John Horgan: Cork hurlers in strong position but must refocus before facing top dogs Limerick

From the nerve-jangling finale of Cusack Park a week earlier, this was very much a stress-free afternoon for Cork against Tipperary at Super-Valu Pairc Ui Chaoimh last Sunday.

It wasn't a perfect display by the home team but it was more than sufficient.

Yes, the correct sending off of Darragh McCarthy before the 42,000-plus supporters had time to draw breath was a major topic of conversation in the aftermath. And on any intercounty stage 14 against 15 is always going to be very difficult to deal with but would it have made any difference to the result, whatever about the scoreline?

The simple answer is no. Cork, as they were in the national league final victory over the same opposition and again against Clare last Sunday, were superb in the opening 35 minutes, constructing a substantial lead but subsequently not as efficient thereafter.

But that's perfectly understandable, no team is going to be perfect for the entire 70 minutes and this time there wasn't the slightest hint of a comeback by the opposition as there was against the Banner.

There had to be some apprehension in the Cork camp during the week after the second-half fadeout in Ennis and how well Tipperary had performed in their deserved draw with Limerick. Tipperary had to be rocked by the loss of a man before a score had been registerd by either team and Cork capitalised fully, green flags again being a huge contributory factor.

Three goals after just 17 minutes on the clock, all three nicely invented and executed with clinical efficiency by Patrick Horgan, Tim O'Mahony and Alan Connolly put down an almost unbreakable foundation against an opponent struggling to cope with what had transpired seconds after the throw-in.

You just felt that at what was still a very early juncture in the proceedings, this time there would not be any heroics from the opposition. In the modern era, things can change very quickly and the complexion of that same game can be turned on its head.

But Cork were proving that the artillery they were carrying in front of goal was proving to be much too heavy for Liam Cahill's team and whilst nothing can ever be taken for granted, the writing was penned on the wall with the half-time advantage of 12 points in the home team's favour.

As a colleague in the press box half-jokingly commented, that can be a dangerous lead was proved to be the case against Clare, this time there was never the slightest doubt that Tipp were going to add to the woes that Cork endured a week earlier in the second 35 minutes.

The starting six Cork attackers were all on the board before the interval and as the game developed extra special mention must be made of the contributions from Horgan, Deccie Dalton and Seamie Harnedy and Brian Hayes in the opening half.

Horgan, Dalton and Harnedy accounted for 2-17 of Cork's finishing tally and any one of the three would have been a deserved winner of the man of the match accolade.

Horgan continues to amaze us with his range of skills, his movement, vision and ability to split the sticks.

Dalton might have been a slight bit unfortunate not to start in Ennis but he oozed class all day, rifling over some classy points and pointing a brace of monster frees.

WARRIOR

Harnedy wasn't conspicuous to the extent that we have come to expect from this wonderful warrior against Brian Lohan's men but his five superbly executed points from play put to be bed any thoughts that his best days were behind him. As the season ages his vast experience will be crucial in the bid to try and end a 20-year famine without a visit from the McCarthy Cup.

Nobody, of course, is looking that far ahead and there's still plenty of work to be done in ensuring qualification for the All-Ireland series and maybe making things easier in getting into Croke Park as provincial champions.

Defensively, it was a good day too for Pat Ryan and his management aside from the early departure of Rob Downey through injury as a result of a strong tackle.

Niall O'Leary in front of the very capable Patrick Collins continued with the type of consistency he has exhibited all season and Eoin Downey was a more settled figure too. Ciarán Joyce's dependability was always evident in a fine defensive return.

Jason Forde didn't miss too much from the placed ball for the Premier County in the absence of Darragh McCarthy and to be fair, Jake Morris always looked dangerous. John McGrath could not repeat his goal-scoring heroics of a week earlier against Limerick and he was replaced with an empty plate.

When a team wins by 15 points, the initial reaction would have to be that there might not be a lot to improve on. But that can never be the case, there is always room for improvement, things that can still be done a bit better.

And there were times that some sloppiness entered into Cork's play, in the closing half, in particular, some of their final deliveries were a bit wayward, passes hadn't the desired effect but with the result this time signed, sealed and delivered from a long way out that maybe can be understandable.

But as a unit, this was the type of riposte that the management would have demanded and whilst the point away from home a week earlier wasn't a bad outcome it was a game that should have been put to bed.

CONFIDENCE RESTORED

Along this journey, a journey that's rarely without danger in some form, three points from your two opening games would certainly have been grasped by all in the Cork camp.

Any lost confidence from the Clare game has been regained and restored and now with a few weeks on the training ground, looking on as the other four try to sort out their differences, Cork are in a pretty decent place going forward and there's still another home game to come.

Consider the situation from 12 months ago after the opening two games, no points on the board and things looking very precarious. Things got sorted in the final two round-robin games and an All-Ireland final was very unluckily lost.

There's still a lot of hurling to be played in this Munster championship and the great certainty is the uncertainty.

Waterford have fired themselves into the mix after their terrific win over Clare and for the All-Ireland champions, they are now fully aware of the difficulties involved in being one of the three counties having their summer extended.

Nothing is won yet, neither is anything lost but for Cork against Tipperary last Sunday, one could not have asked for much more.

Yes, it was unfortunate that Tipp were a man down for so long but that wasn't Cork's concern. Caution must always be urged but there has to be a nice bit of room for optimism right now on Leeside.