Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[Happyhonkaman]

It’s hard to see the loser of Cork Waterford getting out of Munster so the stakes are certainly high on 21 April

And at the same time.. if we can’t beat that Waterford side we have absolutely no business talking about coming out of the championship. There’s giving teams respect and realising you have to earn that win, and there’s making a mountain out of a molehill. Waterford are in a bad place, Davy is yesterday’s man, if we can’t grab the win we might as well pack it in and concentrate on next year. We will face much tougher tests against every other team

 

[Dick Holder]

Connolly will be a marked man alright, but I still expect goals from him, he’s not the type to get frustrated, he knows the chances will come

You make a good point on the tippy tappy, waterford are so defensive there will be little room inside and we will be shooting from distance. I wonder would we be better with both Downeys wing back that day as Eoin is a much better striker of the ball than Millerick

Waterford worry me because they are so unorthodox, god knows what tactics Davy will employ, I’d say even Davy doesn’t know, but in their eyes we are the ideal opening game because that air of inconsistency and to a lesser extent these days, flakiness still hangs over us.

It’s a huge game for both teams

Ideally Coleman would become our spare man. I reckon he surely has an outside chance of playing. Running the ball down their throat is probably the only way to open up space or draw frees. That'll have to come from deeper back the pitch. Rob Downey is certainly capable. For me Millerick might shade it over Eoin, but both could play a part. Those guys will have to cover a lot of ground.

If we beat Waterford I genuinely feel we could win the AI. The game is that important. You just get the feeling that it'll click, or it won't. But if this team clicks, they'll take a lot of stopping. I haven't seen this much Cork hurling talent waiting to explode in 20 years.

Waterford will make it a war and they seem to have found a serious goal threat/out ball in Walsh. But my hope is that if they throw the kitchen sink at us, and still fall behind, they might start to question themselves. That's why when they go to war, we must go down into the trenches with them. Ninety per cent of this game will be won by the team with the best mindset.

 

[Thanks]

And at the same time.. if we can’t beat that Waterford side we have absolutely no business talking about coming out of the championship. There’s giving teams respect and realising you have to earn that win, and there’s making a mountain out of a molehill. Waterford are in a bad place, Davy is yesterday’s man, if we can’t grab the win we might as well pack it in and concentrate on next year. We will face much tougher tests against every other team

Wouldn’t disagree with that

 

[Cooltime]

Was at a UCC event last night. Spoke to Seanie McGrath at the end and he knew nothing of an injury to Alan Connolly. He did say all his time was consumed by the minors who are out next week but surely he would have heard. Some nice minor players there apparently.
Some points from an earlier panel chat – Nicky English doesn’t think Tipp are as bad as they were last weekend, but they are not great either. Put last weekend down to changing the team too much throughout the league and they are not settled, hopes they might get 3rd spot but will tough. Seanie thinks Cork could get to a Munster final. Feels they are building nicely but a bit worried about HF line especially against a team like Limerick. Nobody was buying Limericks performance last week, they were non triers.

 

[Killyoursons]

Thinking about the Waterford match, it's likely that Waterford will deploy a sweeper in front of Connolly. That'll effectively take him out of the game for long periods. He'll need to be patient and we wouldn't want to be expecting too much of him. If it's getting too congested in there it's possible that he could be subbed out for a pacier option.

Waterford will probably want to turn it into a shootout and they'll be happy if they can keep us shooting from distance. If we're going to really hurt them, we may also need to build from the back with the dreaded 'tippy tappy' stuff. Guys like Millerick and Downey can make a big difference running from deeper positions. Coleman would be ideal somewhere around the middle. His vision is excellent and he can hit pacy guys running into space.

I think you're right about Waterford playing an extra man to cover their FB line, and the need for patience to create scores. As regards extra pace in there, one option they might try is Hayes - he is not as fast as O'Connor or Kingston but if he is out in front of his man he is very hard to disposses, and during the league he featured a lot as an inside forward, running out to the corner to collect the ball. Last year his touch was often poor, but it does seem to have improved.

In terms of playing the ball from deep, again going on the league they might use Lehane in a deeper role, picking up the ball anywhere across the middle and looking to pass inside. He did this in a few games, most notably against Waterford after HT.

One thing I would disagree with is your suggestion that Waterford would like a shootout, i.e., a match with lots of chances for both sides. On the contrary, I'd say they will want to make it very tight and physical and hope to wear Cork down and break their rhythm, as they did against Limerick last year. The league table in the round robin from last year is very revealing - Waterford conceded the fewest scores, but of course their own scoring was far too low. I'd say they'd be happy that it's Cork they are playing first - not only do this Cork team struggle to win close matches, their open style of play and desire to run the ball to create chances should (in theory at least) suit Waterford's defensive approach. Waterford aren't in a good place right now, but any kind of win whatsoever for Cork would do me.

 

[red&blue]

I think we are ready to explode

Alan Connolly, Mark Coleman and Robbie O Flynn are like having 3 new players on the panel and I think Alan and Robbie together inside will be devestating combination.

I’ve spoken before about guys like Mark, Fitzy, RDowney, ROFlynn, Deccie and Tim stepping up as real leaders of this team. RDowney and Deccie already have to be fair but the other guys need to start playing consistently well week on week and push us to another level. 3 of them are just back from injury while imo Tim just needs to be played and I’d have him midfield or wing foward.

On the Waterford game, our two in the full foward line will be crucial because they will consistently have to make runs out to the wings for an outball. Connolly is well able for this and will make the ball stick as will Hoggy, but has Hoggy the legs for that for 70 minutes? Could they start Hayes or Barrett in there instead and bring Hoggy in? I don’t think they will, not for Waterford anyway. Surely it won’t be Kingston or Jacko though as they are well off the level required to start, great impact subs though

Ultimately we could end up with this team by Round 3 or 4

Collins
EDowney Damien Sean
Millerick Joyce RDowney
Tim Mark
Deccie Fitzy Twomey/Harnedy
Barrett Connolly ROFlynn

 

[Thanks]

Robbie only coming back from injury and wasn’t firing on all cylinders from what we’ve seen this year. Going to have to be patient with him - he’s likely to be a sub on his return until he plays himself into starting team. My guess is he probably won’t feature against Waterford

 

[Crankycorner]

With the 4 matches so close together there’ll be changes to the team as we get into weeks 3/4. I think Hoggie will start against Waterford but I don’t see him starting all 4.

Finally it’s starting to look like our forwards have options. Lehane, Kingston, Harnedy and Hoggie are no longer guaranteed starters and that’s a real positive for the strength of the panel. If we can keep players fit I’d be confident we can beat Waterford and one other. Be great if we could win a home match but I think we also have what it takes to go to Thurles and beat Tipp.

League form doesn’t matter a single thing in my opinion.

 

[red&blue]

With the 4 matches so close together there’ll be changes to the team as we get into weeks 3/4. I think Hoggie will start against Waterford but I don’t see him starting all 4.

Finally it’s starting to look like our forwards have options. Lehane, Kingston, Harnedy and Hoggie are no longer guaranteed starters and that’s a real positive for the strength of the panel. If we can keep players fit I’d be confident we can beat Waterford and one other. Be great if we could win a home match but I think we also have what it takes to go to Thurles and beat Tipp.

League form doesn’t matter a single thing in my opinion.

Spot on Cranky, 20 or more guys will start a championship game this year. we have the capabilities to beat any of them once we get the right balance to the team and they go out and tear into them

 

[Crankycorner]

Spot on Cranky, 20 or more guys will start a championship game this year. we have the capabilities to beat any of them once we get the right balance to the team and they go out and tear into them

I agree we can. Our problem is consistency so hopefully we don’t fade out of games to the same level again. It would be highly unusual to win all 4 but winning 3 is possible. If you said to me now that we’d beat Waterford and Clare, draw to Tipp and lose honourably to Limerick I’d take it.