John Horgan on hurling: Cork starting 15 and championship squad taking shape

When one team is far superior to the other and when the game had run its course by the half-time whistle, the obvious question to ask, were the proceedings of any benefit to either side?

Was there any learning to be gained from the very lopsided encounter at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday night where Cork sauntered into the league final on Easter Sunday against very familiar opposition in Limerick?

There's an adage that you can only play what's in front of you and Cork did that against Offaly with the greatest of ease.

The opening 15 minutes or so were not noteworthy, very few highlights though Barry Walsh's goal and the impeccable accuracy from the placed ball by Alan Connolly deserve mention. Connolly's stature as the replacement for Patrick Horgan continues to grow and his first three attempts on Saturday night posed tricky questions but his answers were emphatic.

Some might have been surprised by the selection of Walsh for this game because of his importance to the county's U20s on Wednesday night in Thurles against Tipperary. While he didn't come out for the second half, the fine goal that he delivered will have further boosted his confidence levels.

INCREDIBLE SUPPORT

The stats from the game are well documented at this stage but perhaps the most staggering one was the attendance of just short of 20,000, probably the biggest at any venue in either code over the weekend.

Once more, it illustrated the massive support this bunch of Cork players have generated. Some crowd for a game that hadn't any great appeal, with the home side all but guaranteed a place in the final and playing a team whose relegation fate had been sealed long before they arrived on Leeside.

Offaly hurling has come on leaps and bounds over the past couple of years due to their performances at minor and U20 level but this league campaign has revealed that as a senior force, a long road still has to be travelled.

By the end of the 70 minutes, Cork had 14 different contributors on the scoresheet, another stat worthy of mention. And the tally of half a dozen goals would have been much higher except for the Offaly goalkeeper Liam Hoare making some splendid saves in the opening sequences.

Cork fielded strongly from the outset, 12 of the starters from last season's All-Ireland final on the block again and that probably told us that there will be no great change in personnel when the championship ball is thrown in against Tipperary next month.

That's not saying there won't be changes but the league final starting 15 will be revealing nonetheless. Ciarán Joyce had the number three on his back for this encounter after Daire O'Leary had been in possession of the jersey in the previous games.

Is that position fully nailed down by any one individual yet... it will be a very interesting selection for the league final.

So, what did the management learn from the game and to those of us sitting in the stand the first answer might be very little.

But it's every management team's business to see things that might not be as visible to others and with just the one game left now before the trip to Tipp, the time for big decisions to be made are fast approaching.

It's always a plus when a side does not concede a goal but Patrick Collins was never really tested as Cork's last line of defence.

Brian Duignan, Dan Ravenhill and Adam Screeney did register some tasty points for Offaly but, as the game aged, the deal had been well and truly signed, sealed and emphatically delivered.

A six-goal haul represented a good night's work for the Cork attack with Darragh Fitzgibbon and Brian Hayes securing a brace each.

FRONT-RUNNERS

Diarmuid Healy, Connolly, Hayes, Shane Barrett and Darragh Fitzgibbon are surely almost definite championship starters and the duo joining them will be hugely interesting with Seamie Harnedy, Barry Walsh, William Buckley and Deccie Dalton appearing to be the four front runners. Diarmuid Healy would be a banker but his injury means he won't be available for now.

The appearance of Padraig Power in the 53rd minute deservedly drew huge applause from the home contingent and likewise his point was very well received as well. Brian Keating was another substitute who made his mark with a fine point almost immediately on his introduction.

What it all means, of course, is that it's going to require some very big calls for the management not alone in their starting 15 but the 26 who will make the championship cut.

The training ground over the next few weeks should certainly be interesting as Ben O'Connor alluded to on Saturday and wasn't it there that Brian Cody made some big decisions in Kilkenny's glory days?

Those behind-closed-doors sessions now dictate so much.

So, the two counties perceived to have the deepest resources at their disposal are set for an almighty showdown in the final.

Is that any great surprise to anyone? Probably not, because over the course of the league campaign they were the two most focused on reaching the final.

And at this point in the season, they are the best two teams in the country and this league final may very well turn out to be the first of a number of instalments between them over the coming months.

They have already come together, of course, in the league regulation stage outcome and it was first blood to Limerick on that occasion.

Their meetings from here on will be of greater importance and this league decider is another installment of a rivalry that has taken the game to some extraordinary heights. League campaigns come and go, even finals too, but this one has the potential to be longer lasting in the memory bank.

The game is guaranteed to be a sell-out, you'd probably have nearly sold out Croke Park if that was the venue but with the home and away arrangement, Limerick are entitled to host it.

Three of the five Munster championship counties will be in action on Easter Sunday with Tipperary and Waterford very interested onlookers on the day and the 1B final carries its own potential.

Dublin will be going all out to bag some silverware before they embark on the Leinster championship trail while Clare, hosting Waterford on the Sunday that Cork take on Tipp will want to maintain the momentum they have gathered in their unbeaten winning run to the 1B final.

Limerick and Cork have had very similar campaigns, both with five wins from six, Limerick with 171 points scored with 135 against, while Cork have scored 174 and conceded 132.

A league final appearance just two weeks out from the onerous task of trying to defeat Tipperary in Thurles might not ideal for Cork with Limerick having the extra week to recover.

But it is what it is and when these two collide, as the past number of seasons have shown, the stakes are taken to a different level.

Super Sunday has arrived very early.