Cork hurling league awards: Best player, biggest surprise and questions to be answered for summer

Fri, 11 Apr, 2025 - 11:10

Eamonn Murphy

Player of the League:

There were a few options here, with Darragh Fitzgibbon an obvious choice given he was the top-scorer and thrived in both midfield and half-forward. It came down to two other members of the 2015 minor crop though, Niall O'Leary and Tim O'Mahony.

The Newtown powerhouse is now essential to the team as an enforcer and distributor in midfield but we'll give the nod to O'Leary, the tenacious corner-back playing every minute of the league without putting a foot wrong.

Bolter: Diarmuid Healy's return of 1-8 was superb, given he only started twice but since minor, the Lisgoold attacker's mix of ball-winning and finishing marked him out was one to watch.

The real find was Cormac O'Brien because while he captained Cork to the U20 All-Ireland in 2021, he was on the fringes of the senior squad in recent seasons.

Newtownshandrum's Cormac O'Brien first to the sliotar from Douglas' Shane Kingston. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

He's now in pole position to get the number seven geansaí ahead of Mark Coleman, on the basis of his more natural defensive instincts.

Biggest Surprise: Brian Hayes' recovery from what appeared to be a very serious knee injury was the definition of a pleasant surprise.

We feared he'd miss the whole championship and he ended up starting the final against Tipp having limped off against Galway.

Patrick Horgan's sustained brilliance is worth a shout too. Yes, he's an utter Leeside legend but, on the brink of his 37th birthday, he's moving as well as ever.

Biggest Disappointment: Avoiding injuries is more important than ever with the shorter championship window in the split-season format. Padraig Power was flying in the rout of Wexford but his campaign ended with a cruciate injury against Limerick.

Robbie O'Flynn has been plagued by issues across Pat Ryan's tenure and is again ruled out while Ger Millerick was in pole position to lock down the corner-back berth ahead of Seán O'Donoghue before injury curtailed him. Millerick is at least back for the Munster series.

Best Performance: Cork were patchy in the draw with Limerick and poor in the loss at FBD Semple Stadium. They picked up form once it became clear the league title was there to be won.

Tim O'Mahony of Cork in possession against Limerick. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Their first half in the final was exceptional but they hurled better across the whole 70-plus minutes up in Ennis, hitting Clare for six goals.

Questions to be Answered: Can Cork replicate their league displays in the summer when it really matters? Can Limerick be stopped again, after holding back for summer? Were Clare playing rope-a-dope in the league meeting?

LEAGUE SCORERS:

Darragh Fitzgibbon 2-34 (0-17 f, 0-1 65);