Cork hurlers' goal threat: Ben O'Connor's side will need to be more clinical in championship
Alan Walsh catches the ball on the way to scoring the clinching goal in Kilkenny on Sunday. Picture: INPHO
While they didn’t convert enough, it was encouraging to see Cork create so many goal chances in defeating Kilkenny on Sunday.
Ben O’Connor has selected a roving corner-forward in his early outings, with William Buckley and Brian Roche fulfilling that role.
For Nowlan Park, they began with a traditional-looking three-man inside line of debutant Barry Walsh, Brian Hayes, and Alan Connolly.
The dividends were evident from the first Kilkenny puck-out. With the wind buffeting Aidan Tallis’s restart, Darragh Fitzgibbon was able to gather possession under the breaking ball. His first instinct was to shoot, and even when that came up short, Connolly was well placed at the edge of the square to dictate the aerial fight against Mikey Butler.
Hayes showed his full faith in Connolly by gambling with a run past the ruck, as Mikey Carey was momentarily drawn to the ball. It was all instinct from there. Connolly must’ve heard the shout as he hardly had time to look before feeding the Hurler of the Year nominee for his first-time batted finish.
As the game took shape, Connolly would start roaming further out the field to more closely mimic the style employed in the earlier rounds. The direct supply continued.
In the fifth minute, Ciarán Joyce aimed a ball down onto Hayes’s red helmet. The full-forward cleverly used his body and hurley to shield the sliotar and secure possession. All that was lacking was the finish as Tallis made a routine low block. The retreating Killian Doyle did enough to disrupt Walsh’s swipe at the rebound.
That much was shown with 0-2 against Tipp. From an opposition puck-out, he ghosted away from no less a defender than Paddy Deegan and discharged a fierce effort, which was deflected out for a pointed 65 by Carey’s hand.
For the next opening, Hayes was involved further out the field as the target for a sideline cut while Connolly rotated inside. Tommy O’Connell was sharp onto the break and released the overlapping Darragh Fitzgibbon into space. The captain fixed two defenders with a dummy, but Tallis did brilliantly to read the bounce and transfer the hurley across his body to save.
Just six points ahead and facing into the gale, Cork’s two second-half goals, among just five Rebel scores in that period, were invaluable.
They came out fired up to defend their lead against the conditions. The men in red earned applause from their mentors when scrapping for a line ball, which led to Hugh O’Connor’s goal chance. Hayes and O’Connell did the grunt work, although the final pass evaded the Newmarket man before he dived across Tallis to sweep the sliotar wide.
After a fine Paudie O’Sullivan save from Cian Kenny, the puck-out allowed O’Connor to charge forward again. His pace burned off Jordan Molloy, but Richie Reid got in a vital hook. A speculative Hayes pull was then smothered by Carey’s sliding block.
The penalty originated from another high ball. Having seen Connolly and Hayes display their aerial ability, debutant Walsh got the jump on Ivan Bolger with some smart movement to make the catch before being dragged down. With the corner-back sin-binned, Connolly stepped up only to fly the sliotar wide. His effort had Tallis worried enough to throw his hurley. A retake could well have been ordered.
Those three openings came within seven minutes of the resumption. By that juncture, Cork had converted just one of their seven goal chances. That needed to improve between there and the finish. And it did.
Just as Kilkenny closed within four points, Cork went on the hunt for the subsequent puck-out. O’Connell reversed through the ruck to prevent Kilkenny from clearing before Fitzgibbon whipped forward one-handed. Connolly could almost claim an assist for sliding in to cause the sliotar to pop up into the untracked Walsh’s path. He later said there was "only one option".
Next, a marvellous passing move involving seven of the Cork team opened the way for Fitzgibbon before Liam Moore’s rob prevented the shot.
Cork would clinch it with their 10th major opportunity, not long after Eoin Cody’s goal put the game in the balance. Alan Walsh’s introduction was perfectly timed as his first act was to snatch O’Sullivan’s long delivery against a fellow new man in and blast low to the net. Game over.
Had they taken more, it would’ve been comfortable. Yet the battle will stand them in good stead.
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