Cork GAA: John Horgan on the club hurlers on Pat Ryan's radar after round one

THE Cork hurling management's work for the year ended in the gallant loss to Clare in the All-Ireland final but that's not saying that they will be standing idly by over the next couple of months.

The opposite will very much be the case, in fact, and trying to secure a couple of new players to embellish what is already a strong squad for next season will be uppermost in their thoughts. No matter how successful or how far you have gone in the provincial and All-Ireland campaigns the search for fresh talent must be ongoing and there is never a situation that you can rest on your laurels.

In their four-in-a-row glory years, Limerick boss, John Kiely was at pains to stress that once the inter-county year ended he and the rest of his management team would begin the search to strengthen the squad all that bit more. It was an acknowledged fact that Limerick's squad was much deeper than all the rest as was Kilkenny's in their similar feat from 2006 to 2009.

But Kiely and Brian Cody always felt the need for their players a near certainty that Pat Ryan and his selectors were out and about looking at players who might make themselves known to them.

Despite the heartbreak of the final loss, Cork are now right up there as one of the best teams in the country and there has to be cause for optimism going forward.

But things can change all too quickly in what has to be seen as the most competitive championship that we have had for years and in Munster, in particular, uncertainty has to be the key word.

It's far too early, after just the one game, to be pencilling in names who might enter the equation for next season and we'll have to go deeper into the championship at all levels to start thinking who might be putting their hand up.

The current Cork squad is unlikely to change next season but there will be early additions to it and the ball will be in their court then.

Just a fortnight after that shattering loss to Clare the vast majority of the Cork players were back on the horse in the club championship arena and a number of performances certainly caught the eye.

Conor Lehane stood apart for Midleton against Charleville, a contest that had the potential to be a difficult assignment for the East Cork team. A return of 1-8 represented a very good day at the office for a player who is still doing the business while young David Cremin's 0-5 won't have gone unnoticed either.

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Another Cork player who contributed handsomely to his side's victory was Fr O'Neill's Deccie Dalton.

This was a hugely significant victory for O'Neill's, their first victory at Premier SHC level, a great milestone for a club that was playing junior hurling not all that long ago.

O'Neill's got the better of last season's Senior A champions, Newcestown, always the toughest of nuts to crack and with the Rockies and the Barrs in the same group, the importance of that game was huge.

One of the most eye-catching wins last weekend was Newtown's drubbing of Bishopstown and you had Tim O'Mahony putting his body on the line for the former champions with a performance that made bold headlines.

Jack O'Connor delivered seven points for Sars in their emphatic win over Douglas while the contribution of 1-5 from play from Shane O'Regan will have been noted too.

In the Senior A championship, Shane Barrett, Mark Coleman and Padraig Power secured 1-12 between them for Blarney against Carrigtwohill and there was certainly no hangover from that trio from the All-Ireland loss.

The big focus of attention in the Senior A championship was on Glen Rovers against Killeagh and when it was learned that Patrick Horgan was not playing there might have been some apprehension among the Glen supporters.

But there was no reason to be and superbly led by the Downey brothers, Robert and Eoin, they came away with a very positive result that sets them up nicely in their quest to make a quick return to the top flight.

In the PIHC, Cork U20 star, Jack Leahy made a gigantic contribution to Dungourney's great victory over Ballinhassig. 

Leahy fired over 15 points of their 21-point haul and it must be noted too that Ger Collins was just a point behind him with 14 for Ballinhassig.

Two players on opposite sides sharing 29 points is a very impressive statistic. Ballinhassig lined out without Cork U20s Adam and Darragh O'Sullivan and that surely militated against them.

Now that the opening round in all the hurling competitions has been completed there is a period of reflection in all the clubs, winners and losers.

To a certain extent, the pressure is now eased on the winners but on the other side of the coin, there is no more margin for error in round two of the group stage.

Another loss and your championship won't be extended into the knockout stage and the murky waters of relegation will start to rise and it may already be for a few clubs Making any type of prediction after just one game can make one look very foolish.

At the same time, it's difficult to look beyond the big guns in the Premier SHC, Sars, the Rockies, Midleton and the Barrs, despite their loss to the Rockies.

Newtownshandrum had it all too easy against Bishopstown but, by all accounts, they looked very impressive. Their next assignment against Sars will tell us a lot more about them but things do appear to be stirring again in this great club.

After the glory days of the earlier part of the new century they have been on the outside looking in but they are now the favourites to accompany Sars out of the group and into the knockout stage.

The fare will intensify when it all resumes again and we'll be able to have a look at the colleges/divisions section where the main focus will again be on Imokilly.

Of course, until they take the field one can never be sure what place any divisional or college side are at.

Player availability and the release of players from their clubs is always a factor where they are concerned.