Ryan still searching for a winning combination
IF THE Munster hurling championship is the jewel in the crown, managers could be said to regard it in the manner of a carefully planned heist. Months spent hatching plans and scouting the best plan of attack. Detailed folders on all the potential trouble spots and who is most likely to get in the way.
If that’s the case, Cork manager Pat Ryan is like the leader of operations who turned up with what he thought was the right combination for the safe only to find it wasn’t. Now, with six changes from the starting 15 that came up one score short against Waterford at Walsh Park, it’s as if he’s just spinning the lock and trying different random numbers.
Six personnel changes to the starting 15 gives that sort of impression.
It was May 28 when Cork exited the 2023 edition. That’s nearly 11 full months for Ryan and his management team to figure out how last year’s raid on the Mick Mackey Cup was foiled, to find the players they need in the relevant positions to make up the difference.
The six changes suggest he did not get it right against Waterford, though circumstances conspired against Cork on the day. Damien Cahalane’s first yellow card for what looked like a shoulder on Stephen Bennett had the rangy full-back perplexed. Judging by the action replays, there was hardly any need for referee Michael Kennedy to instigate an investigation into it all and stop the play to go back and issue a yellow card.
You can often tell by a player’s reaction whether it was merited and Cahalane looked genuinely taken aback. His second yellow came when he tried to flick the ball away from Waterford substitute Patrick Fitzgerald. It was a genuine attempt to win the ball, the only trouble being Fitzgerald’s touch was a split second quicker and he took a rap on a finger.
Now as we argued in the wake of the Allianz Hurling League semifinal when Eoin Cody was sent off for a similar attempt to flick the ball away from Declan Hannon, this is not how the game used to be refereed. Go back and watch some old Munster games when it took a hell of a lot more for a caution to be issued by the referee.
It’s no consolation to Pat Ryan either that Ciaran Joyce’s black card for the foul on Jack Prendergast that also resulted in a penalty was harsh in the extreme. Prendergast had actually spilled the ball under another challenge as Joyce came across with a hefty tackle that probably deserved a yellow card. But it’s hard to know how it was a clear goal-scoring opportunity when the player in question hadn’t even possession of the ball when the challenge came in. That Stephen Bennett buried the resultant penalty in the corner was arguably the critical score of the game.
Cork endured enough disruption to suggest that they showed a lot of heart and skill in that second half to push Waterford all the way.
Dropping Cahalane for Eoin Downey means that it’s a big step up for the young Glen Rovers player who could very well have Shane O’Donnell for company. Judging by last week’s display and the trouble the latter gave Dan Morrissey at different stages, this is a big ask. Clare manager Brian Lohan also has the option of dropping Aidan McCarthy in there, who is also in free-scoring form, or the towering figure of Peter Duggan.
So expect Clare to go after a Cork full-back line that also sees the vastly experienced Niall O’Leary come into the team in place of Ger Millerick.
Mark Coleman was only coming back after a jaw injury but it’s a big call to drop the former All-Star with Tim O’Mahony preferred. When you add in Tommy O’Connell losing his place at midfield to Ethan Twomey and Conor Lehane and Sean Twomey losing out in the half-forward line, then that’s as wild a set of changes as any team can handle in the space of a championship week.
With a slight positional reshuffle up front, that’s every line of the field altered.
Win and it will be brave. But listening to Pat Ryan after last weekend’s defeat, there was no hint major surgery was required. ‘We left a lot of scores behind us. We were positive at half-time in that we were winning the ball and taking chances. We had just given away a couple of easy scores towards the end. It was 13 against 15 for a while in the second half and they created a couple of scores in that period but we’re proud of our fellas.’
Sometimes, the problem with having a squad with such depth of talent, depth of options, is that it can lead to inconsistency in selection. But Ryan is there long enough now to be in a position where a championship team should nearly pick itself. Look at how settled Limerick are. Or Clare.
A couple of familiar issues fed into the Cork performance too. Look at Waterford’s fielding ability last week. Jack Prendergast and Mikey Kiely were superb in the air, Kiely a real handful. The same at the back with the likes of Conor Prunty and Tadhg de Burca.
Declan Dalton’s return to the Cork starting line-up certainly brings a bit more heft and physicality to the half-forward line and Tim O’Mahony is another imposing player to slot in at wing-back.
So the test of whether Cork have stumbled upon the winning combination will become clear before four o’clock this afternoon.