Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[Random boi]

Watched the game last night. Saunderson ok but plenty to work on. Should learn a lot from the game and hopefully gets the Offaly game to develop as well.

Cathal McCarthy I thought did fine. Good pace and looked very comfortable in possession. Took too much out of it at times but at least when he lost possession it was at the other end of the pitch rather than near his goal which other corner backs have done previously. Not sure he’s an intercounty corner back but could do a job as a sweeper.

Eoin Downey did well when he came on but got a bit of a roasting off Mikey Kiely when he came on. Will learn and improve from it.

Felt very sorry for Ethan Twomey, was getting on a lot of ball before he got injured, hopefully injury isn’t too bad.

Barrett tried hard but didn’t work out for him. His tackling was poor and he has a bad habit of flicking across a player. With the wrong ref that could be a red.

Jack O’Connor did well, would have him ahead of Kingston in the pecking order based on current form.

Waterford were poor enough really so disappointing they let them come back the way they did. This habit of switching off in matches has plagued this team for the last 7 or 8 years at least and they will win nothing until the sort it.

 

[morello]

Good news (ROF the only expected injury for Offaly game) from the echo PR interview:

Cork lost Ethan Twomey and captain Seán O’Donoghue to hamstring injuries in the first half, but Ryan doesn’t expect either to be out for a sustained period and it’s likely that Robbie O’Flynn will be the only other player out for the trip to Offaly in a fortnight.

Having so many players at his disposal will make for some tough calls for Ryan and his selectors.

“I think we’ve a very competitive panel,” he said, “I think 29 players have got starts in the first three league games.

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll be trying to get a settled 15 for both the Offaly game and the Wexford game and take it from there.”

 

[Happyhonkaman]

I would slightly disagree with you on this. I was really impressed with Hayes yesterday, he was a threat all the time and looked very lively and willing to go at his man. However, for a big man I don't think he offers a lot physically or in the air. I think this is what we hoped for when he picked hurling but for such a big man, he doesn't offer that unfortunately.
I would say that is the reason why we see him at 13 rather than at 10 or 14.

Yeah, fair enough. He did field one or two from the air, but I was meaning that he was a decent target man generally. I think the return from what was put into him was decent, first out to the long ball to the corners a few times as well, nice first touch control, strong in possession and made good use of it each time

Id say you're spot on about 13

 

[morello]

That's the obvious thing but will the management try it?

Our best backline currently is
ED DC SOD
GM CJ RD

Don't think there is better options than that personally. I believe TOC will hold onto a spot in midfield, the other position is really up for grabs especially with Roche out of form. Likely to be one of Meade or Twomey there?

Those are the 6 standing out, and I'd agree our strongest, albeit ER did nothing wrong and COC mysteriously got no game at corner back.

Challenge is that we're assuming both TOM and Coleman will be moved from where they're currently being played at 5 & 7 - we might get one move but unfortunately we're unlikely to get 2 moves.

 

[Instabroke]

Couple of positives from yesterday. Hayes played well, JOC played very well. Pitch time for Harnedy and Connolly. Oh and not to forget winning and getting the points.

The game itself was awful, like a practice game. Again, important to remember its a league game in February, but I'm not sure the pick of both teams would have beaten Limerick Saturday night.

 

[Corkfan82]

I enjoyed the under 20 game more than the senior game which I thought was poor.
The issues we have are the ones we have had for some years . In my opinion you cannot have Horgan, Lehane and O Connor all on the pitch at the same time.
I thought Jack O Connor had a fine return to form and delighted to see it, Lehane did some good things but is just not physical enough at this level or involved enough either in my opinion, at one stage in the first half I had forgotten he was even playing .
I thought Seamus was quiet in the first half but was excellent in the second half when he went more central , unlike a lot here I thought Shane Barett had a good game throughout , worked hard, won a lot of ball and laid it off well. I also thought Brian Hayes was much more involved and did well.

At the back I thought that Saunderson still has a bit to go before he is ready to replace Collins.
Cathal McCarthy won't be unhappy with his performance but in my opinion is nowhere near the team.
I thought Cahalane was his usual solid self and Eoin Downey did well when he replaced Sean O Donoghue( who I hope is alright, he didn't look injured as he left the pitch.

Millerick was my motm, Joyce did well but maybe not his usual commanding performance and although Mark Coleman played well I think we have better options at wing back.

I thought our midfield was poor and Ethan Twomey was a loss when he went off. Tommy O Connell was not as effective as in previous games and Brian Roche has not yet recaptured the form we saw from him last year.

I am not sure if any of the subs got a chance to make a real impact but good to see Alan Connolly back and looking fit.

Not a great day out to be honest.

Hey North Cork.
You're an excellent poster on here.
Were you at the game? I watched on tv and I know to do a full analysis, its best to be there and then watch on tv after.

I have to question your Coleman and Barrett playing well. Maybe its the tv vs being there impact.
Coleman, as I watched on tv, was bang average as explained in an earlier post. Our defenders have to be able to defend and Coleman is not a man marking blocking, hooking wing back like Mellerick or Downey. I wish he was because his skill level on form is crazy high.
Barrett worked damn hard, won alot of ball, all positive, the negative which us frustrating is giving anyway too many fees and poor shooting. He should have nailed his 2 shoots for points in 2nd half but didnt. His shooting must improve and hasnt really improved since his fldominant u20 performances.

 

[North Cork]

Couple of positives from yesterday. Hayes played well, JOC played very well. Pitch time for Harnedy and Connolly. Oh and not to forget winning and getting the points.

The game itself was awful, like a practice game. Again, important to remember its a league game in February, but I'm not sure the pick of both teams would have beaten Limerick Saturday night.

Every game is different, no point in trying to compare one with the other.
I think we run the risk on here of being a bit disrespectful to Waterford. They are a strong hurling county with some very good players.
They should have beaten Limerick last year and did beat Tipp.

 

[North Cork]

Hey North Cork.
You're an excellent poster on here.
Were you at the game? I watched on tv and I know to do a full analysis, its best to be here and then watch on tv after.

I have to question your Coleman and Barrett playing well. Maybe its the tv vs being there impact.
Coleman, as I watched on tv, was bang average as explained in an earlier post. Our defenders have to be able to defend and Coleman is not a man marking blocking, hooking wing back like Mellerick or Downey. I wish he was because his skill level on form is crazy high.
Barrett worked damn hard, won alot of ball, all positive, the negative which us frustrating is giving anyway too many fees and poor shooting. He should have nailed his 2 shoots for points in 2nd half but didnt. His shooting must improve hasnt really improve since his fominant u20 performances.

CF82.
I was there for both games.

We need to realise that if you play Mark Coleman at wing back you expect a different type of game from him than other players in that position. He has never been a defensive wing back as the excellent Millerick on the other wing. I did say that I think as good as Coleman is that we have better options at no. 7. I did however think he did quite well and influenced the game.
I would love to see Coleman and O Connell get an extended run at midfield.

Regarding Shane Barrett, I think he gets through an amount of work in a game, he gets on the ball a lot but is constantly working hard, chasing down players , trying to get blocks in and we need more of these players in the team. He also sets up scores for others and had only one wide yesterday that I can remember. I also think he will further improve as he settles into the team. He would certainly be in my six forwards most days for what he brings to the team.

 

[beanee]

Just grateful they won yesterday. Losing would have been gut wrenching and for all Pat Ryan's strong hints that he doesn't give a shit about the league, like winning, losing is a habit too. We needed that.

 

[red&blue]

Could be shot for asking this but I think it’s worthy of some discussion. Is there a place in the starting 15 for Coleman? Other posters are correct that his is tacking is not the strongest part of his game so given that I’d be slow to play him midfield.

I don’t think he’s strong enough defensively for wing back. Do we change our style to fit him in because his distribution and skill are top notch? For me he’d make a good sweeper.

I too worry about Mark at 7, I think himself and Tommy would make a good midfield pair and hopefully it will be looked at in the next two games.

But even more I I think we waste Ciaran Joyce playing as a sweeping center back. Now I don’t think we should be playing a sweeper anyway but as long as we are would it benefit us more to play Mark at 6 and Ciaran at 8 where his robust style and bursting runs would really benefit us.

Now that sounds like I’ve lost my mind given what happened 2 years ago but once mark don’t be playing sideways and backward passes it might work. But that’s a lot of ifs