Focus firmly ahead as Cork hurlers head for warm-weather training camp

As Cork head off to Portugal for a warm-weather training camp today, it’s unlikely there will be too much of an inquest into the first league defeat of the Ben O’Connor era.

Obviously, nobody in the team or management wanted to lose away to Limerick on Saturday night but, given that eight points were already banked, it was a game that did not have to be won.

Cork know that a victory over Offaly next Saturday week will be enough to advance to the final – possibly against Limerick again – and so it meant that Cork could rotate.

For Ben O’Connor, it was an ideal scenario in which to test players who are looking to stake a claim.

“It’s great to be looking at fellas above in training but until you fire them into the heat of battle, you've no idea how they are doing,” he said.

“I think every fella stood up there, they put their hand up to say, ‘Fire me in the next time, I’m good enough for here.’ That’s what we were looking for.

“We didn't expect anything else coming down but for fellas to do that. We are delighted with all them lads.

We asked the lads to empty themselves out there on the pitch and they did. There’s no fella out there that didn’t give it 100 percent.

“Limerick were better than us on the night and they beat us and that’s not because we didn’t perform. I was happy with the performance.”

While Diarmuid Healy is unlikely to feature again during the league, Cork’s injury list is not an overwhelming one.

“Mark Coleman is out, he has a hamstring problem,” O’Connor said.

“Duds [Healy] is out, he has a quad problem. I suppose Duds is the most serious of all the injuries – all the other fellas, it’s only a couple of weeks and things. We have a couple of weeks to get fellas back, [though] Duds won’t be back.

HEAVY LOAD

“It’s a revolving door but, look, there’ll be other counties the same. This is the heaviest part of the season for everyone but we’re not coming out of it too bad injury-wise.

“We have to dust ourselves down after tonight and drive on again.”

Robert Downey is also out at present, dealing with a shoulder injury. His brother Eoin played at centre-back on Saturday and, while obviously disappointed with the result, he felt there were positives to be taken.

“We put it up to them in the first half,” he told TG4, “both teams went all guns blazing, pushing up on puckouts and going hell-for-leather.

“We went in at half-time down a point, I suppose we weren’t in too bad a position, and it was close enough for the first 15 minutes or so and then they pulled away.”

That unanswered 2-5 from Limerick put them in an impregnable position, the kind of devastating burst that few teams are able to live with.

“A few of our long puckouts weren’t really working, they [Limerick] were winning all the breaks,” Downey said.

“I suppose, from a half-back line perspective, we were finding it hard to get on top of their half-forward line for that link ball and they were taking it off their midfielders and playing it inside and getting goals from it.”

Cork did at least score four of the last five points to lose by eight in the end. Now, the focus turns to the trip abroad and the chance to build towards bigger prizes.

“We’re going away to Portugal and we’ll get the tactical side of stuff done over there,” Downey said.

It’s good for bonding too and all that side of stuff but we’ll come back level-headed and fresh and ready to go for Offaly, which is the next task ahead.

“We don’t look too far forward.”