Clare defeated Cork by 5 and 7 points respectively in 2 games last year and won the AI comfortably. From the players perspective I thought Cork did well except for the late collapse v Galway in the AI semi considering they were given little chance of success, also the tragedy and distractions they went through in mid championship. David O'Leary and Barry Walsh stood out and are now both involved with Cork U-20's, Johnny Galvin has apparently progressed a lot from last year and is also making the U-20's bench. Cathal Hallihan a big rangy hurler who should have been at the edge of the square was a loss through injury. Christopher Dunne should never have been dropped off the squad but he took the onus on himself to improve by transferring schools and playing Harty Cup where he really stood out.
This years Cork minors were even given a far lesser chance of success. John Meyler went for size and it's debatable whether it's paying off, it certainly has not regarding certain positions like full-forward whereby not enough scoring or play making has come from 2 big players who now seem to be rotated by the management. IMO Cork played some good hurling last night but didn't score enough when they were on top. Puck outs again were a problem as well as poor defending for both Clare goals.
The Cork regional teams seem to be doing well in the Celtic Challenge and certain players are playing better than some guys who have inter-changed between Cork minors and their regional team. One player who is without doubt a better hurler than some of the guys on the Cork minor team is Kilshannig's Colin Ruby who plays for North Cork but AFAIK hasn't been involved with Cork this year. Kilworth's Denis Riordan is also standing out and has been involved this year but dropped off the panel. There's another couple of players that come to mind from the North region who should have been involved. If this is the case in the North alone then there should be more players good enough from the other regional squads.
When one considers a grave error by the 2022 minor management was not to include Stephen Lynam which hasn't been corrected at U-20 level this year then the omission of Christopher Dunne and Colin Ruby adds to the list and is detrimental to the progress of Cork Minor and U-20 teams.
Poor selection decisions have been crippling Cork at all levels for a long time. I believe a policy of promotion and demotion should be in place at underage by Cork County Board.
Regarding this year Cork minors are still in the AI qualifiers and John Meyler, Vincie Hurley, Seanie McGrath and Peter Sykes among others should be attending the Celtic Challenge games and leaving no stone unturned in changing and revitalising the current panel. This team and squad should only improve especially if the management show the right enthusiasm from now.
