JOB done, mission accomplished for Cork hurlers. The league won, silverware on the table at last, qualified for the All-Ireland play-offs and the bonus of a Munster final appearance. Pat Ryan, the players and the supporters would have bitten your hand off if you offered them that last January. So, plaudits all round, exactly where we want to be as June looms.
A packed Páirc Uí Chaoimh watched as Waterford were duly dispatched last Sunday and the summer beckons with hope and expectation.
In view of the above, it seems churlish to be looking for faults and weaknesses as Cork set their sights on more silverware for 2025. But, in truth, the journey thus far this season has been a bumpy ride for the supporters.
As regards crowds and ticket sales, the county board had expected this latest Cork v Waterford clash to be the one game in Cork’s four that wouldn’t be a full house. Most people expected Cork to have already qualified before this final round, with Waterford out of contention, but Munster continues to defy all predictions. Hard to believe that Cork faced into this game with the prospect of being knocked out of the championship but that is what transpired. While the uncertainty guaranteed another full house, it certainly wasn’t easy on the nerves. Neither was Cork’s mixed performance.
When Cork won the league title with a scintillating performance against Tipperary, everything looked rosy in the garden and Cork were unbackable favourites with the bookies to bring back the Liam MacCarthy cup for the first time in 20 long, fruitless years. Expectations were sky-high facing into the championship and while we still have a chance of conquering Munster, questions remain after a campaign that saw Cork beat Tipp and Waterford, draw with Clare and lose in the Gaelic Grounds against a rampant Limerick. There’s a chance for revenge against the latter in the upcoming provincial final on Saturday evening, June 7th, back at the Gaelic Grounds.
There was much to be pleased about against Waterford and much that will worry Pat Ryan and his management team as they face into another clash with the hurling monster that is Limerick. Eoin Downey recovered his form at full back and Ger Mellerick impressed in the corner. The half-back line of man-of-the match Ciarán Joyce, Mark Coleman and Cormac O’Brien was Cork’s best line on the day but the team had problems at midfield, where Tim O’Mahony seems to be going through a rough spell right now.
The Cork forwards could be happy with 2-25 in a really squally wind but only converting 50 percent of scoring chances isn’t going to win a Munster or All-Ireland final. While Séamus Harnedy and Alan Connolly, especially in the first half, could be happy with their displays, Darragh Fitzgibbon is not yet near the form that almost won him the hurler of the year award last season. Should Cork shift him back permanently to midfield to solve two problems at the one go?
What was heartening was the work rate of the Cork forwards in closing down the Waterford defenders, something that can go very wrong with this set of forwards, as we saw against Limerick. What will we see in the Munster final?
That is the biggest question about this team now: what Cork will we see the next day out? How fired up will they be to get revenge for the hiding two weeks ago? How will they avoid being hammered on their own puckouts as they were the first day? How will they negate Kyle Hayes’ huge contribution? How will they open up space for the inside forwards? Will their first touch be better than last Sunday when it was far from perfect for players of this class?
Lots of questions, lots of doubts yet to be put to bed as regards this Cork team but how better to do that than to stop Limerick from winning an incredible seven Munster titles in a row.
