TIPPERARY’s 2010 ALL-IRELAND winning manager Liam Sheedy believes Cork have ‘no chance’ of victory if they concede goals in next Sunday’s Munster senior hurling quarter-final.
Cork and Tipperary renew acquaintances in Semple Stadium for their first senior championship meeting since the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final.
A brace of goals by Seamus Callanan killed Cork’s hopes of victory in that game and last summer Cork’s championship exits saw Waterford hit them for three goals in Munster and Galway strike two goals in the All-Ireland series.
Cork shipped nine goals during their league campaign this spring but they did keep a clean sheet, when they saw off Galway in the relegation playoff in April.
“Beating Galway was a big result for Cork, and the key thing was they didn’t concede any goals on the day,” says Sheedy.
“If they concede goals in Thurles they have no chance.
I’m like a broken record at this stage, but defensively I’ve seen nothing from them defensively in the last eighteen months to tell me they’ll have it right for Semple Stadium.
“If they do they’ll be a real threat, because in Seamus Harnedy, Patrick Horgan and Conor Lehane they have real quality up front.
“They’ll score, and they’ll score as much as other teams, but the other teams will win matches. I’m not so sure they’ll keep the scoreboard down at the other end.
“They’ve had a number of weeks now to work on it. In Diarmuid O’Sullivan, Pat Ryan, Pat Hartnett, Kieran Kingston – they have really good men.
“They need to do something because defensively they had no structure for the last few years.”
The Cork management cut seven players from their panel after the league, including former captains Patrick Cronin and Shane O’Neill.
Sheedy feels the 2013 All-Ireland finalists needed to perform surgery on their squad.
“I think it needed a shake-up. Those were big names – Pa Cronin is something you could see with a role on the edge of the square from time to time.
“Paudie O’Sullivan opted out but I saw him as an exceptional minor in 2006, he just hasn’t really come through.
“I thought he was one of the best minors I’d seen, and in Ennis for Munster, when I was with them (as manager), he got a point one day that you’d pay in to see.
“I don’t know what broke down there because he’s top class.
It’s a changing of the guard, but for some of those players, their race was run at this stage.
“You have to find new blood, that’s the challenge.”
Surveying the wider hurling landscape, Sheedy reckons that his native Tipperary and league champions Clare are best positioned to challenge All-Ireland kingpins Kilkenny.
“Tipp and Clare are best positioned. Clare have serious talent coming through, making a league final without David McInerney, John Conlon.
“They have a serious squad. No-one would question the talent in the Tipperary forward line – the likes of John O’Dwyer and Seamus Callanan, these guys – Noel McGrath is back in.
“The gap between the top team and the pack is the closest it’s ever been, but which is the team to jump out of the pack?”
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