Cork footballers must improve their defending but new rules make leads far less secure

The Cork footballers may be currently conceding the type of scores you would expect of a hurling team, but strangely there is no cause for alarm.

In previous years we would have balked at the big scorelines that Cork have conceded in their opening three games, but the new rules mean it is a different sport now, and our expectations are still readjusting to this strange new world of high-scoring football.

It was 26 points against Westmeath, 21 versus Down and 21 against Meath. These are undoubtedly big numbers, but since the opening round the lowest total scored by any side in the top two divisions was 16 points in a game, if we conveniently ignore Sunday’s match between Mayo and Tyrone. Every team is scoring big now. The sport has gone from being ultra-conservative to one where everyone takes the Kevin Keegan approach of 'we’re going to score more than you'.

We are getting hurling-type scorelines now, as witnessed in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday evening. A 3-18 to 3-17 scoreline in football would have been the sign of two poor defensive units last year. This year it is the norm.

With the new rules, and particularly the two-pointer one, we are going to see big swings in momentum too. 

SHIELD

Hurling often sees eight- or nine-point leads disappear in seconds and it looks like we will see this occurring frequently in football now as well, with this being displayed on Saturday night when Dublin came from eleven points down to beat Kerry in Tralee. Defending with the wind blowing into your face is much harder now, as you cannot just throw up a 14-man shield in front of your goalkeeper and the prospect of multiple two-pointers means you can concede a lot very quickly.

Cork lost in such a manner up in Newry after they had looked the better team in the first half, but with the wind at their backs Down were a completely different side in the second half.

The moral of the story is with the new rules, you should always play into the wind in the first half, as it seems to be incredibly difficult to halt a team's momentum now if they have the elements in their favour.

The form guide has been good to Cork, with the sight of Meath being on four points in the league table after three rounds. The opening day 2-19 to 0-21 win over the Royals looked like one of Cork’s easiest fixtures at the time, but since that loss they have gone and beaten Cavan and Down (in Newry, which Cork failed to do) and are now very much in the promotion conversation themselves.

MARQUEE

This Cork team has been crying out for a marquee forward to step up to the next level and on Saturday night Chris Óg Jones certainly looked the part, as his 3-4 total drove the Rebels to victory. 

The Iveleary sharpshooter has the dash and directness to thrive under the new rules if he can be supplied early, and so far this season this has been the case, with him scoring five goals in his three games to date. He bagged 1-4 from play against Meath, 1-0 against Down and now 3-4 against Westmeath. The story from those stats is that when Cork get Jones scoring heavily they tend to win, notwithstanding it remains a small sample size yet.

The sight of both Brian Hurley and Cathail O’Mahony coming off the pine in the second half was also encouraging, as both are badly needed this season given the amount of attackers not currently available for selection for John Cleary. 

Given the new climate within the sport Cork needs quality shooters now more than ever.

Having four points from three games means that Cork can, at least for this week, indulge themselves in talks of promotion rather than relegation. Whether that is still the case by this time next week remains to be seen.

Cork’s next fixture is against Monaghan up in Clones and in Round 4 they welcome table-topping Roscommon to Leeside. The state of health of Cork football will be much clearer after those two fixtures have been completed.

Win those and everyone will be eyeing Division 1 status for the first time since 2016. Lose those and all Cork fans will be eagerly scanning the remaining fixture list to ascertain where the extra win will be acquired to ensure their Division 2 and All-Ireland championship statues are maintained.