OF ALL OF the notable performances last weekend, Barry Hogan’s stood out for me.
That’s partly down to the position I played – we can all recognise competence when we’ve worn the boots.
The challenge of pucking the ball out against Limerick is as tough as it gets for goalkeepers, who have long been judged on distribution as well as shot-stopping.
Hogan’s ability to find the man in the first half created headaches for Limerick. His puckouts to the middle third, to the moving players such as Alan Tynan, Séamus Kennedy and Gearóid O’Connor were as ballsy as they were impressive, the margin for error being so slight.
The perspective of a goalkeeper is hugely different to the viewer in the stand who can see every pocket of space. When you’ve got the ball in your hand and are faced with a bank of green, hurleys in the air making them 10ft obstacles, it’s a different picture.
You simply have to accept that you’ll make some mistakes but be courageous enough to back yourself to hit those fleeting targets through small gaps. I used to practice with John and Lorcán McLoughlin in Kanturk, trying to get a ball two inches over a hurley held up to near the height they would be by the likes of Gearoid Hegarty – and then down again into a certain area.
In the first half Hogan was finding his men but after half time his men began to get overwhelmed by Limerick’s midfield and halfback line. This tends to happen. Limerick’s half-backs of Declan Hannon, Diarmuid Byrnes and Colin Coughlan are not going to lose much in the air. Kyle Hayes will likely come into that line for the championship.
Tynan was excellent throughout in Tipp’s midfield but with the likes of William O’Donoghue and Barry Murphy around, and Hegarty coming on, he was never going to have the run of the place.
Some of Limerick’s forwards dropped back, further clogging the space. But others were allowed to press aggressively on Hogan’s shorter puckouts. Skilful and all as they are, attacking players such as Tom Morrissey and Cian Lynch are always hungry to intercept.
What a choice of any goalkeeper: go middling or long where you’re losing the aerial battle, or go short and let your defenders face the charge of the light brigade.
You hear the question asked, why don’t Limerick score more goals? They don’t have to. Their shooting from any distance is accurate – on Saturday they were loose with their first half efforts but didn’t miss a shot in the second half until the final minute. If they do miss they are confident they can turn over your puckout, a wide comes at no great cost.
A keeper has to go for a mixture of length, accuracy and perfect weight and hope to get it right a lot of the time. But that’s as sustainable as a golfer having to shoot 65 in every round.
Donal Óg Cusack was the pioneer of pinpoint puckouts over varying lengths and you’d love to see him trying to pick them apart. One thing his side had though was ball winners further up the field that kept the opposition guessing over whether he’d go short or long.
Timmy McCarthy wasn’t universally admired by fans in his time but you could argue that if Cork could select one player now from that great team of around 1999-2006 it would be Timmy.
He was still around for my championship debut in 2007, not a great day for me as Waterford scored five goals. But I’ll always remember what he said to me before. “Kid, if you’re under pressure, hit the ball to me.”
That wasn’t meant in an egotistical way, it was him saying ‘I’ll fight for you every time’. Timmy was loved on that team, he sacrificed his game time and again for others. He was also respected by opposition, himself and Niall McCarthty, another dog of war, praised in Jackie Tyyrell’s autobiography as among the “less heralded” Cork lads who were highly thought of by Kilkenny’s players.
Without the likes of those two men, glorious talents such as Joe Deane and Ben O’Connor can’t shine as bright. Striking the balance is key to everything really.
By the time I was starting regularly for Cork, Pa Cronin was my ‘out ball’. If in any doubt, I’d look for the white helmet. He was as important a player to us as Patrick Horgan. As well as being a phenomenal worker and ball winner he was a tremendous captain and leader. Yet he used to get flack from a section of Cork’s support.
Another who drew at least as much criticism as praise was Aidan Walsh, but if you look back to the last time Cork beat Limerick in the championship, 2019, it was Aidan who led the line. He didn’t score, but I remember that his running stats were off the chart, higher than anyone’s that day, and he wasn’t moving just for the sake of it. He burst himself to win every ball he got near and make things happen for others.
Pat Ryan is one of most shrewd operators around, but he wouldn’t have to be to realise the need for Cork to have more dirty ball winners and aerial threats to compliment the high skill levels and pace in the forward unit.
Not to excuse a sub-par performance against Kilkenny last weekend, but their lack of these types of players on the day was telling. It you looked at the game in isolation you could well deduce that Cork lack the physical heft to compete with sides like Kilkenny and Limerick.
Yet there is a drive to build depth in this area. This is why Ryan went after Brian Hayes, convincing the young man Barrs man to go with the Cork hurlers rather than footballers this season.
Seamus Harnedy has been, next to Horgan, Cork’s most important forward for some years. His absence on Sunday was key. Harnedy’s 25-minute cameo against Wexford underscored his value. Declan Dalton was unavailable for Nowlan Park too due to injury. He’s had a productive league campaign as a ball winner and scoring threat.
If there was any doubt at all, Limerick showed at the weekend that they’re ahead of the pack. Kilkenny proved they’re the nearest chaser, but Cork are still a side who can hurt anyone come championship if they can get their power-to-speed ratio right.
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