out with a serious ankle injury.

Clare looked tired last week but they have a solid track record of bouncing back in difficult circumstances. After losing to Tipperary in their opening match last year – when shipping five goals – Clare went into the Gaelic Grounds the following week and beat Limerick in Limerick for the first time since 1889.

The Gaelic Grounds though, is effectively like a home venue for Clare whereas going to Cork is a whole different ball game. 

A 2pm start also makes it trickier again for Clare with the travel involved. Of the 20 players that featured against Limerick, six have never played a senior championship match in Páirc Uí Chaoimh before. Eight of the players have played three championship matches in the Park but the last time Clare were there was in 2020 when their All-Ireland quarter against Waterford was staged in November.

In any case, none of that stuff really matters now, just as it doesn’t with Cork. 

This is going to come down to both teams fighting on their backs as they aim to stay alive in this competition.

A bear pit in shark-infested waters.