Cork Hurlers - Part 2

[rebs23]

Tony Considine: Cork needed this performance and win over Limerick more than ever before

'Cork had to play with pure raw passion, plenty of intensity and aggression, but above all, refusing to die when it looked like they would...'

www.echolive.ie

There's just something special about Deccie.

 

[imigrant]

A Waterford Ref Thomas Walsh against Tipp I presume this is not relevant?. I also note Sean Stack is listed on Munster GAA as Clare. He is Dublin .

Anyone else notice how few sideline cuts there were. I think we may only have had 2. I dread them anyway our execution is never good. Watched back the replay for the Penalty . Nicky Quaid was a millimetre from it . The relief when it went in.

 

[morello]

What an incredible night for the sport of hurling. I've never spoken to so many neutrals over the last couple of days who were buzzing so much about a match. It's not just the Cork fans, and probably not just hurling fans, it was a phenomenal contest & occasion. I'm going back to Aisake v Tipp to think of that fervour at the pairc to know a scalp was there to be taken. That behind the penalty view of Hoggie striking into the Cork fans and the terrace erupting was special.

Some random observations:
- You can't hurl at this level without fire in the belly. Kinnerk sent packing by PR. Coleman, Dalton, Ethan Twomey were like men possessed - it was great to see. They had to get that early edge and they got it in spades. Hayes was tormented throughout the game and his indiscipline eventually played a massive role.

- Brian Hayes awakens. He must have been absolutely buzzing after that, caused Tom Morrissey and Nash problems all day long, and we could have had even more off him and Connolly.

- Goal conversions. Heard somewhere that Limerick have 8 goals from 11 goal chances so far in this championship - incredibly efficient. I'm estimating we have 7 from 14 or 15. We really should have had 2 in the first half v Clare and 4 by half time on Saturday night. If we can get more ruthless in front of goal, there is no stopping these lads.

- Tactical clarity. Attack Hannon. Turn Hannon. Turn Byrnes. And repeat. That space in behind the two of them was where everything happened. Barrett took him to the cleaners. He looked battered when he was subbed off. Go long and get hard runners off the breaks... Barrett and Harnedy were always on each others shoulders. The sideline also deserves credit for the replacements - right timing and right personnel. Brian Roche did great. Using his brother instead of Damian C would have been ballsy but more effective.

- Tactical Idiocy. So we figured out what was working... and then felt it necessary to 'mix it up' - aaggghh! I actually have always enjoyed teams playing short well, Limerick are excellent at it, Clare also. Short stick passes to hand with good angles of running is incredibly tough to stop. However we're rubbish at it, so please can we stop doing it. Coleman is so conditioned to it that it comes back even when he doesn't want it to. Teams are letting SOD have the ball as they know there's mistakes to be gained from when they let Cork give it to him. Reduce the scores conceded by Cork turnover stat by 20% and we will win more games - it's simple lads. The behind-the-goal replay of the 2nd Limerick shows Hannon v Barrett in acres of space before the short puc-out is delivered - it was on.

- Cathal O'Neill is potentially the best hurler in the country right now. This lad is a freak of nature. Shooting, defending, any position on the field no bother. Will Declan Hannon be taken out of 6 I wonder? Kudos to Hegarty, Flanagan, Quaid also - they were unreal.

- That Dalton pass to Fitzgibbon. 40 metres at the same trajectory, inch perfect. Outrageous power and accuracy - and the touch from fitzgibbon. Connolly should have spun and hit it off his left hand side for the goal of the year

- A lot of lads answered a lot of critics, Shane Kingston in particular from my perspective, but Darragh > WOD was brilliant to see. He actually got the better of the match up last year also but the outcome of the game made some people see it otherwise. He's been top class for the last 2 years now, delighted he got some credit on Saturday.

Lastly, I think we have an answer to a question floating around this forum for a while:
Are the players good enough?
They absolutely are. They have to keep showing it now.

 

[Coogee]

Think you're being a bit harsh on Hegarty. He had a massive second half and instrumental in the Limerick come back.

maybe but in the first half he looked like he was strolling around. I know that he has a lazy style but he was the same against Clare.

 

[TheOutdoorThreadmill]

A Waterford Ref Thomas Walsh against Tipp I presume this is not relevant?. I also note Sean Stack is listed on Munster GAA as Clare. He is Dublin .

Anyone else notice how few sideline cuts there were. I think we may only have had 2. I dread them anyway our execution is never good. Watched back the replay for the Penalty . Nicky Quaid was a millimetre from it . The relief when it went in.

He was from Sixmilebridge but moved to Dublin as a teacher, now a principal. Parnells are his club now I think

 

[rebs23]

What an incredible night for the sport of hurling. I've never spoken to so many neutrals over the last couple of days who were buzzing so much about a match. It's not just the Cork fans, and probably not just hurling fans, it was a phenomenal contest & occasion. I'm going back to Aisake v Tipp to think of that fervour at the pairc to know a scalp was there to be taken. That behind the penalty view of Hoggie striking into the Cork fans and the terrace erupting was special.

Some random observations:
- You can't hurl at this level without fire in the belly. Kinnerk sent packing by PR. Coleman, Dalton, Ethan Twomey were like men possessed - it was great to see. They had to get that early edge and they got it in spades. Hayes was tormented throughout the game and his indiscipline eventually played a massive role.

- Brian Hayes awakens. He must have been absolutely buzzing after that, caused Tom Morrissey and Nash problems all day long, and we could have had even more off him and Connolly.

- Goal conversions. Heard somewhere that Limerick have 8 goals from 11 goal chances so far in this championship - incredibly efficient. I'm estimating we have 7 from 14 or 15. We really should have had 2 in the first half v Clare and 4 by half time on Saturday night. If we can get more ruthless in front of goal, there is no stopping these lads.

- Tactical clarity. Attack Hannon. Turn Hannon. Turn Byrnes. And repeat. That space in behind the two of them was where everything happened. Barrett took him to the cleaners. He looked battered when he was subbed off. Go long and get hard runners off the breaks... Barrett and Harnedy were always on each others shoulders. The sideline also deserves credit for the replacements - right timing and right personnel. Brian Roche did great. Using his brother instead of Damian C would have been ballsy but more effective.

- Tactical Idiocy. So we figured out what was working... and then felt it necessary to 'mix it up' - aaggghh! I actually have always enjoyed teams playing short well, Limerick are excellent at it, Clare also. Short stick passes to hand with good angles of running is incredibly tough to stop. However we're rubbish at it, so please can we stop doing it. Coleman is so conditioned to it that it comes back even when he doesn't want it to. Teams are letting SOD have the ball as they know there's mistakes to be gained from when they let Cork give it to him. Reduce the scores conceded by Cork turnover stat by 20% and we will win more games - it's simple lads. The behind-the-goal replay of the 2nd Limerick shows Hannon v Barrett in acres of space before the short puc-out is delivered - it was on.

- Cathal O'Neill is potentially the best hurler in the country right now. This lad is a freak of nature. Shooting, defending, any position on the field no bother. Will Declan Hannon be taken out of 6 I wonder? Kudos to Hegarty, Flanagan, Quaid also - they were unreal.

- That Dalton pass to Fitzgibbon. 40 metres at the same trajectory, inch perfect. Outrageous power and accuracy - and the touch from fitzgibbon. Connolly should have spun and hit it off his left hand side for the goal of the year

- A lot of lads answered a lot of critics, Shane Kingston in particular from my perspective, but Darragh > WOD was brilliant to see. He actually got the better of the match up last year also but the outcome of the game made some people see it otherwise. He's been top class for the last 2 years now, delighted he got some credit on Saturday.

Lastly, I think we have an answer to a question floating around this forum for a while:
Are the players good enough?
They absolutely are. They have to keep showing it now.

One of the key moments for me was watching the Cork sideline team telling the Limerick sideline team to f.... off. We're at home! Small things like this matter and send a message to supporters, players, opposition. Today we are not lying down.

 

[North Cork]

An unbelievable game on Sat night and both teams played their part. It was a privilege to be in PUC and see it live.

Cork players and management can be proud of their performance. They went toe to toe with Limerick and pulled a win out of the bag when it looked Limerick were going to pull away in the 2nd half.
The lads like Barrett, Hayes, Connolly and Ethan Twomey all came of age. They fought their patch till the very end.

We fed the full forward line early and often which paid off. The support running was top class on the night.

Hoggy was clinical. I've never seen a man so sure of themselves standing over a ball. Rock solid.

A couple of negatives. It was poor decision making from Collins and SOD with those two turnovers for goals. I've no problem with a short puckout but not to SOD. The man is a quality defender and has the heart of a lion but a ball playing defender he isn't.

One other small issue and it might be being pedantic but Rob Downey (who was brilliant) was obviously injured and had run his race. Why did it take so long to get the sub on...Downey had to go back on and a point came from it. It's being picky I know but these details are vital in a close game.

Tipp will be a very tough game to win. They will score 25 points plus and had a good look at Cork tactically so it's gonna take another huge performance.

Regarding the short puckouts I think we need to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

In the All Ireland semi final last year Galway were totally dominant over Limerick for 25 minutes delivering the long ball into the full forward line.

Then Nicky Quaid had his "injury" , Limerick reorganised during this break, Galway didn't change their tactics and the rest was history.

Limerick were going to change to counter our long ball tactic and PR changed our tactic to counter the Limerick counter move.

I think the choice of giving it to O Donoghue was poor but SOD not controlling the ball immediately and letting Hegarty rob him was also part of the problem.

Management will look at those turnovers as well as the rest of us and hopefully that will be eradicated.

 

[tango tony]

He played for Castlehaven this weekend so I presume he is.

Conor Cahalane is still on the panel of 36. Those who don't make the 26 either train or play with their clubs on the weekend of a game, or else the 10 players train as group themselves.

 

[imigrant]

He was from Sixmilebridge but moved to Dublin as a teacher, now a principal. Parnells are his club now I think

I watched his Dad in the Munster final of 1978. Part of a brilliant Half Back line.

Any prognosis on Joyce ? Who will pick up Jake Morris? He has a history of causing us bother.

 

[bluesball]

S Stack was one of the greatest centre backs i have seen play 1976 was my 1st munster final in Thurles 50,000 plus at the game most standing on grassy banks.