Meyler delighted as Cork prove their mettle
Meyler delighted with Rebels’ character after Banner run them close
IT WAS Munster Championship, though not as we knew it, at Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday. In the end, the new stadium was christened in provincial action the same way the old one was seen out in the 2014 Munster final against Limerick, with the home side victorious. The prize was two points rather than any silverware, but ahead of a trip to Tipperary it is just as welcome, with Cork manager John Meyler full of praise for how his side had seen off Clare.
Following a head-clash between Cork debutant Robbie O’Flynn and teammate Conor Lehane, play was held up for nine minutes midway through the second half and that, coupled with the usual stoppages, led to 11 minutes of additional time. O’Flynn was taken to hospital as a precaution but the Cork County Board said last night that the player is expected to make a full and speedy recovery.
As that began, Clare’s Colm Galvin tied the game at 118 each and while Cork sub Dean Brosnan responded with his first touch, Tony Kelly levelled again.
While the clock read 72 minutes, there was still loads of time left and Cork kept their cool, with Patrick Horgan landing a free from his own 45 — his 10th of the game — before Séamus Harnedy and Conor Lehane put a cushion between the teams again.
Twice, Clare would come back to within two points but Cork didn’t waver and the game was finally made safe as captain Harnedy won a puckout from Anthony Nash and drove up the left flank before coming inside and firing beyond Donal Tuohy to put Cork joint top of the table with Limerick.
‘Tough, close, hard game,’ Meyler said. ‘Lehane got a goal which turned it our favour but fair dues to Clare they came back [with] 1-2 in reply to level it.
‘The character then showed and we got a goal up at the top end and that really drove it on.
‘We went off the rails a small bit for about five minutes when Clare got 1-2 and levelled it. We stuck to the process after they levelled it, worked the ball up the field, which I was delighted with, so it was good character.’ Alan Cadogan missed the game and Meyler said that both he and O’Flynn were likely to miss next week’s trip to face Tipperary. There are other niggles and scrapes too, with the new reality for Meyler being the short turnaround time. ‘[Daniel] Kearney came off with a calf injury,’ he said. ‘We’ll see how he is but we’ve got a lot of aching bodies inside the dressing-room so tonight is critical for recovery. They have to recover quickly and this is the challenge facing players and management and county boards.’
It was a back-and-forth game, with Cork’s slow start allowing Clare a three-point advantage but they eventually settled — greatly aided by Horgan’s frees. More than once in the first half, Clare were close to engineering goal chances but Cork’s hooking and blocking was of a high quality, exemplified by the full-back line of debutant Seán O’Donoghue, the returning Damien Cahalane and Colm Spillane.
At the other end, O’Flynn had a sight of goal but Tuohy saved well on 18 minutes. Cork led 0-8 to 0-6 then but Peter Duggan tied the game with two points and just a point separated the sides at halftime, Cork 0-11 to 0-10 in front.
The first 10 minutes of the second half saw six points equally shared before the long delay as O’Flynn’s Championship bow was cut short. However, Cork weren’t fazed by the hold-up and pushed ahead when Patrick Horgan kept Shane Kingston’s effort in play, allowing Lehane to find the net.
The lead was five when Horgan added another but Clare came back, first with points from Reidy and Conlon and then a brilliantly taken Kelly goal after Shane O’Donnell had set him up.
That made it 1-15 each but there were a lot of twists of turns and to go, with Cork making the most of the injury-time to get the win.
Tipp await, but nobody is getting carried away. ‘I just said that in the dressing-room,’ Meyler said, ‘there are no cushions, the game is over.
‘We now have to go to Thurles next Sunday to face Tipp, that’s the new challenge that’s facing the players.’
How Cork will approach their second game will be based on the level of application Meyler saw in the critical closing stages here, as they finally escaped the clutches of a Banner side who stayed with them for most of the match.
‘You need to keep working, stick to the process, stick to the plan,’ he said.
‘That’s what we did there in the last 10 or 15 minutes when we really drove at Clare. We finished out strongly, which I liked.
‘It’s going to be a massive match next week in Thurles. Tipp will want to come back and we’ll want to get our two points, it’s fantastic for you guys, you’ve things to write about every week!’ CORK: A Nash; S O’Donoghue, D Cahalane, C Spillane; M Ellis, C Joyce, M Coleman; F Fitzgibbon, B Cooper; S Harnedy, C Lehane, D Kearney (D Brosnan 68); R O’Flynn (T O’Mahony 54), P Horgan, L Meade (S Kingston 43). Scorers: P Horgan 0-10 (6f), C Lehane, S Harnedy 1-2, D Fitzgibbon 0-3, M Ellis 0-2, M Coleman, B Cooper, R O’Flynn, D Brosnan 0-1. CLARE: D Tuohy; D McInerney, J Browne, S Morey; P O’Connor (M O’Malley 70), C Cleary, D FitzGerald; C Galvin (J Shanahan 70), T Kelly; C Malone, P Duggan (D Corry 57), D Reidy (I Galvin 70); C McGrath, J Conlon, S O’Donnell. Scorers: T Kelly 1-3 (0-1f), J Conlon 0-5, P Duggan 0-4 (4f), C Galvin, D Reidy 0-3 (2f), S O’Donnell 0-2, C McGrath 0-1. Referee: S Cleere (Kilkenny).