Patrick Horgan has bowed out: Cork hurlers will shake up attacking style under Ben O'Connor

The inter-county retirement of Patrick Horgan has signalled the end of an era on Leeside, as it was the moment when one of the greats of Cork hurling stepped away.

For generations to come Hoggie will be mentioned in the same breath as JBM, Ray Cummins, Charlie McCarthy, Tony O’Sullivan, Tomás Mulcahy and Joe Deane when listing out the great hurling wrist men that this county has produced in the past half century.

A lot has been made of the fact that he never got his hands on the much sought-after Celtic Cross, but his career should not be defined by that, with him winning so much in the red and white of Cork and the yellow, green and black of his beloved Glen Rovers.

The Patrick Horgan story cannot be told without referencing Domhnall O’Donovan, who hit a last-gasp equaliser in the 2013 All-Ireland final for Clare after Hoggie looked to have won it with a sublime score. It ended up being the corner-back's only ever score for Clare. 

It was one of thousands for the Glen maestro, but it could so easily have been the defining score of his career. 

Alas, it was not to be.

He could easily have played on next year given his current brilliant form, even as an impact sub, but Cork hurling will now move on without him.

In some ways, his retirement offers an opportunity for new manager Ben O’Connor, as they are now going to be less predictable going forward.

It certainly will not be easy to replace the 32 goals and 683 points that Horgan rifled over in rebel red in 18 campaigns, and there will certainly be considerable pressure on whoever is taking frees for Cork in 2026. 

In the last couple years, Cork have gone with a three-man full-forward line in order to maximise their attacking threat and to get the most out of their talismanic forward. Ball-winning was never Horgan’s greatest strength and as father time ticked closer to the 40-year mark than 30 that was not going to start improving now. 

Therefore, Cork needed a three-strong attack.

In many respects, this approach was engineered to deal with the Limerick problem. John Kiely’s side were so strong in the middle eight that there was little point in going after them there. 

Cork’s approach was to go all-in and go after their full-back line and get them embroiled in a shootout. The approach worked, with Cork famously winning three of the last four meetings between the sides, with Horgan playing a key role in these triumphs.

DEVASTATING

This formation could be devastating, as witnessed in the brilliant destruction of Dublin in this year’s All-Ireland semi-final, but it also left Cork vulnerable to sides who set themselves up to deal with direct delivery into this sector. 

This is exactly what happened in both of the recent All-Ireland final defeats, where Clare and Tipperary crowded the Cork full forward line, using different approaches to do so, and Cork struggled to adapt on both occasions.

With Horgan no longer there Cork can be more fluid in how their attack sets up. 

They can select personnel who are more versatile in terms of their positions which should allow them to be able to switch from a three-man full-forward line to a three-man midfield at the drop of a hat, or play different systems to keep opposition coaches guessing.

For example, imagine an Alan Connolly, Declan Dalton and Brian Hayes full-forward line, with Darragh Fitzgibbon picked at wing-forward. 

Dalton could easily just move back to wing forward and Fitzgibbon could just drop into midfield without much fuss and the middle eight would be instantly bolstered.

That is just a simple example. 

The point is Cork did not have that adaptability in the past couple of years and ultimately that proved to be their Achilles heel.

It will be next year by the time we get an idea of how the Ben O’Connor Cork team will set up. 

It will certainly be interesting to see what roles his Newtownshandrum club-mates Tim O’Mahony and Cormac O’Brien will have. 

Both of them put in huge shifts in helping the north Cork club see off Erin’s Own in the relegation play-off last Friday night in Ballyhooly.

O’Brien scored the crucial goal from a centre-forward role, while O’Mahony dominated at the back. What odds on the pair being Cork’s wing-backs year, as it would certainly bring an element of steel down the flanks?