Do oak trees grow
this early in the season.
At the back all looked well enough as Clare brought little early on while Cork looked comfortable. In fact for long periods of the first half Clare had just one player in the Cork half and that was full-forward Keelan Sexton.
The lessons from Saturday are many. First and foremost when you have your opponents down you must go for the jugular. Cork could have put this one to bed well before the break – particularly when Sherlock picked up a long range pass from Vaughan however the striker blasted the ball straight at a relieved Clare keeper.
Cork missed many more goal chances and that will be a serious concern if it continues going forward. On the positive side you have to be making chances to miss them and in the first half Cork were making plenty goal chances – working the ball well with 13 and 15 burning up their No longer will a good 35 minutes in the Munster final and a glorious defeat to Mayo suffice
opposite numbers.
Ronan McCarthy will have learned some stuff from the last two games, but how important it will be in the grand scheme of things only time will tell.
Cork have a long way to go to get to anything near the levels desired by the faithful, but winning trophies, even last Saturday’s one, will help. Winning is a habit and Cork need to get into the habit.
No longer will a good 35 minutes in the Munster Final and a glorious inspiring defeat to Mayo suffice. The Cork football supporters want and need more. If last season’s hurling experience thought us anything it is that Cork fans will do anything to support their side – they just need to have something to support.
McCarthy’s managerial record, like many of the managers that have gone before, looks impressive in the middle of January, silverware on show, a perfect record and plenty to think about, but as with all projects the proof of the pudding will be in the eating so let’s hope come the end of May the win column will also show that this Cork team is turning what has turned out to be a long and difficult corner.