Supporters growing weary of false dawns on Leeside

WHAT to say about Cork? Their Allianz League slump is very disappointing. We were positive a month ago when looking at them. They had a good pre-season and a great win against Clare in their opening Division 1A tie.

And the shoots of optimism were there to see.

Then, last weekend, after a tight first half against Kilkenny, there was an element of throwing in the towel at Nowlan Park.

That must be so disheartening for management. Pat Horgan was dropped after the previous week. It doesn’t help to have players of his talent not performing.

All the time Páirc Uí Chaoimh is being rebuilt with a view to a summer unveiling but supporters are wondering will it herald another false dawn?

How many times are we going to ask for more fight from the players? This afternoon, they play Waterford, who are

the opposite in many ways. Under Derek McGrath, they always bring honesty of effort. Cork’s inconsistency jars with Waterford’s consistency. They’ve suffered only the odd defeat in the last three seasons.

Stephen Bennett scored two goals against Dublin last weekend and is starting to come of age. As are a lot of this young panel.

You can still see that the likes of Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh, Kevin Moran and Jamie Barron are so important. Outside of Tipperary, they have a serious squad developing.

Injuries to Shane O’Donnell and Oisín O’Brien (long term) are tough to take for Clare and with the Ballyea lads missing as well, they look a bit vulnerable. David Fitzgerald and John Conlon have been really prominent so far in this campaign and they still should have too much for a young but developing Dublin side.