Meyler praise for up-and-comer Jack
CORK may have come out on the wrong side of Saturday night’s fare in Mallow, but new boss John Meyler wasn’t showing any signs of worry as he faced his first media scrum as the top man in Cork Senior Hurling.
Meyler had seen his new charges just run out of steam against a Limerick side with far more of their recognised first team on the pitch – a fact not lost on the man charged with bringing Cork back to the pinnacle of national hurling.
“I am pleased with the performance. We had a lot of people out there getting their first outing for Cork. I am delighted that we were able to stick in there until the finish, but Limerick were able to get their scores a bit easier I thought. We came back with some good scores there near the end so I am really pleased with that.”
Limerick’s strong line-up didn’t phase Meyler as he is clear that the role that this competition plays in his county’s plans is in finding and blooding new talent.
“The plan this year is to find some players and see what we can get for the league which is in just four weeks’ time. I thought fellows put their hand up there tonight. We have a couple of games again next weekend with Clare away and another match as well so even though we are not hurling match fit yet I am pleased with the performance”.
While Meyler wasn’t that keen on naming individuals he was clear that the performances from his side’s players was a real positive on the day.
“There were a lot of good performances from all over the pitch against a strong Limerick side but that is what we are really trying to do here. We are trying to find players for the National Hurling League and the Championship and that really is the importance of this tournament.
“Last year we got Coleman [Mark], Darragh Fitzgibbon, Luke Meade and a few more and today one or two fellows again put their hand up and I am delighted with that and now we will go again against Clare.”
Meyler did have some praise for one player though, corner-forward Jack O’Connor who scored Cork’s only goal.
“He is a real good lad and it was a great goal. Perhaps the conditions didn’t suit him as we would have hoped to rest him and bring him in when the ground got a little harder but we were just caught for a few players tonight but he has the talent and I am delighted with his performance.”
Hopes of seeing a settled side are probably a bit premature as of yet as Meyler will look to see as many young options as he can in the coming weeks.
“We will see where we are for the couple of matches next weekend. Joycey [Christopher] was probably the only player there tonight that played against Waterford last year with Kearney [Daniel] going off injured so it really is a learning curve for all these fellows, gives them experience and competitive games before they face up to Kilkenny in four weeks-time.”
Cork may have lost to Limerick in Mallow, however, the Rebel boss will probably have left Avondhu a little happier than his Limerick counterpart who despite getting the win saw many of his bigger names fail to put away a seriously inexperienced bunch of Cork’s future stars.