Hogan to link up with Cork panel after club All-Ireland

Sarsfields’ Daniel Hogan is set to receive a chance to impress for the Cork senior side after the club’s AIB All-Ireland Club SHC campaign comes to an end.

On Saturday, the panel for the challenge match against Waterford included newcomers Darragh O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig), William Buckley, Jack Cahalane (both St Finbarr’s) and Alan Walsh (Kanturk), while Lisgoold’s Diarmuid Healy and Ballygiblin’s Darragh Flynn are also part of the set-up and could feature against UCC in the Canon O’Brien Cup on Thursday night.

Speaking after the eight-point win over the Déise at Fraher Field, Cork manager Pat Ryan noted that, of last year’s 37-man panel, Watergrasshill defender Dáire O’Leary, who impressed as his club won the Co-op SuperStores Premier IHC and also as Imokilly won the Premier SHC, was not currently involved.

However, half-forward Hogan, who has been central to Sarsfields bouncing back from the Imokilly loss and making it all the way to the All-Ireland club final on Sunday week, will have a chance to stake his claim.

“Dáire O’Leary is the only fella [from 2024] who’s not involved with us at the moment,” Ryan said.

“Dáire has started work in Kildare as a garda and so he won’t be involved with us at the moment, we’ll see how that goes.

“We have three Sars lads – Daniel Hogan has come into the panel, Cathal McCarthy and Jack O’Connor. Obviously, the two boys were involved last year with us and Daniel’s a new fella into the panel.”

While the tough conditions made it difficult to draw too many conclusions from the Waterford game as a whole, the attitude of the Cork team was a major positive for Ryan to take away.

“Back on the road, that’s what it was about, really,” he said.

“From our point of view, it was a game to get started and we’re delighted that we could play – if it had stayed at five o’clock, it probably wouldn’t have gone ahead.

“Conditions were heavy but we’re delighted with our fellas’ attitude – it was very tough. We brought on a couple of lads, making their debuts in really tough conditions.

“We got 1-11 in the first half, four or five points in the second half, they got three points in

the first half and seven in the second so it was really tough to play after half-time.

“I thought our fellas stuck at it well, which is what we were looking for.”

It was O’Sullivan’s first senior game, while Micheál Mullins at right half-back, Ben Cunningham in the half-forward line and Robbie Cotter in the full-forward line had not featured in the 2024 championship campaign.

In feeding such players into the team, having experience around them is important, Ryan maintained. And, while the weather in the second half made it difficult for the subs that were brought on, they are likely to have a greater opportunity for an impact on Thursday.

“Obviously, we had Darragh O’Sullivan playing his first senior match,” he said, “so that was vital that he had Ger Millerick and Niall O’Leary alongside him.

“Micheál Mullins was there, he had Joycey [Ciarán Joyce] next to him and Luke and Ethan midfield. It’s vital that you do that.

“It was very hard for the subs coming in in the second half, but a lot of them with start against UCC on Thursday night, that’s the way we had it planned.”