Robert Downey scored five points from wing-back for Cork during their Allianz Hurling League campaign.
By John Harrington
The Cork hurlers hope that their defence can be a great form of attack in the upcoming Munster Hurling Championship.
When manager Pat Ryan reviewed the team’s failure to get out of the province last year one glaring statistic was that their half-back line only scored three points over the course of the four matches played.
In the modern game where players are comfortable shooting points from distance your half-backs are expected to consistently chip in.
During this year’s Allianz Hurling League Cork’s half-backs were much more prolific, contributing 1-12 over the course of the campaign, and Ryan wants to see that trend continue in the championship.
“It was something that was focused upon,” says the Cork manager.
“We probably didn’t get enough scores last year. We got three points from our half-back line last year in the championship whereas we probably conceded 15 or 16.
“Both of those aspects are areas that we really tried to get after, that we shut down the opposition half-backs a bit more and create a bit more scoring opportunities for ourselves.
“In fairness, Mark (Coleman) is back with us this year, he’ll give us that component. Rob (Downey) got the three points we had last year, he’s going well.
“It’s just encouraging lads to go forward a bit more. Ciarán (Joyce) has gone forward a good bit more for us this year as regards breaking through the lines. That’s something you have to be doing now in this modern game because you’re going to have to get 30 points to win matches.”
Wexford players Simon Donohoe, left, Eoin Ryan and Conor Foley look on as Alan Connolly of Cork scores his side's second goal, in the 26th minute, during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A match between Wexford and Cork at Chadwicks Wexford Park in Wexford. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Another eye-catching statistic from Cork’s League campaign was the fact they scored 12 goals in their five matches, which was more than any other team in the group phase of the competition.
Alan Connolly made headlines by scoring two hat-tricks in consecutive matches against Offaly and Wexford and Ryan will be encouraging him and his fellow forwards to show the same ruthlessness in the championship.
“We know Alan is a very good player but one thing that Alan does is he goes for goals,” says Ryan.
“He’s very, very direct in the way he does it. Tipperary have a couple of those fellas. Jake Morris does that a lot. Aaron Gillane does that with Limerick as well. From our point of view, it is a vital component of the way we want to play,
“From our point of view, if we want to be successful this year, we’ll need to be scoring three or four goals. If you want to be doing anything really in championship, I think you need to be scoring three or four goals to be winning your games.”
Cork begin their Munster SHC campaign with an away fixture against Waterford in Walsh Park on Sunday at 4pm.
When the teams played one another in Round 2 of the League it was Cork who came out on top by two points and they’ll go into this game as slight favourites.
Waterford only won a single game in the League but Ryan doesn’t think that’s a reliable barometer of what we can expect from Davy Fitzgerald’s team in the championship.
“I think they’ve been at pains to say that it’s all about championship for them,” says Ryan.
“They’ve had a lot of fellas missing, a lot of their top-line players missing. We’ve analysed their game a good bit, just like they probably have with us. They’ve played really good passages of play.
“Against Wexford, they had 16 points scored at half-time which was a really good performance. They played well the last day against Kilkenny and just petered out.
“Maybe that’s to do with not having some of their frontline players there. We went through a bit the same against Clare and Kilkenny at the start. From our point of view, we know what we’re going to get against Waterford the first day.
“The first day last year against Limerick they were excellent. Walsh Park being open, we expect a huge challenge going down there. In fairness, Davy and his management team have been fairly obvious that they’re targeting our game. Everybody targets the first game.”
Cork senior hurling team manager, Pat Ryan.
Cork could count themselves unfortunate not to get out of Munster last year considering they lost to both Clare and Limerick by a single point and drew a match with Tipperary they might have won.
The margins in the Munster championship are likely to be razor-fine again this year, and at the outset Ryan admits he’d happily settle for third place in the table and progression to the All-Ireland series.
“I’d bite your hand off for it,” he says. “With the exception of Limerick maybe, everybody is looking for that, to get out of Munster. That’s the key for us. We didn’t get out of Munster last year and that’s key to our year. Everything takes off after that.
“We know how competitive Munster is. If you come out of Munster, you should be having aspirations of getting to an All-Ireland final at that stage.
“We’re trying to get back to the top table and get into an All-Ireland final. We were in one in 2021 and we didn’t perform the way we would’ve liked.”
“Our job is to try and win an All-Ireland. That’s why we took the job on. Getting out of Munster is the first step in that. As you said, I’d bite your hand off for third. I think everyone would.”