Ben O'Connor: Cork raring to go as new competition starts

A sixth championship game of the season for the Cork hurlers, but a reset in the quest for the next piece of silverware.

What has been a good year overall has featured two final appearances, both ending in defeat by Limerick, but the Rebels face into the All-Ireland series as the likeliest challenger to stop the Shannonsiders.

Any such thoughts are down the line, though; the entire focus is on the task at hand – the All-Ireland SHC quarter-final against Offaly at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles on Sunday (3.30pm).

Though disappointed with the one-point loss to Limerick in the Munster final, Cork manager Ben O’Connor saw some silver linings.

“If you went purely on stats without watching the game, we were well-beaten,” he says.

“We were still only beaten by a point, so I suppose that’s a positive to take from it, that we stuck in there right to the end.

“Looking back at it, the frees killed us we probably had a couple of more goal chances. Nickie Quaid made a couple of great saves, but if you put one of them in, it puts a bit more pressure on.

“But, again, it’s done and dusted, we have that parked and we’re not talking about it. We’ve moved on.

“As I said to the lads, we’ve had a league campaign, a Munster championship campaign and now we’re into the All-Ireland series.

“The week after the Limerick match, we took it handy enough, because fellas were sore and stiff – I suppose, from playing in the conditions that we played in as well, it took a bit more out of them.

“We got back at it last Saturday and did a little bit extra, then we had a good night on Tuesday and Thursday night was handy.

“They’re raring to go again – you know yourself, the best thing to get over a defeat is another match, so we’re just looking forward to it, another big crowd in Thurles.”

Cork are red-hot favourites against an Offaly side appearing at the quarter-final stage for the first time since 2003.

That was three years after the Midlanders had overcome the Rebels in an All-Ireland semi-final but Cork have won the five championship encounters since then, including a preliminary quarter-final clash in 2024. Earlier this year, the counties met in the last round of the league, with Offaly having already been relegated to 1B beforehand - Cork triumphed by 6-26 to 0-20.

However, the Faithful County impressed in losing just one of five Leinster SHC round-robin game. O’Connor cites another recent example of underdogs overcoming unbackable odds to topple a top side – the Cork footballers away to Donegal last Saturday – as proof of how absolutely nothing can be taken for granted.

And, even if any player did feel that it could be an easy outing, the competition for places ensures that such a mindset would not last long.

“Not at all,” he says, “no complacencya at all.

“Two years ago against Offaly, up in Tullamore, there wasn’t a lot in it at all, Offaly got a couple of goals near the end and couple have got another couple.

“Look, fellas have that in the back of their head and you see last weekend in the football, Cork were going up to Donegal and supposed to be getting a hiding.

“So, no, we're taking nothing for granted and that's one positive thing we've seen all along, that no-one seems to take anything for granted.

“They know that they're lucky to be getting a jersey and they’re trying to hold on to it, so there’s nobody saying, ‘I’m definitely going to be playing again the next day so it doesn’t matter about today.

“There’s a bit of pressure on fellas, so there’s no complacency. They’re in a quarter-final, we’re in a quarter-final, the same competition – we’ll treat them the same as every other team we’ve met.

“We’ve our work done on them and we’ve our work done on ourselves.”