Cork GAA: What we learned from the hurling and football wins
Cork’s Shane Barrett hit the crucial early goal against Limerick when the Rebels were struggling on Sunday. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy
The All-Ireland champions are under the cosh, the league champions are feeling some heat, and Cork are sitting pretty after a frenetic Munster Championship start.
That said, the last three Liam MacCarthy holders, Tipp, Clare, and Limerick, each failed to win both of their opening games en route to the Hogan Stand steps. Sometimes, it’s the lessons learned along the way which prove most valuable.
Ben O’Connor will no doubt be thrilled to win and to learn plenty in the process.
His scrutiny will focus on the opening quarter-hour, where Limerick picked off nine of the first 11 points. It was a similar story in the league final, where 12 of the opening 15 scores belonged to the Treaty.
There’s no future in handing away seven- and nine-point head starts.
It must be remembered that Cork had nudged ahead by the time Cian Lynch received his marching orders on 50 minutes.
Other notable positives included Cork’s greater goal creation. Of their six prior outings, goal chances had been scarce in four and plentiful in two. This fell into the latter category.
The first two openings, for Shane Barrett’s goal and Brian Hayes’s opportunity, were hewn by hassling William O’Donoghue and Seán Finn into defensive errors. That forward work rate by the likes of Barrett and Hayes gave Cork a path back into this contest.
Read on Irish Examiner
Defensively, Cork had conceded 3-32, 3-26 (twice), 3-25, and 2-25 to Limerick in recent years.
It’s a source of encouragement in consecutive championship matches to limit them to 2-19 (across 70 minutes in last year’s Munster final) and 1-23 on Sunday.
Aaron Gillane’s absence was a significant factor on Sunday, but the unexpected loss of Ciarán Joyce after three minutes was an obstacle that Cork also had to navigate.
With John Kiely using just three subs, he shoved Kyle Hayes into attack as their 14 men gave chase down the stretch.
Another improvement was the paucity of frees conceded. From 20 in the league final and 18 against Tipp last week, Cork gave up just five fouls on Sunday. Limerick coughed up 11, with the Leesiders punishing nine of those.
Other landmarks of note included this being the sixth Cork-Limerick clash to attract a sold-out crowd across the past 24 months. It was the Rebels' fourth success over their rivals in their last five championship meetings.
Last time, Limerick had the extra week following the league final until their next outing. This time, Cork can enjoy the additional week of recovery and refocus before heading for Waterford.
Meanwhile, the Cork footballers received plenty of material to study before blowing away Tipperary in their Munster semi-final.
Their Division 4 opponents contained them to 1-7 apiece for the opening three-quarters, but they were blitzed by 3-11 to 0-2 between the 49th and 67th minutes.
Once Cork cranked their kick-out press into overdrive, it proved a game-changer.
Having failed to score for the first 17 minutes, the Rebels seized three kick-outs in the space of two minutes for a 0-3 return.
In the second half, Tipp were holding the ball at 1-7 apiece until the combination of a double hop and a 50-metre advancement allowed Steven Sherlock to jink into space for an orange flag.
With Colm O’Callaghan just on and his teammates pushed up, the men in red won six successive kick-outs, got off six shots, and scored six points.
In total, Cork stole 14 Tipp kick-outs and yielded 1-10 from those possessions.
The hosts didn’t gain any score from opposition restarts.
In that closing stretch, Cork were only turned over once as their greater depth, endurance, and physicality told.
They had 16 attacks in the final 21 minutes. Fifteen ended in a shot. They raised three green flags, two orange, and seven white, with just three wides. Two of those wides were goal chances at the death.
John Cleary’s most valuable tool for sharpening his troops’ focus for a Munster final against Kerry is the evidence of their bench impact in the Semple Stadium sunshine.
The rested O’Callaghan and Conor Corbett bagged one goal and assisted another upon their introductions. Brian Hurley scored three points before limping off in frustration.
Their other half-time addition, Ruairí Deane, was perhaps most influential of the lot, pointing once and assisting a handful more.
Last man in Seán Brady came up with a goal-saving block, which was transferred upfield for the fourth goal.
For all that their performances have been patchy, Cork have now grabbed four goals in back-to-back games against lower-ranked opposition.
Kerry exist on a different planet to those teams, but amid some recent provincial shocks, Cork can travel with justified hope.
App?
