Cork v Dublin: Anything less than a top display in Thurles and hurlers will struggle

DUBLIN hurlers stand in the way of Cork’s return to Croke Park for the first time since the 2021 All-Ireland hurling final, as they lock horns in the All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles this weekend. 

Despite Dublin’s poor showing in the Leinster final, they can be expected to give Cork an even bigger test than Offaly managed on Saturday. That Leinster final mauling would certainly have done damage to the Dublin confidence levels, but you would expect a reaction from Micheál O’Donoghue’s charges. 

In that game, they were guilty of standing off Kilkenny far too much, with Adrian Mullen, in particular, appearing to have Croke Park to himself at times, as he banged over seven points from play under no pressure whatsoever.

You just know that Dublin will be a different proposition this time. 

They have had a couple of weeks now to dust themselves off, and their lack of physicality will have been one of the main talking points in their post-match analysis, and you will expect them to target this area of their game.

From a Cork perspective, it is not even worth analysing that Leinster final in Croke Park. Their three games against Wexford, Kilkenny and Galway in the Leinster round-robin give a much better reflection on what we can expect in Thurles.

They earned a creditable draw in Wexford Park back in April in the opening round, before going down to Kilkenny in Parnell Park, where it took a late Eoin Cody to rescue the game for Derek Lyng’s side, and then they travelled down to Galway and knocked out Henry Shefflin’s team on home soil.

At the end of these ties, you would have said that Dublin are a decent side, and very much a potential banana skin for anyone coming out of Munster in the All-Ireland series. 

The horrific nature of the 3-28 to 1-18 drubbing at the hands of Kilkenny has changed that narrative in many people’s eyes, but as Cork showed last Saturday, against Offaly in Tullamore, when they take a side lightly, they tend to struggle.

The message here is a clear one – forget about their last outing, Dublin are a far stronger side than Offaly. And if Cork play to a similar level as last week they might have to forget about facing Limerick again up in Croke Park, as they might not get there.

Dublin have some quality hurlers. Na Fianna’s Donal Burke is one of the top marksmen in the country and will take minding. 

Plus, Cork will know that if their discipline lets them down then it will give Dublin a foothold in the quarter-final, as Burke’s free-taking is up there with the likes of Patrick Horgan, TJ Reid and Aaron Gillane. He scored seven points against Wexford, 0-14 versus Kilkenny and 1-10 in the win over Galway in Salthill, with 0-3 coming from play against Kilkenny and 1-5 against Galway, so he’s not just a free-taker either.

The Dublin attack is far from a one-man affair either with Danny Sutcliffe still being one of the best half-forwards in the country, with him scoring 1-6 in those crucial round-robin ties. 

The likes of the Dublin version of Brian Hayes, Cian O’Sullivan, Darragh Power and Sean Currie offer further firepower up top, meaning that the Cork defence will have to get back to the levels they produced in the wins over Limerick and Tipperary. 

And to add to that, the likes of St. Vincent’s Conor Burke in midfield and Lucan Sarsfields’ wing-back Chris Crummey are well able to score from distance.

CONCERN

Three goals were conceded up in Tullamore, albeit that two of those came in injury time, but that will certainly have been a black mark to the Cork rearguard. 

And only for a brilliant display from goalkeeper Patrick Collins that total could have been higher. Only Cork scored more goals in the round-robin games than Dublin this year, so that is an area that needs improving this week.

The two sides met at the same stage of the championship in 2021 when Cork won on a scoreline of 2-26 to 0-24, with goals from Tim O’Mahony and Shane Kingston being instrumental in the triumph. 

Pat Ryan would probably grab your arm off for a similar result this weekend, as it would put Cork just 70 minutes away from an All-Ireland final, even if that would be 70 minutes of Limerick that would have to be negotiated.