MATTHEW HURLEY picked the hurling brain of Diarmuid Ó Mathúnas’ selector Pat Lucey ahead of Sunday’s intriguing decider
MATCH-UPS: The best defenders in the country will try to quell the standout attackers and this Sunday will be no different. Looking at the Cork defensive line, Seán O’Donoghue has been in outstanding form this year. Niall O’Leary and Eoin Downey have impressed too, so who will Pat Ryan plan to take on Jason Forde, Darragh McCarthy and John McGrath?
‘Seán O’Donoghue will be picking up Darragh McCarthy and Niall O’Leary will be on Forde. Andrew Ormond will be marked by Rob Downey, I’d say, and John McGrath will be marked by Eoin Downey,’ Pat Lucey said.
O’Donoghue was on McCarthy in the Munster round-robin clash, for under a minute before the youngster got sent-off for an off-the-ball hit.
‘He has the edge on Darragh now and I’d imagine he’ll be in his ear again. A change of man-marker may happen but I think they will go with Darragh, and Niall will pick up Forde,’ Lucey added.
Jason Forde has converted 80 percent of his shots this year while half-forwards Jake Morris and Andrew Ormond have impressed. A big test for Cork defence but have faced stiff opposition down the years.
‘The two corner-backs have been brilliant – they have snuffed out most lads. I know the Dubs got a couple of goals against them but it’s hard to play when you’re so far ahead. Maybe they took their eye off the ball,’ the Mathúnas selector explained.
Down the other end, Tipp will have a big job in reducing the impact of Patrick Horgan, Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly.
‘I presume Ronan Maher will stay at centre-back and pick up whoever is going to be there, probably (Shane) Barrett. Eoghan Connolly will definitely be marking Brian Hayes,’ said Lucey.
It would most likely be experience v experience, with Horgan marked by Michael Breen while Robert Doyle will take Connolly.
Diarmuid Ó Mathúna's selector Pat Lucey.
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SCORES: Both sides were hungry for goals in the All-Ireland semi-final with Cork hitting seven against Dublin while Tipp struck four past Kilkenny. There is little doubt that Cork will get goals – they have hit the net in every championship game this year. In fact, the only championship game in the last two years where Cork failed to goal was against Dublin in 2024.
It’s 17 goals in this year’s championship with the full-forward line of Hayes, Horgan and Connolly striking 12 of them. Pat Lucey still has doubts over Tipp’s goalscoring ability despite them scoring 15 this year.
‘I’d imagine there will be loads of goals. We know what the Cork lads can do. The only thing I would say is I don’t think the Tipp full-forward line will get as much headway as they did against Kilkenny,’ he stated.
‘I thought Kilkenny’s full-back line was average on the day. I’d be very surprised if Cork conceded three or four goals.’
Cork scored 3-8 from turnovers in the second-half against Dublin. Now, the question is can Cork put in the same workrate and get the same output? The middle of the park, with Tim O’Mahony and Darragh Fitzgibbon in the Cork corner, will tell the story.
‘Workrate will be everything,’ noted Lucey.
‘There will be a massive battle in the middle of the field between Timmy/Darragh and Willie Connors/Conor Stakelum. That will be a tough battle because those Tipp lads are good. We need to be on song in the middle of the field.’
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PUCK-OUTS: It’s no secret that Patrick Collins’ puck-outs have improved. According to Lucey though, this will be a pressure game in finding the forwards with long balls, especially with Seamus Harnedy an injury doubt.
‘A lot of Cork’s puck-outs will probably go short. He (Collins) will probably go short to the corner-backs and take it back himself, then let it into the full-forward line. Especially if Seamie is missing because Barrett isn’t a great fielder under the ball. Deccie (Dalton) isn’t bad but Seamie would be a huge plus if he was playing,’ the Mathúnas man explained.
‘The full-forward line will be massive to Cork. We’ll be actually weakened at half-forward for winning ball. We need to be hitting the boys inside. They have to be on song. In fairness to them, they have been all year. The Tipp backs are tight but if the lads are on form, I couldn’t see a problem there.’
In winning restarts, Cork have won an average of around 67 percent of their puckouts per game. For hurling, that’s impressive. However, Tipp have averaged a retention rate of 68 percent, something to be wary of.
‘In fairness to (Rhys) Shelly against Kilkenny, he went short a bit but then he went long. Tipp won more than half their own puckouts, which is worrying for Cork. They got a lot of scores from winning his long puck-outs (2-8 against Kilkenny).
These three elements will decide who will take Liam MacCarthy home – but can Cork perfect them? We’ll see on Sunday..
