Few random thoughts on last night. Cork scored 0-11 from frees to Limerick's 0-4. To my (possibly jaundiced) eye the Cork frees seemed fair, so maybe it was case of Limerick being looser with their tackling, but a Limerick supporter might feel they should have had more frees.
Barry Walsh was on a lot of ball but took v few shots from play. I'm not sure was this part of a plan or just how it worked out, but it seemed to make his play a little predictable (granted it was great that he was on so much ball in the first place).
Adam O'Sullivan made an impact in the closing minutes. Fully fit he starts for me, but for next week it might be better to hold him back again for when the game opens up a bit in the second half.
If you look at this Cork team from the eyes of potential opposition players/management, there's not a lot to scare you. They are not extremely physical or blessed with amazing pace, and they have few really good fielders. But if they play like they did especially in the second quarter and the last few minutes, they will give themselves a chance - the workrate was serious, they attacked the ball all over the pitch and moved it with purpose. I was v critical of management after the first two games, but they deserve a bit of credit for this improvement (with the caveats that Limerick are only ok, and should have been much further ahead fifteen minutes in).
One last thing: interesting to see Walsh taking the frees cack-handed. Definitely unorthodox, but hard to argue with his numbers.
Barry Walsh was on a lot of ball but took v few shots from play. I'm not sure was this part of a plan or just how it worked out, but it seemed to make his play a little predictable (granted it was great that he was on so much ball in the first place).
Adam O'Sullivan made an impact in the closing minutes. Fully fit he starts for me, but for next week it might be better to hold him back again for when the game opens up a bit in the second half.
If you look at this Cork team from the eyes of potential opposition players/management, there's not a lot to scare you. They are not extremely physical or blessed with amazing pace, and they have few really good fielders. But if they play like they did especially in the second quarter and the last few minutes, they will give themselves a chance - the workrate was serious, they attacked the ball all over the pitch and moved it with purpose. I was v critical of management after the first two games, but they deserve a bit of credit for this improvement (with the caveats that Limerick are only ok, and should have been much further ahead fifteen minutes in).
One last thing: interesting to see Walsh taking the frees cack-handed. Definitely unorthodox, but hard to argue with his numbers.
