Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[Thanks]

Enjoyable hour in Tullamore - decent Cork crowd but very small home crowd - one told me he’d prefer it was played in Birr..

Men against boys as other posters have said.

As other have said, most pleasing today was seeing key players back on the field.

In first 10-15 mins Connolly failed to win a few half chances and I commented that he was rusty. Three goals followed.

TG4 gave Connolly MOTM but for me our top man was Rob Downey. Niall O Leary also played really well and gave selectors some food for thought.

I’d agree Tim was influential but for me like others I’d see him as a championship midfielder or substitute at this stage. Even in today’s loose game he made bad decisions and conceded soft frees.

Todays midfield was as expected our weak link. Meade played really well but I’d like to see how he fares in Wexford park alongside Tommy O Connell or Tim.

Great to see Darragh get a warm reception when introduced and score a lovely point from the wing. He made great runs - one goal and almost a second. He has to play in half forward line and I think he will.

Lehane was quiet in a game that was made for him to score 2-8 and I’m baffled why he’s a constant starter all league.

Hayes was very influential and created options for players around him. Hard to justify Hoggie at 14 when we have a fit Connolly/Hayes.

Shane Barrett was industrious all day again but looks like he could be struggling to score enough to justify inclusion. Likewise Jack.

Shane Kingston showed again today that he’s an impact sub and a good one to have.

Love watching Eoin Downey and I think he’s a championship certainty. He was lucky today that he didn’t hand Screeney a soft goal with a risky pass to Collins.

Damo hardly touched the ball. Looking at him on the field after the game he is some horse of a man.

Great to emerge injury free from today and let’s hope the same next Saturday. It should be a much harder test on another soft pitch.

 

[Thanks]

The other pleasing aspect today was that we played much more direct ball out of defence and it was often quality delivery

 

[red&blue]

Before I post in detail I just want to remind everyone that a) this is only the league, b) we only beat Offaly, c) the pitch was shocking and d) there was a serious lack of physicality in that game

Now having said all that we were impressive today.and you can see guys improving all the time. If we can cut out the silly sideways 10 yard passes in our own half backline/midfield and start feeding the fowards faster ball we will be on the right road

Patick Collins done well even if he was hardly tested, he was assured on the ball throughout. At this stage he will be our goalie come championship

Niall O Leary had a very good game and that needs to be acknowledged but he is now in a 3 way battle for 2 spots and I think he will miss out

Damien Cahalane was assured throughout but again he was barely tested. It looks like he has seen off Eoin Roche for the no 3 jersey at this stage

Eoin Downey was very good, I love this guys swagger and no bullshit approach. He has to start championship at 4

Ger Millerick was Ger Millerick, industrious, doing the simple things. His hurling leaves him down at times but 5 suits him best. He should start championship there

Tim O Mahony was very solid, the man is a monster! I just don’t like him in defence when we need him further up the pitch. Good alternative to Joyce if needs be though. I’d love to see him at 10, they seem to like him at 5 but I’m getting a feeling we will see him at 8 come championship

Robert Downey is a guy I have great time for, like his brother he loves the rough and tumble, he is a very good 7, the best we have in my opinion, and is nailed on to start championship

Like Meade played very well today, he is a great link man, but I just don’t think he has the physicality for midfield unless he’s paired with Tim. Great option to have on the bench though

Brian Roche worked really hard today but just lacks that killer first touch to get him out of trouble. Is probably 4th in line behind Tommy, Ethan and Luke at this stage

Declan Dalton again showed his value to the team today, works his socks off up and down the pitch, great distributor of the ball and adds much needed physicality to our foward line. Has to start at 10

Conor Lehane was again industrious and revelled in the space he got. We all know how good he is in that type of game, it’s when the tempature is turned up in championship i have my doubts

Seamus Harnedy was Seanus, wins loads of ball, lays off great passes and chips in with a few points. Will be in a battle with Sean Twomey and possibly Tim O Mahony for the 12 jersey, i think Seamus might have more value off the bench this year

Shane Barrett was his usual self, great movement, a good team player but his shooting still leaves a question mark for championship

Alan Connolly must now be given the no 14 jersey for every game he’s fit for. He has that lethal instinct for goal we probably haven’t seen since Setanta. A cert for me now

Jack O Connor again done some great things when he’s in possession but against a weak backline he struggled to win primary possession. He’s in a battle with Shane Kingston for the impact sub and right now I’d say he’s behind Shane

Darragh Fitzgibbon has to be played in the half foward line where he has the freedom to run off the shoulder and do damage. He must start at 11 against Wexford

Brian Hayes was again very good off the bench, and as I said before, I think that’s his best role going foward, but his form might dictate a start yet

Robbie Cotter worked hard and played his part but I think he may be just short of what’s required at this level

Ditto Cormac O Brien, a guy that gives his all every time he plays

Team for Wexford (and championship)

P Collins
SODonoghue DCahalane EDowney
GMillerick CJoyce RDowney
TOMahony TOConnell
DDalton DFitzgibbon STwomey
SBarrett AConnolly PHorgan

Subs
BSaunderson NOLeary ERoche, BRoche, LMeade, SHarnedy, BCunningham, CLehane, BHayes, SKingston, JOConnor,

Mark Coleman and Ethan Twomey to come back into the panel when fit

Mother of God i forget Robbie ?

The thought of him and Connolly in a 2 man full foward line is salivating ?

 

[Killyoursons]

A non-event really, so just a few random points. It's a cliche wheeled out after every bad league performance, but Offaly really did move like a team who had just come off a block of heavy training. I didn't see any of their other games but going on what I've read and heard this sounds like their worst performance by a long way. One issue they had was tactical - they were trying to press up to turn Cork over high up the pitch, which left huge room in front of their FB line for Cork to hit long passes into. A better team would press Cork with much more intensity, or do so a bit further back (say, around the Cork 45) while also providing better cover to their FB line.

A lot of people were saying Connolly looked sharp - for me his touch was sloppy, and a better defender would punish him for it. But he made up for it with his strength in holding off his man and the economy of his finishing (funnily enough, the shot he had saved was probably his most straightforward chance). All told, very promising on his first full game back.

I thought Roche was the better of the midfielders early on, when there was still a game to be won. Not sure if he'll start come championship, but it might be the start of him playing himself into better form. Likewise for Barrett - industrious as ever, scored a couple and made two goals with direct running. If he can get another good performance or two under his belt, I think his ceiling is much higher than anything we've seen from him so far, and I would fancy him for a roaming corner-forward role. The game was already done when Hayes was introduced, but I do think his touch is better than last year and it's great to see him taking on his man. I still think there's more to be got from him in terms of breaking the tackle and going direct for goal - at the moment he's a little too predictable in that he'll get the ball and always go outside his man rather than heading inside.

 

[CORK1990]

One player we have not seen is Daire O Leary is he injured ? would love to see him in just does not seem to get a shot ?
I know not everyone can make it , he is one of the lads with 2 All -Ireland u20 medals.

 

[Thanks]

Pat Ryan talking up Hayes as a possible starter in his post match comments
The other mad stat is that Lehane is the only one of 31 players that has started every league match so far!

 

[CorkLiam1999]

Pat Ryan talking up Hayes as a possible starter in his post match comments
The other mad stat is that Lehane is the only one of 31 players that has started every league match so far!

Ya it seems Pat has him dead set for no.11 in championship, maybe he feels Lehane is fueled by confidence and needs to be played in every game

 

[Rekcuf]

I said here during the week that Offaly were a joke. And if Wexford are a serious test for a full strength Cork the next day then we can write off this year too and let the famine continue

Exactly, the Biffos are cannon fodder for any half decent team as can be seen from today's result. The yellow bellies are better than Offaly but are a limited side as well. Frankly I would be very worried that we'll lose the run of ourselves (few posters getting carried away already) beating the equivalent of junior teams. Come Munster championship we won't know what hit us when the likes of Limerick give us a lesson.

 

[CORK1990]

It looks like regardless of the result v Wexford even losing dare i say we will still be in the Top division next year ...
Our scoring is +25 on 4pts.
In the other group Dubs play Westmeath if either win they go to 4pts but have very poor scoring averages both in the -
The best placed 4th team gets promoted ....is this all correct ??
Of course if we beat Wexford and Waterford bt the Cats we could be looking at a semi final !! Maybe against Limerick !!

 

[Thanks]

Need to be able to beat Wexford but home crowd atmosphere will make it a proper test