Cork hurlers name team for Ben O'Connor's opening league clash with Waterford
William Buckley in action against Waterford in the charity match in aid of Brian Greene in January 2025. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
William Buckley is the sole debutant selected to start for Cork’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1A opener against Waterford at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday (3.45pm).
The Rebel selection for Ben O’Connor’s first league match in charge features ten starters from last year’s All-Ireland hurling final defeat to Tipperary.
Hayes’ St Finbarr’s team-mate Buckley – who scored ten points in UCC’s win over Garda College in the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup on Thursday – is named at right corner-forward, alongside Declan Dalton and Alan Connolly in the full-forward line.
Dáire O’Leary, recalled to the panel by O’Connor, is picked at full-back while Cormac O’Brien at right half-back, Tommy O’Connell in midfield and number 10 Brian Roche are the other players who did not start the All-Ireland.
The substitutes’ bench features Fr O’Neill’s goalkeeper Paudie O’Sullivan for the first time while Darragh O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig), Hugh O’Connor of Newmarket and Kanturk’s Alan Walsh are in line for first league appearances if they come on.
Manager O’Connor admits that there is a delicate balancing act between the league and Fitzgibbon Cup commitments for the players involved with college sides.
“In fairness, the colleges have been good to us because the boys haven't been training with the colleges and they've been allowed to play the matches,” he says.
“Even for argument's sake, we'll take the first night when we went down to play Limerick [in the Co-op SuperStores Munster Hurling League], the Fitzgibbon was brought forward a week so we thought earlier on that we'd have a certain amount of fellas going down but we ended up having to ask other fellas to come in so we lost out on game-time then in the Munster league games.
“And then you have the workload. Take Eoin Downey – he was playing Fitzgibbon on Thursday and we have a league game on Sunday. They have another Fitzgibbon match next week and we have a match the weekend after.
“There's no way he can play that many games in that short a space of time, so it does upset things a bit. But it just gives another fella an opportunity to get in and get a game under his belt, depending on what way we go.”
Even so, O’Connor certainly isn’t of the view that last year’s league win means Cork have less of a need for success.
"I want to win every game, no matter what it is,” he says.
"Obviously we'll be trying out new players and we'll give every fella a run. But if you ask all the fellas that we'll be trying out in the league, they'll think that they should be on the championship team. That means we should be winning matches.
“If we make 10 changes for a league match, we should still be winning matches if you're to listen to the way they're talking. That's the way it is – we'll be going out to win every game that we can.”
Patrick Collins (Ballinhassig);
Niall O’Leary (Castlelyons), Dáire O’Leary (Watergrasshill), Seán O’Donoghue (Inniscarra);
Cormac O’Brien (Newtownshandrum), Robert Downey (Glen Rovers), Mark Coleman (Blarney);
Tommy O’Connell (Midleton), Darragh Fitzgibbon (Charleville, c);
Brian Roche (Bride Rovers), Shane Barrett (Blarney), Diarmuid Healy (Lisgoold);
William Buckley (St Finbarr’s), Declan Dalton (Fr O’Neill’s), Alan Connolly (Blackrock).
Paudie O’Sullivan (Fr O’Neill’s), Ger Millerick (Fr O’Neill’s), Eoin Roche (Bride Rovers), Darragh O’Sullivan (Ballinhassig), Ethan Twomey (St Finbarr’s), Micheál Mullins (Glen Rovers), Brian O’Sullivan (Kanturk), Hugh O’Connor (Newmarket), Séamus Harnedy (St Ita’s), Robbie O’Flynn (Erin’s Own), Alan Walsh (Kanturk).
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