Cork: D. Og Cusack; S. O’Neill; D. Cahalane; B. Murphy; T. Kenny (N. McCarthy); J. Gardiner; W. Egan; L. McLoughlin (1-0); S. Og O hAilpin; C. Lehane (0-5); P. Cronin; C. Naughton (1-0; D. Sweetnam); P. Horgan (0-6f); P. O’Sullivan (0-1); J. Coughlan (0-1).

Galway: J. Skehill; D. Connolly; D. Collins; G. O’Halloran; N. Donoghue; F. Moore; J. Coen; D. Burke (0-2); A. Smith (0-2); C. Cooney (C. Donnellan); I. Tannion (0-1; J. Cooney); N. Burke (1-10; 0-7f); D. Hayes (1-1); J. Regan (D. Glennon 0-1); B. Burke.

Cork’s unbeaten run in the league come to a halt as Galway beat Cork by four points in the Pairc today. In a pretty lacklustre game – the very heavy state of the turf had a large part to play to be fair – that nonetheless featured a dramatic closing ten minutes, Galway heavily outplayed their counterparts in the second half and won despite being eight points down approaching half-time. Unfortunately for Cork with games against Kilkenny and Tipperary on the way it looks unlikely that we are going to make the league play-offs, which is a shame because it is clear management still needs some time to settle on their best fifteen.

For Galway, there were a number of standout performers. Niall Burke was deservedly named MOTM, he was central to every worthwhile Galway attack and finished the winning goal beautifully. In midfield, David Burke played considerable amounts of ball while Andy Smith drove forward well in the second half. Elsewhere James Skehill was instrumental in the Galway victory, reading Coughlan’s ten yard shot brilliantly and looking assured throughout. Defensively Galway’s full-back line struggled in the first half and generally the few times Cork put intelligent low ball in Padraig O’Sullivan and Jamie Coughlan found more room then they really should have. However the Galway inside backs were good under the dropping ball – as were the half-backs – and this was a further building block for victory. Finally, both Joe Cooney and Davy Glennon offered a little bit of extra impact in attack off the bench. And even though Galway were eight points down at one stage in the second half this was as much down to errant shooting on Galway’s part then Cork just outplaying their opposition. All in all this was a determined performance from a Galway side still short Joe Canning.

For Cork, it was a little less impressive. The game again showed up some long obvious problems – we are still short at least one half-back, Cronin’s power and assuredness is still badly needed in midfield and we can’t rely on our inside forwards to win ball in the air. These points were pretty clearly illustrated today by the poor performances of Gardiner (destroyed by Niall Burke), Sean Og (way off the pace set by Smith and Burke), and the many high balls the Galway inside backs won in the second half. To be fair there were a lot of clueless distribution by Cork in the second half, but one suspects that it is near  impossible to win an All-Ireland when four of your forwards either struggle or simply can’t win 50/50 balls low and high. We need a new dynamic inside, possibly in the guise of Cian McCarthy at full forward or Rob White in the corner. Worryingly there was some new  headaches – the form of Patrick Horgan and the dubious sideline decisions, namely leaving Sean Og and Gardiner on for the entire game, leaving Kenny on for so long, putting Sweetnam on at half-forward rather then midfield and bringing Niall McCarthy on for only a few minutes even though Galway’s half-back line dominated for much of the game.

Still, one can’t be too pessimistic, as there were numerous positives. Cahalane was very solid at full-back, Shane O’Neill was excellent in the first half, Egan was again powerful at half-back while Coughlan and O’Sullivan showed some intelligent movement inside, their first touch superb. Lehane of course continues to excel, scoring five points from play although he isn’t used enough from puck-outs. One has to note that Niall McCarthy, Eoin Cadogan, Stephen McDonnell and Cian McCarthy are all to come into the team – moreover if Coughlan had stuck his second half chance, or if Donal Og hadn’t literally handed the Galway forwards 1-1, the result may have been very different. Still, there is a lot of work to do still for JBM and co in getting the balance of this team correct.

Kerry 0-13 Cork 0-11 FT – National Football League

Cork: K. O’Halloran; R. Carey; M. Shields; E. Cotter (0-1); E. Cadogan; G. Canty (0-1); P. Kissane; A. O’Connor; P. O’Neill (N. O’Leary); F. Goold (0-1); M. Collins (0-1); P. Kelly; C. O’Neill (P. Kerrigan) ; A. Walsh (0-2); D. O’Connor (0-5; 0-4f).

Kerry: B. Kealy; M. O’Se; A. O’Mahony; K. Young; P. Crowley (T. O’Se); E. Brosnan; B. McGuire; A. Maher; B. Sheehan (0-5; 0-3f); P. Galvin (0-1); Darren O’Sullivan (0-1); Declan O’Sullivan (0-4; 0-2f); BJ. Keane (0-1; D. O’Callaghan); K. Donaghy (0-1); P. Curtin (K. O’Leary).

A pretty depressing display for Cork here, losing convincingly to a Kerry side that never needed to get out of first gear and generally strolled around the park in as self-assured a way as one could imagine. Unable to score anything from play for the majority of the first half and being kept to very hopeful long distance shots for much of the game, Cork did manage to out-score Kerry in the second half although really Kerry were taking a breather for most of it while Cork were sprinting up and down the pitch in a hard working and entirely pointless manner. The contrast in play from both teams couldn’t have been any more stark – Kerry countered well, always moving forward with accurate kick passing and intelligent movement; Cork on the other hand blustered all day, often going diagonally with short hand passes, the few kick passes hopeless. One can only feel sorry for O’Neill, Walsh and O’Connor inside – starved of any kind of fast ball, they had to deal not only with their own men but the Kerry half-backs as well with little support from out half-forward. Its not as if the individual talent and athleticism isn’t there for Cork, but our possession based and overly conservative gameplan is far too stale at this stage, and easily countered just with sheer numbers in defence. Indeed, its extremely hard to think watching the game Cork have one of the best and most successful set-ups at underage level in the country.

For Kerry, there were many strong performers. The back six were excellent throughout, although the entire full-back line in particular was impressive, Aidan O’Mahony getting the better of his entertaining tussle with Aidan Walsh. Kerry’s midfield performed fairly well, Anthony Maher managing to win some first time ball from kick-outs while Bryan Sheehan’s distribution and finishing was a joy to watch. Elsewhere Paul Galvin won massive amounts of breaking ball, Declan O’Sullivan was his usual stylish self and Kieran Donaghy had a very decent game considering his personal situation. All in all it was a effortless performance from Kerry, to the point in which the Kerry fans travelling home must presumably have returned to thinking Cork Football is no effective danger to their stranglehold on Munster football.

Despite the abject team performance, there was some decent individual performances from Cork. Eoin Cotter settled well into the game after a rocky opening twenty minutes and was actually one of Cork’s more assured ball-carriers; Graham Canty had one of his better games in a red jersey for a long while, was one of the few Cork leaders on the pitch and could have easily had two goals to his name; finally Eoin Cadogan played a lot of ball at half-back. In general our defense was solid, something illustrated by the complete absence of goal chances for Kerry. Further up the pitch however things were far less impressive – with only Fintan Goold and Aidan Walsh doing well. Goold won some excellent ball in the air, even if he is slow to move the ball forward he can at least kick pass accurately while Aidan Walsh worked hard throughout and consistently won dirty ball. Donnacha O’Connor and Colm O’Neill had off days, although its hard to tell how much of that is down to the ponderous Cork build-up (presumably a lot). Patrick Kelly and Mark Collins – two undeniable class acts – were  completely strangled by Kerry’s extra men in defense. In general watching Cork players with the ball was painful, and considering the lack of progress in gameplan and strategy from management, one can only assume a bad year ahead for Cork football.

Cork: D. Og Cusack; B. Murphy; E. Cadogan; S. McDonnell; J. Gardiner; R. Curran; S. O’Neill; J. O’Connor (L. McLoughlin); W. Egan; B. O’Connor; C. McCarthy (0-3, B. Cooper 0-1); N. McCarthy (0-2; C. Lehane 0-1); L. O’Farrell (J. Coughlan); P. O’Sullivan (1-3); P. Horgan (0-4, 0-2f).

Match Review

Cork limply exited the All-Ireland hurling championship on Saturday in increasingly familar circumstances, with yet another hammering at the hands of our one time rivals. Unfortunately it was a game that was probably more depressing then our defeat at the hands of Kilkenny as its likely that that Kilkenny side had more quality then the victorious Galway team of Saturday. And even though the two games went completely different, Cork getting off to a 1-3 to nothing lead on Saturday thanks to Paudie O’Sullivan’s play and James Skehill’s error, both games ended very much the same, the second half Cork performance abject and bereft of confidence. There was even a touch of humiliation in the carefree (Canning’s flick for example) way Galway played in the second half. Unfortunately even though we dragged it back to three points in the second half with the wind Cork were completely unconvincing from the tenth minute onwards as we stopped hitting direct ball into our full-forward line and generally looked a team lacking in self-belief and on the field leadership.

Good performances were few and far between for Cork. Cian McCarthy had his best performance for Cork in championship hurling, winning more ball then usual and being more clinical from play. At the same time Tony Og Regan did a lot of damage and won too much ball in the air – still signs of McCarthy beginning to grow in confidence. The same can be said for Padraig O’Sullivan, who had a scintillating opening quarter until Galway’s physicality took its toll further out the pitch and the fast ball inside dried up. One has to feel sorry for Horgan and O’Sullivan – both looked to have the better of their men but the quality of ball given in was again terrible throughout. Like Cian McCarthy, further performances from the likes of Curran and Egan have to have qualifiers – both played lots of ball, but so did their men. Cadogan put in another solid performance at full-back and was probably Cork’s best, or at least most consistent performer on the day.

Cadogan aside, defensively it was a pretty miserable performance. Both half-backs continued their poor form, although Shane O’Neill was obviously out injured for large parts of the year. Both seem to have lost a bit of pace (not that Gardiner was ever the fastest), hunger and their once domineering form from a few years back. Inside, our full-back  played ok considering the pressure they were under, but both corner backs struggled to handle the Galway corner forwards, Hayes doing massive damage throughout and Kerins unlucky not to hit a couple of goals. McDonnell’s decision to go for a ball that Cadogan was under led directly to a goal but it would be unfair to harshly criticise a young player who has a good debut season. Still, little errors in organisation and indiscipline were a constant on the day, and it was pretty frustrating to see Eoin Cadogan in the first half looking around him wondering who he is supposed to be marking.

In midfield, we got completely destroyed, out worked and out played. Jerry O’Connor had little to no impact on the game; Egan played more ball but both Burke and Smith controlled the intensity of the match through non-stop hard work and aggression. Both were legitimate candidates for MOTM and both are powerful not in the purely physical sense but in their workrate, fitness and non-stop running. Likewise Cork’s half-forward line struggled – both McCarthy’s tried hard and won some ball but Niall was too often errant in his shooting, while Ben O’Connor again made little impact. Indeed his couple of long distance and solitary solo runs down cul-de-sacs represent the increasing worthlessness of the once powerful running game. Inside, Luke O’Farrell had a poor day, his finishing extremely nervy although its clear he can at least win good 50/50 ball. Again he is player lacking in the pace he once had, almost certainly thanks to past injuries.

Galway

Galway of course were more then good value for their win, and could easily have won by more if they so wished. Presumebly criticism before and after the Dublin match stung their pride because their work rate and effort on Saturday was impressive. They are a physical team with some excellent hurlers (obviously Canning, but Farragher has morphed into an intelligent clinical hurler while the likes of Collins, Og Regan and Kavanagh are very powerful defenders), some capable grafters like Smith, and in stark contrast to Cork are motivated, disciplined and very fit. They are an example of where Cork hurling should, if possible be and a good representation of where hurling is right now – all round hurlers, physical, fit, able to point from range, playing direct high intensity hurling and keeping frees to a minimum. Probably worryingly for Cork Galway could have played a decent bit better on Saturday – the opening ten minutes Galway were dozing while in the second half Galway always had a gear more to push to if necessary. One has to of course wish Galway the best of luck in the coming championship.

The Aftermath

Returing to Cork, I might as well get the aftermath stuff down so I can concentrate properly on the footballers and the club scene over the next few months. Firstly, we are in the same place now then when we left the championship last year, albiet we have blooded a few new players under Walsh. I don’t particularly fancy getting into the never-ending players vs management vs county board debate, and peons like myself aren’t really in a position to blame or judge. Moreover, I have no interest in going through every problem with Cork Hurling, as that would take a month or two. However, a few points can be made.

Its hardly unfair to say that management is somewhat out of its depth – I’ve already pointed out their many bad sideline decisions (there was a few more on Saturday) while the bringing in of new players has been grudging considering it was so necessary. Lehane coming in for only ten minutes on Saturday for example, Coughlan not coming on against Offaly, and in general a reliance of older players that have badly lost form rather then being more aggressive using new players even if they are just out of Minor. For example, and without picking on a player that has done great things for Cork through the years, their is pretty much no need to have Kieran Murphy on the bench on Saturday as he has little to offer and was never likely to come on. Similarly Tom Kenny was played throughout the league and sometimes in the championship even though his form for a few years now has been poor, while it must surely have been clear to management that his greatest asset, his speed, is long gone. Both players could have been effectively jettisoned to give a couple of younger players experience. These are two examples (among quite a few) that suggest management is incapable of effectively creating a competitive squad. Thankfully, Denis Walsh’s post-match interview, whilst being slightly delusional (as usual), seemed tinged with resignation that his tenure has been a failure.

The inability of management to effectively manage their squad is connected particularly closely with their failures on the pitch. Its a bit sad that we are still reliant on the O’Connors at this stage in their careers, great players that they were they excelled when their pace and intelligence was connected to a greater gameplan based around support and movement to create space. These things are still important, but the game has evolved beyond O’Grady’s style and just as important now is the ability to play fast direct ball and to be physical. The sight of Ben O’Connor running with the ball, head down for tens of yards on Saturday with no support summed up both the lack of organisation in Cork Hurling right now but also the fact that some players are at odds with the way the game has developed.

Essentially this was a Cork team peppered with players with little to no form, like Gardiner, the O’Connors, Curran and Shane O’Neill with Saturday’s result reflecting this and the complete absence of competitiveness in the squad as a whole. One has to accept that Cork’s recent poor underage record has undermined Denis Walsh’s regime to a degree but the fact that only five U-21s were active in this year’s senior squad was pretty inexcusable. Remember this is a U-21 squad that is (a) very highly rated and (b) filled with people on the age and contains a number of players like Seamus Corry and Dean Brosnan that play in problem positions that excelled in club hurling last year. Moreover, a number of the players that impressed last year against Tipperary U-21s, like Eoin Keane and Ryan Clifford, were evidently not given a chance for the seniors this year. Obviously its far from guaranteed that any of these players were going to make it at senior level, but considering our panel contained a number of players out of form for a number of years it hardly too match to ask for more youth.

Future

Looking to the future there is I think there are enough raw materials in Cork Hurling for us to compete with the Dublins and Galways of this world, even if Kilkenny and Tipperary are out of our league until we start to excel again underage. We have a number of serious players in form – Patrick Horgan, Patrick Cronin – and a number of serious players out of form – John Gardiner, Shane O’Neill – and a number of quality young players that the ability to excel over the future, like McLoughlin, O’Sullivan, Cian McCarthy, McDonnell, Lehane, Nagle, Coughlan and so on. On top of this we can throw in the experience of Niall McCarthy, Donal Og and Brian Murphy combined with some of our better young players like Seamus Corry, Darren McCarthy, Dean Brosnan, Micheal O’Sullivan and Christopher Joyce.

Naturally, and assuming Denis Walsh will move on, we need a new manager who can get the basics right, primarily installing fitness, organisation, discipline and motivation into the side. A strong will is needed to radically alter both the squad and the set up as a whole, the conditioning of the team, for example, being clearly inferior to the likes of Galway, Dublin, Kilkenny etc. There are a number of candidates, young and successful coaches like Crowley at Sars and Lynam at the Glen or more experienced heads like Ger Cunningham. Many dream of the return of Donal O’Grady but this seems extremely unlikely for obvious reasons, while the board’s preferred candidate is likely to be Ger Fitzgerald particularly if the U-21s excel this season, even if he is unpopular amongst many fans. Regardless, we need a Conor Counihan type figure to come in and get the basics correct – even though Counihan had some excellent U-21 teams to pick from, he also brought in the motivation, fitness and organisation completely absent from Saturday’s performance.

Galway: Grealish; Collins; Lee; O’Halloran; Hayes (Donnellan); Og Regan; Cullinan; Burke (0-4; 0-2f); Barry; Ryan (0-1; Gantley 0-2); Smith (0-1); Farragher (0-7; 0-6f; Cahalan); Callanan (1-2); Tannion; Coen.

Cork put in another decent performance to overcome a game but depleted Galway side by three points. Rather like the Kilkenny game it was an encouraging but flawed performance – signs of heart and individual ability were again evident, but once again a larger game plan when in possession seems too clearly to be missing. Once again our younger players performed well – McDonnell seems to improve slightly game to game, which is exactly what one hopes for, and was stronger and more comfortable on the ball then in previous outings. Egan picked up and cleared some nice ball while his man Andy Smith had little impact on the game, although a center-back still needs to dominate and stamp his authority on the game in a way Egan didn’t. O’Farrell still doesn’t seem to have regained his pace and looked rusty but nonetheless showed well for the ball, gave some nice passes and scored an eye-catching point in the first half. Cian McCarthy was excellent, winning numerous balls in the air, running Og Regan into to the ground and scoring numerous points from play. Lorcan McLoughlin was particularly excellent when he came on, breaking numerous tackles and moving the ball on nicely. Deserves a start alongside Cronin for the Waterford match. Not spectacular stuff from the youngsters on the team, but promising all the same.

There was numerous other decent individual performances. Cronin did very well in midfield, playing a lot of ball and showing considerable mobility and fitness. More importantly, he offered a very effective option for puck-outs when he made runs wide into space. Padraig O’Sullivan worked very hard as usual, was a willing runner all day and again scored some lovely points. Niall McCarthy and John Gardiner were their usual hard-working and effective selves while Donal Og’s puck-outs were largely unerring, although the other main veteran in the team Jerry O’Connor somewhat struggled to make an impact on the match besides a nicely made point at the beginning of the second half. Kenny was disapointing poor and completely ineffective. Cadogan and Ryan were mixed – the former lost track of his man numerous times at the start of the game, and a Joe Canning or Richie Power type player would have buried the chances given to Iarla Tannion, but Cadogan was solid for most of the game. Ryan played a lot of ball but still has a habit of making clumsy passes in possession and showed some lazy marking in the lead-up to the Galway goal.

To be fair, its wrong to say the Cork management isnt trying to put a gameplan in place – its obvious we are working off the premise of as much quick ball as possible to the front of the full-forward line, but there is still too much errant passing and slow movement even for this time of the year for it to be effective. As such, this was another Cork team performance most notable for hard work and graft rather then style and purpose of play.

Regarding Galway, they did the best one could expect considering their many injury problems. They do genuinely seem to have some squad depth – O’Halloran was excellent at corner-back while Burke was very lively and energetic in midfield. Callanan likewise was clinical in the corner and rarely spurned a chance while Gantley was effective when he came on. At the same time, Og Regan struggled badly in dealing with the mobility and energy of Cian McCarthy while Iarla Tannion must be infuriating, often showing lovely touches only to clumsily spurn scoring opportunities. Considering the players they are missing however they seem to have the fundamentals – hard-work, athleticism, discipline and fitness – down well and should be a force come championship.