Here was the preview from Arrigle on kkcats btw.
Some interesting points made.
The one about Kenny getting on the wrong side was prophetic.
He was almost caught out a few minutes before the goal as well, where it looked like he had taken his eye off the flight of a ball that curled in the wind.
http://www.kilkennycats.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5693
BETWEEN THE LINES: Cork-Offaly Preview
by Arrigle » Sat Jul 04, 2009 7:28 pm
BETWEEN THE LINES
Back To Tullamore
O’Connor Park again, Saturday evening again. Context rather different. Do or die time.
The do do do, the die die die. Whimsy forever has its attractions when a match fails to catch the public’s imagination. No television for this meeting between Cork and Offaly is a factor. So, in spades, is a certain resignation about the result. Even home support seems to have little expectation of their side being competitive, let alone of them snatching a win. The recent screening on TG4 of magnificent All-Ireland semi-finals between the counties in 1999 and 2000 only served to emphasize Faithful hurling’s current divorce from anything remotely approaching that standard of play. Hopefully, and not too far down the line, Offaly men will be interviewed after winning a Senior All-Ireland. They will say that seeing those semi-finals changed their mind about what could be achieved in the jersey. The past can irrigate the future if present minds are open.
Truthfully, why might their supporters keep faith? Offaly should have beaten Wexford in their recent Leinster quarter-final. Given the Slaneysiders’ serious deficit in personnel through injury, given the inherent weaknesses subsequently exposed by Dublin, there is scant excuse for the failure. Home advantage in Wexford Park or no home advantage, the Midlanders bottled it. With ability there, mentality went awol.
This logic is impeccable. Painfully, it spools into damning hypothesis. Had Offaly beaten Wexford, they might well have taken Dublin. A decent performance against Kilkenny in the Leinster Final — 60 minutes instead of 2008’s 40 minutes — and Joe Dooley’s charges would have been in fine fettle for an All-Ireland quarter-final. These games would have allowed a new side canvass various grooves for sources of maximum traction. Late July made, what county would they fear? Not even Cork, in truth. If ever a chance was missed, it was missed in Wexford Park.
It sometimes appears to me that Offaly hurling still labours under the myth of winning All-Irelands with a cigarette in one hand and a large bockle in the other. Time’s whirligigs do not stint. Pure cool soon becomes pure mule, with nonchalance a lumpy rucksack on the tread uphill. The U21s’ lack of preparation for this summer’s encounter with Kilkenny, one there to be won, indicated the myth now has an institutional frame.
As per banality’s grin, we are where we are. This evening, Cork come on something of an expedition to Tullamore. The Leesiders will reckon they can arrive up in relative safety and feel out some answers to important questions. These queries centre on full-back, midfield’s coherence, possession at half-forward, and the ability to score more goals.
Their full-back line is an obvious emphasis. Eoin Cadogan did far better than expected against Tipperary at number 3. The departure of Diarmuid O’Sullivan, larger than life and slower, latterly, than Lot’s wife, inevitably meant hullaballoo. Same time, while Cadogan was assured, there was his display’s context. Micheál Webster is a very limited hurler — so much so that he longer appears, on evidence of the Clare match, to be part of Tipp’s live panel. Webster has few accoutrements beyond physical presence. Now that Eoin Kelly looks glued to the ground, his presence has lost its rationale. If Cadogan deserved credit in measure, this ratio tended to get lost in sheer relief.
Less obviously, Webster tends to shoot his bolt in contesting the initial ball. If the defender can prevent him gaining immediate possession, his threat sharply recedes because his reflexes are so blunt. This reality means that the corner-backs can largely stay with their men and let the full-back hurl away. Joe Bergin, Shane Dooley and Derek Molloy, each man a better hurler than Webster, might well see some duty at full-forward this evening. Delivered decent ball, these figures, who would run at Cadogan, would be a more exacting test of a full-back. But will there come decent ball?
It is Joe Brady who is named at full-forward. Only orthodox grip obscures his status: a cumbersome mullocker. Playing Brady on Cadogan for more than five minutes is essentially repeating the Webster experiment in another jersey. Where would lie the sense in this effort? Offaly are not well fixed overall but Bergin is the man for this job. As appeals, he could swap for spells with Molloy at left half-forward.
Part of Offaly’s problems up front is the presence of three strongly backhand-inclined hurlers as first choices: Brian Carroll, Daniel Currams and Shane Dooley. Result? Too many candidates for right side of attack. This time, Currams is out with injury. Carroll never really looks a wing-forward because he is not fond of doing the work, running the hard yards. Coherence? Carroll at top of the right. As noted, Bergin’s best position is full-forward. Besides, Offaly will need at least two goals to win — and likely three. Bergin, blondest friend of the green flag, should stand square’s edge. Well able to contest broken ball, he will pose a different sort of challenge to Cadogan than a Mid Tipp footballer.
Shane Dooley, better off his right side than Carroll, can play top of the left. The two of them need to make up their mind about taking on Shane O’Neill and Shane Murphy. While O’Neill is a fine stickman and excellent on his feet, Aidan Fogarty demonstrated last August that the Bishopstown clubman is far from a natural corner-back. Murphy is trying to cement himself on the team and tends to commit himself a little too much in his first tackle. Carroll needs to take some grief and press on. He is no longer the youthful ex-boarder at St Kieran’s College, with everything in front of him. Recent match reports have been a’waiting.
Last Wednesday, Colm Keys in the Irish Independent paid the Cork half-back line a notable compliment. Keys wrote: “the old triumvirate of half-backs, when they are shaken and stirred, are as good as any other trio around, Tommy Walsh et al included”. The omelette, whiffy, has started to escape the pan for both eye and nose. Last August’s meeting with Kilkenny, when it boiled, floated this line’s egg, indicating said Rebel trio had passed their sell by date.
Individually and collectively, John Gardiner, Ronan Curran and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín were generally excellent for around five seasons. 2008 indicated the need for review. There was the tactical naivety of trundling out into midfield on their own puckouts, a trait evident in 2009 in the first half against Tipperary. There is likewise the case that Gardiner now looks insufficiently adept facing his own goal to play at wing-back. Curran, always loose, is now insufficiently dominant to compensate for this lack. Ciarán McGann, a more effective stopper, might presently be the better option at number 6. Ó hAilpín is in the twilight of a great career and now struggles with anyone physically strong enough to stick it out with him.
While these three hurlers, individually and collectively, might come back good for a spell, it is increasingly difficult to see Cork winning another All-Ireland with them in situ. Gardiner would be best deployed as a defensive midfielder, with Tom Kenny at right half-back. Kenny could come for ball that lands behind Gardiner, with the Na Piarsaigh man filling in, needs be, at wing-back. Equally, if Denis Walsh as manager wants to play a more direct game, utilizing Aisake Ó hAilpín’s presence at full-forward, Gardiner’s close striking might well be an excellent needle for darning this pattern. No surprises if these placements occur this evening.
Conor Mahon has the makings of a good centre-forward and must be allowed mature in the spot’s cask. His distinctive style — upright but stooping into the strike — is well physical enough for number 11. In time, Molloy and himself could be two thirds of an effective half-forward line. Currams or Cathal Parlon, injuries avoided, will typically be on the right side for the moment. This evening, Joe Dooley should set Joe Brady slogging with Ó hAilpín, hoping he might might offload a couple of dangerous balls inside to a runner.
Injuries likewise prevent Offaly fielding their strongest midfield, Rory Hanniffy and Brendan Murphy. The colours’ most accomplished hurler this good while, the former man should be as centrally involved as possible. As well as having the legs to move and the wrists to strike in equal measure, Hanniffy has the intelligence to make midfield possession count. Murphy, experienced and able to take a point, can act as a spearhead for pushing out of midfield’s precincts. As named, Offaly go with Kevin Brady as Murphy’s partner. He has far less to offer and is not that much better a hurler than his brother. Personally, I would chance him at wing-back, with Paul Cleary at centre-back and Hanniffy in midfield.
Tadhg Óg Murphy’s introduction at midfield was the big surprise in the Rebel selection. Might be that it is another effort at moving the ball quicker in this sector since Murphy is a good stickman. Might be that Gardiner-Murphy is being felt out as a potentially nice balance.
The moot point about Cork half-forward lines for six seasons is their ability to harvest puckouts. The hay made last weekend by Kilkenny on Galway’s short puckouts illustrated this issue’s importance. Ostensibly, Jerry O’Connor is retreaded as a wing-forward. But how would he fare under the puckout? We already know Timmy McCarthy is no master in this regard. We suspect Tadhg Óg Murphy has no forte on this front. Hence Pa Cronin’s presence at centre-forward. But is Cronin mobile enough, focused enough, for centre-forward? Against Rory Hanniffy’s nous? This selection might well be sufficient in the end against Dylan Hayden, Hanniffy and Paul Cleary. Yet you would not bet the ranch against Offaly, if the half-backs play well, achieving a measure of dominance here. If so, this factor could give their inside forwards a chance. The Faithful need to get a lot more out of Cleary, who appears far better suited to a central position. It could even be that David Kenny plays at centre-back.
With Kieran ‘Fraggy’ Murphy named at left corner-forward, Cork look a bit workmanlike down that side. David Franks, if sufficiently recovered, should cope. David Kenny must not repeat the mistake — going to the full-forward’s wrong shoulder — on good deliveries that allowed Stephen Banville a brace of goals. Given his remarkable height, Aisake Ó hAilpín is oddly unconvincing on high balls. That said, he has excellent reach due to his ‘wingspan’ and can spin into dangerous positions. He was only a couple of misjudged handpasses away from setting up two goals against Tipperary. The Rebels’ score in 2007’s qualifier meeting with Offaly (1-27) evinces how difficult they have found a three- or four-goal haul even when in total control. The idea must be that Ó hAilpín can succour in this regard by clicking with runners from half-forward. All things being equal, Leeside will outpoint their opponents this evening. Yet there will always be a caveat when one goal, if one at all, looks the most likely haul. Two opposition goals can make it tight.
At top of the right, Ben O’Connor will hurl his usual neat controlled game and Michael Verney, all things being equal, will struggle. James Rigney is a loss. Ger Oakley is a loss. If Verney follows his man, it vacates inviting space into which other forwards can move. Out the field, Offaly will need to work like dogs to prevent the controlled ball that facilitates this type of movement.
The Cork forwards do not look that potent as yet. Even weakened by injury, it is not impossible to imagine Offaly’s back six doing alright in their battles. The red query is the ability of their midfield and half-forwards to staunch nice ball in for most of 70 minutes. If Cork get a run on Offaly for 15 minutes, they will run up 1-9 or 2-8. As such, in light of slackness against Wexford, there is no split in judgement that ultimately favours the home side. If they need substitutes, they will have to turn to Derek Morkan and Éanna Murphy at the back, to Colm Coughlan and Eddie Bevans up front. These men, however promising in part, are all very inexperienced and it is very hard to make a case for them changing the game’s course.
Conversely, Cork have a host of plausible substitutes. These options range from talented tyros such as Pat Horgan, Fintan O’Leary, Conor O’Sullivan and Paudie O’Sullivan to seasoned figures such as Kevin Hartnett, Niall McCarthy, Ciarán McGann, Cathal Naughton and Neil Ronan. The efficacy of these names can be doubted on various criteria. Undoubtable? Offaly’s lack of equivalent roster. Cork, if in difficulty up front, have means of rerouting the dynamic. Hard to go against this factor.
So, do or die time. With ‘Don’t Stand So Close To Me’ still a karaoke favourite for the Faithful’s forwards, cold punditry whistles. Offaly in the tumbrel as the revolution years fade to grey.
Something like 2-21 to 1-15.
Colm Keys, ‘Rebels Roused Into Life’, Irish Independent ~ Sport (1 July 2009), pp. 2-3.
PM O’Sullivan
http://www.kilkennycats.com
July 4, 2009
