I was in Dungarvan last night, very impressed with Cork's application and work ethic. A terrible night for hurling and really and truly the match shouldn't be played but the decision to play will always be taken when the pitch is playable. Not only the constant heavy rain but strong winds which Cork seemed to have to their backs in the 1st half although I believe the breeze didn't really favour any team because it was so changeable.
This was a game for defences and the Cork rearguard stood firm although goalkeeper Marley Walsh should see better days with his distribution which can be seen as weather related. Both corner-backs Batterberry & Coffey stood out and Nolan at 7 is a good marauding wing-back and he got the scoring underway from an acute angle. O'Donovan at 3, Cahill at 5 and Riordan at 6 were solid. Both teams played as a sweeper with 2 inside forwards and Tadhg Murphy stood out in the role and was also successful from frees. Alfie Hennessy had a good game before running out of legs and being replaced. Stephen McHugh really shone at centre-forward, orchestrating a lot particularly early on and along with Tadhg McCarthy who was captain on the night they were Cork's most prolific scorers. Liam O'Regan also showed good energy and a high workrate. Players such as Sam Ring and Cormac Murphy who were replaced worked hard along with Tom Huggins but didn't take to the conditions and they should all see better days.
The burst of points scored in a 3 minutes spell before h/t and Corks greater cohesion & resilience were the key ingredients to their victory. However it could be argued that they should have scored more points when they were on top early on as they hit a lot of wides before the late profligacy in the 1st half. One issue in the games including challenges I've seen this team playing is a lack of goal scoring and one player who should make a difference in this regard is Callum Coffey so the quicker he returns from injury the better for all concerned with Cork minors.
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