John Horgan: Job none, nothing else, but Cork must be wary of Dublin

NO tale of the unexpected from O'Connor Park in Tullamore last Saturday evening as Cork got the job done against Offaly on their maiden voyage in this season's All-Ireland series.

It's now a case of one down, three to go if they are going to climb the steps of the Hogan Stand in late July.

From a neutral viewpoint, it was a satisfactory 70 minutes of hurling, nobody wanting a repeat of the terrible trouncing that Offaly received at the hands of Tipperary 12 months ago.

From a Cork viewpoint, there was a decent amount done with a scoring return of 4-25 but the bottom line at the end of the day had to be a lot more to do.

There was never any great sense that there was going to be a monumental shock but one could say that the upward trajectory that Offaly hurling has been travelling in continued and their final tally of 3-19 would have been more than sufficient to win a lot of games.

Yes, their brace of two very late goals put a far better complexion on matters where they were concerned but, overall, they walked away from the game with plenty of reason to hold their heads high.

Games, when one team is an overwhelming favourite over the other can be difficult and it was really a no-win situation for Cork.

As someone said afterwards if they had won by 30 points you would have somebody else stating that it should have been 31 and more.

Without doubt, the very high standard that Cork had set themselves in their superb victories over Limerick and Tipperary was not maintained this time.

Maybe the fact that they hadn't played for a month is something that should be factored in and when you are raging hot favourites it's only natural that a degree of complacency might exist.

The concession of 3-19 against a county that had just successfully participated in the second tier of intercounty hurling, the Joe McDonagh Cup will not have pleased Pat Ryan and the rest of his management team even if two of those goals arrived when the deal had already been sealed.

MAGNIFICENT

And that tally of three could, quite easily, have been more if Patrick Collins had not thwarted Oisin Kelly with two quite magnificent saves.

Cork were too casual at times but their quartet of goals were all very well executed with Brian Hayes, Shane Barrett, Patrick Horgan and substitute Robbie O'Flynn doing very good business. The return to the fray of the Erin's Own clubman has to viewed as a big positive and it further adds to the depth of the squad.

And alternative options in all departments are going to be needed all the more as things intensify over what is hoped will be an extended period going into deep July.

Whilst there might be some concern from a defensive perspective, offensively there could be few complaints even if the wide count ran into double figures.

Four of the starting six forwards were on the board inside the opening 10 minutes with Shane Barrett particularly prominent and illustrating again how important a player he has become in this Cork set-up.

Deccie Dalton had four points on the board before he was called ashore a few minutes from the end and that had to represent a good day at the office.

Conor Lehane might have ended his day with just a single point but his work-rate was a a real positive which saw him pick up the Player of the Match award.

His performance will have been welcomed by the management.

Offaly asked plenty of questions over the course of the game and that won't have done Cork any harm If Cork had done to Offaly what Tipperary did to them last season in their quarter-final assignment it would have served very little purpose and giving the men in red a decent enough challenge will have sharpened minds for next weekend's quarter-final joust with Dublin.

Based on what transpired in the Leinster final when the Dubs were blown out of the water by Kilkenny, Cork, despite not being as impressive as they would have wanted against the Faithful, will again be fancied heavily in all quarters.

But let's be honest, that Dublin display should be parked by Pat Ryan because they are surely a far better team than the one that just fell apart in the Leinster decider.

Dublin ar well down the pecking order of All-Ireland contenders but there is still enough quality in the side to make matters very uncomfortable for the best of opponents on a very good day. Yes, they are wounded but they are now in the territory of having nothing to lose.

Over the coming days, one can be certain that Cork boss Ryan will not allow one shred of complacency to enter the minds of his players.

DANGEROUS

Things didn't work out as well as might have been expected for some Cork players last Saturday, Alan Connolly was first to be replaced but given the huge contribution that he has been making in the league and championship to date, he's allowed an off day.

He'll be starting again next weekend and as sure as night follows day, he'll torment the Dubin rearguard.

Cork and Offaly operate at different levels of the game and it's been a fabulous year for the latter, regaining their place in the Leinster championship and winning the All-Ireland U20 title.

However, despite the final scoreline last Saturday in Tullamore, there is still a considerable gap between the two tiers and there is still plenty of distance to be travelled before Offaly are challenging again at the top table.

But they are on the road and that's the only thing that matters right now. After a month's championship inactivity the game will stand quite a bit to Cork and any ring rust that might have existed will have been removed.

Yes, defensively they will need to be a lot more aware against a higher quality opponent.

Let's be honest, Cork were never in any danger of losing last Saturday but the bar will be set far higher from here on in.

And if the Dubs have the required pride in the jersey, they'll not be the easy pickings that they were against Kilkenny.

After losing to Clare and Waterford in Munster, Cork have to be well satisfied about the position they are in now.

And one would expect the fuel in their tank to be much cleaner against the Dubs.