Cork-Clare flashback: Semi win in 2005 showed Rebels' character

Well, we were hardly going to flashback to the 2013 final, were we?

Cork-Clare clashes in Croke Park are thin on the ground but the first such encounter was a memorable one.

In the lifetime of any great team, there comes a point where their mettle will be fully tested, and in facing up to the challenge they lay their claim for greatness.

For the Cork vintage of the 2000s, that moment came on August 14, 2005 in the All-Ireland semi-final against Clare at Croke Park.

The reigning champions’ hopes of defending their title were hanging by a thread as they trailed the Banner County by six points with 20 minutes remaining. Up until then, Clare had dominated the large majority of the game with a dogged performance, veterans Brian Lohan and Colin Lynch turning back the clock with fine displays.

In fact, Anthony Daly’s side could have led by more at half-time than the 0-9 to 0-7 lead that they possessed. Even so, they upped their game another notch on the resumption to extend the lead to six points by the 46th minute.

Cork were up against it and John Allen, in his first season in charge of the side after taking over from Dónal O’Grady, faced a big test.

He and his management made decisive calls in bringing off centre-back Ronan Curran and full-forward Brian Corcoran, with Wayne Sherlock and Neil Ronan introduced.

Those decisions were to pay off, with Cork outscoring Clare by 0-9 to 0-2 for the remainder, increasing the pace of the game as Clare’s earlier exertions began to catch up with them.

Jerry O’Connor was outstanding as his driving runs from midfield set the tone for Cork’s turnaround and his twin brother Ben put Cork back in front, 0-16 to 0-15, with the end in sight.

Even then, there was still a chance for Clare to force a draw and it was unfortunate for Lynch, so good throughout, that he saw his effort tail just wide of the upright.
It illustrated the cruelty of sport but also showed that Cork possessed the necessary fighting abilities to pull a game out of the fire when it was necessary to do so. Speaking in the book Cork Hurling: Game of My Life, Tom Kenny recalled how strong management had played such a part in that.

“In the semi-final final against Clare, they had us on the ropes,” he said.

“We weren’t motoring well at all but John made the decision to bring Ronan Curran and Brian Corcoran off, big calls given the calibre of the players. We came back to win and it just went to show that John had great faith in the panel and it paid off in those decisions.

That was good management and there was speculation that there might be changes for the final but Brian and Ronan had given such great service and performed so brilliantly over the previous couple of years that it was never the case that they weren’t going to start.

“They had built up that credit in terms of performances and ability to win the battles in their positions and it was good management too to stick with them. It’s only now, when I’m finished playing and doing some coaching in my club and with UCC, that I appreciate how you deal with things like that.”

A month later, faith was placed in Curran and Corcoran as both started the All-Ireland final and Cork achieved back-to-back hurling All-Irelands for the first time since 1978.

Scorers for Cork: B O’Connor 0-5 (0-2 f, 0-1 sideline), J Gardiner (0-1 f) J Deane, J O’Connor 0-2 each, T McCarthy, S Óg Ó hAilpín, K Murphy (Sarsfields), N Ronan, N McCarthy 0-1 each.

Clare: T Carmody, N Gilligan (f) 0-4 each, T Griffin 0-3, S McMahon (65), A Markham, B O’Connell, A Quinn 0-1 each.

CORK: D Ó Cusack; P Mulcahy, D O’Sullivan, B Murphy; J Gardiner, R Curran, S Óg Ó hAilpín; J O’Connor, T Kenny; B O’Connor, N McCarthy, T McCarthy; K Murphy (Sarsfields), B Corcoran, J Deane. 

Subs: K Murphy (Erin’s Own) for T McCarthy (half-time), N Ronan for Corcoran, W Sherlock for Curran (both 60), J O’Callaghan for K Murphy (Sarsfields) (67).

CLARE: D Fitzgerald; F Lohan, B Lohan, G O’Grady; D Hoey, S McMahon, G Quinn; B O’Connell, C Lynch; D McMahon, T Carmody, A Markham; A Quinn, N Gilligan, T Griffin. 

Subs: F Lynch for Markham (60), J Clancy for O’Connell (63), D O’Rourke for Quinn (66).

Referee: D Murphy (Wexford).