Cork v Galway: Rebels' efficiency pleasing for manager Pat Ryan

Having seen his side score ten goals in two games as they powered into the Allianz HL Division 1A final, Cork manager Pat Ryan was pleased to see work on the training ground pay off.

In the Rebels’ first four matches, they managed to raise five green flags as opportunities went begging but a greater ruthlessness in front of goal manifested itself with six strikes against Clare and four more on Saturday night.

Brian Hayes, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Patrick Horgan and Tim O’Mahony all netted and Ryan was satisfied with the improvement in that area.

“Yeah, I think we probably left a couple behind us but our efficiency was better today than against Clare,” he said.

We left a lot of goal opportunities in the first couple of league games and that's something we've been working really, really hard on.

“We're just trying to take that final pass and look, obviously we created those opportunities and the lads took the scores.”

The score-taking was a fitting tribute to the memory of two-time All-Ireland-winner Ger Fitzgerald, who died during the week.

“Ger was a fantastic fella,” Ryan said, “obviously a fantastic player but a great family man and a great club man.

“I got to meet him on loads of occasions and he was always a great fella to have a chat with, always get great advice. Always a fella you would enjoy meeting.”

Leading by 2-12 to 0-12 at half-time, Cork removed almost all of the remaining doubts about the outcome when Horgan got his goal in the opening minutes of the second period.

While that attitude ensured that the lead didn’t slip at any stage, Ryan felt that there was a drop in standards in the latter stages of the match

“I thought we got a bit of a bounce off our bench again,” he said, “but I would be disappointed with the last seven or eight minutes, where we got a bit ragged again, and I think the same thing happened above against Clare.

“They’re areas that we go after as a management team, why did that happen and why do we lose a bit of our shape and structure, and so look, obviously, we probably were more prepared to win that game. 

I think Galway are playing 13 days after the league final against Kilkenny so I think they were doing a bit more shadow-boxing than we were.”

In tandem with the goal touch in attack, Cork kept a clean sheet for the second straight match.

“Look, that's what we're expecting,” Ryan said, “that's what we're expecting from our lads and that's what is driven into our goalies as well, there's no shots coming in handy.

GOOD DECISIONS

“Our fellas made good decisions and made good defensive plays and that's against a really, really dangerous Galway forward line.”

Ryan’s counterpart, Galway manager Micheál Donoghue, acknowledged that his side fell to a team further along in their development.

“Yeah, it is evident that they are a few years ahead of where we want to be,” he said.

“For us, the league has been up and down, but the big thing is we got to see the whole squad and we have a few weeks now to keep the head down and get ready for championship.”

Defeat for Galway meant a fourth-placed finish behind Kilkenny, based on head-to-head record.

“I thought in the first half we were really competitive,” Donoghue said.

“Firstly, you have to acknowledge that we were up against one of the top teams in the country there and we know where we are at.

“The league has ​been up and down for us. The most positive thing for us has been that we got to see everyone and blood a lot of new players. In the first half, we created a lot of chances.

“Our efficiency was not as high as theirs and I think they showed their quality then we made a few mistakes, they were able to go from back to front really quickly and punish us with goals.”