CORK’S POWER FAILURE
Rebels give a response but Kilkenny still edge thriller
IT’S becoming easy to paint Cork as a quaint throwback to a different time, the hurling equivalent of a fax machine or public phonebook.
In the era of sweepers and tactics boards, the failure of one of the game’s traditional ‘Big Three’ to evolve has been a constant theme. And this for a county just seconds away from winning the 2013 All-Ireland, and who brought one of Cork’s longest provincial droughts to an end the following summer.
The last time the Cork hurlers lost three consecutive league matches, the dark days of strike action were in vogue, so a backlash to last weekend’s rout by Dublin was expected on home turf, even if it was the All-Ireland champions who were visiting. And the players provided it. This was a performance full of spunk, spirit, passion and intensity – all of the vital ingredients that were lacking at Croke Park. Crisis? What Crisis?
The hardest thing to believe was that all they were left with was a moral victory after leading by six points with six minutes of normal time remaining – only to be mugged by Kilkenny.
Late goals from Colin Fennelly and TJ Reid showed why Kilkenny are All-Ireland champions. Just to rub it in, it was level when goalkeeper Patrick Collins saw his pass intercepted by John Power who fired the winner in injury time.
For a team who supposedly have trouble winning their own ball, Cork more than held their own against Kilkenny, full-forward Seamus Harnedy giving Joey Holden his most troubling outing in the number three shirt to date.
Cork’s intelligent use of the ball was key, isolating Harnedy inside one-on-one and then hitting him with direct ball regularly.
To keep Kilkenny honest, they played the ball short through a halfforward line that was dropping deep around the midfield to create the space for the man inside.
With Luke O’Farrell bringing Shane Prendergast on a tour of Pairc Ui Rinn, far from his marker’s comfort zone of corner-back, the pace and movement up front helped Cork build an early seven-point lead, 1-7 to 0-3, by the 16th minute.
Kilkenny had to cope with the loss of midfielder Conor Fogarty who limped off after just a couple of minutes, the same player so influential last time out against Galway.
The signs of danger were there from the fifth minute when Cork spurned a goal chance. Conor Lehane kept pushing the ball along the ground until he found open space to race into, drawing the last man and laying it off to Harney inside. Unfortunately for Cork, the ball popped out of his hand as he looked primed to pull the trigger.
He made amends with a goal on 13 minutes. A thunderous clearance from Brian Lawton saw the ball dropping high from the sky down on Harnedy and Holden. The Cork fullforward fielded it brilliantly, turned and finished to the net with a deft flick.
Moments later, Cormac Murphy raced down the right wing and cut a super point over on the run. TJ Reid, typically, kept Kilkenny in the game with four frees towards the end of the half and a point from play, taking a clever one-two from a sideline to scoot down the line and point. It meant Cork were only four ahead, 1-12 to 0-11, at the break.
It took the All-Ireland champions six minutes to not only peg it back but sneak in front, TJ Reid’s freetaking and points from Walter Walsh and Richie Hogan testing Cork’s mettle.
Could they respond? Wing-back Murphy tore forward and fired his second point of the night. Then Bill Cooper smuggled the ball to the net after Harnedy’s shot was only half saved. Cork found their rhythm once more, stretching the lead back to six.
Then Fennelly scrambled the ball home and in a frenetic finish, TJ Reid showed his class by tucking the ball low with normal time up. Lehane hit a free and a superb equaliser before Power pinched a Cork clearance to thieve the two points and push Cork into a relegation play-off.
Kilkenny: R Reid; P Murphy, J Holden, S Prendergast; K Joyce, P Walsh, C Buckley; C Fogarty (L Ryan 2), D Cody; C Fennelly, TJ Reid, C Martin (J Maher h-t); W Walsh, R Hogan, K Kelly (J Power 51).
Scorers: TJ Reid 1-12 (10fs), W Walsh 0-3, C Fennelly 1-2, L Ryan 0-3, R Hogan, D Cody, J Power 0-1 each
yellow card: W Walsh 31, S Prendergast 59, J Holden 61 Wides: 4 (2)
Cork: P Collins; K Burke, D Cahalane, S McDonnell; C Murphy (W Egan 69), C Joyce, L McLoughlin; P Haughney (S Moylan 58), J Cronin (D Kearney 48); B Cooper, C Lehane, B Lawton; L O’Farrell, S Harnedy, P Horgan (P O’Sullivan 65).
Scorers: S Harnedy 1-3, P Horgan 0-6 (4fs 1 65), C Lehane 0-6 (1f), B Cooper 1-0, C Murphy 0-2, B Lawton, L McLoughlin, P Haughney, D Kearney, L O’Farrell 0-1 each yellow card: P Horgan 18, J Cronin 31 Wides 6 (6) referee: F Horgan (Tipperary).