Puckout analysis from Cork's humiliating All-Ireland defeat to Tipperary
Shane Barrett of Cork in action against Eoghan Connolly of Tipperary during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Cork and Tipperary at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
Sunday’s loss is going to hurt for quite some time, and while Cork completely capitulated and had no answer for Tipperary’s control and use of an extra defender, it was only one of many reasons for the embarrassing defeat.
The Rebels puckout strategy wasn’t necessarily the cause for it all going wrong, but it didn’t help matters either.
Weirdly, they found much more joy from puckouts in the second half than the first, yet scored 1-16 in the opening 35, and just 0-2 in the latter half.
Going long in the first period only worked five from 11 attempts, with the ball in from Collins primarily concentrated on the left flank. With little success on either side the Rebels mixed it up and went short, but the delivery in from Cork’s defenders was only a marginal improvement.
They did however, win every one of their own puckouts placed inside Cork’s half across the 70 minutes, 11 from 11.
All of Cork’s joy from puckouts in the second period came from that left flank, winning seven of 10 long deliveries on that side, and none of four between the centre and right sides of the field.
Ultimately, Tipperary just had an answer for everything that Cork threw at them. And in the latter half, Cork’s efforts were painful to watch. All reason and composure went completely out the window.
The Premier’s first half approach at half time was mostly short, and when they did go long, they were more often than not successful.
The long ball in from Rhys Shelly and their defenders had Cork under pressure over and over, but particularly in the second half, when John McGrath nabbed his two goals and won the penalty.
Even if most of their long ball in during the latter period was from play rather than pcukouts, it was so effective. Cork just could not compete.
The second half puckout statistics for Tipp are embarrassing from a Cork perspective. There’s pretty much nothing to analyse.
In 35 minutes Shelly only had seven restarts, and they only won four of those. Three short, one long. The other three that went long were claimed by Cork.
It proves that Cork’s half-back line weren’t particularly bad. Tipperary were just on top for the entirety of the half. Overall, Tipp won 23 of their 31 restarts. Even if the majority were short, it reflects just how dominant they were.
It was a difficult day to be a Rebel supporter. Even more so for the players on the pitch. They were toyed with, and paid the ultimate price.
Seán O’Donoghue did well on Jason Forde, Niall O’Leary had done well to contain Darragh McCarthy for much of the first half but it all unravelled in the second. The same can be said of Eoin Downey and his battle with McGrath.
Collins was not imposing enough in the air and Tipp’s disallowed goal in the opening period should have warned Cork.
It didn’t.
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