Cork v Clare All Ireland Hurling Final 3.30 Sunday
Cork and Clare meet for an astonishing fifth time this year as they battle it out for the ultimate prize in hurling this Sunday. It’s a repeat of the Munster semi final, a game Cork won convincingly by 8 points. Clare haven’t had cause to celebrate in September since beating Tipperary in the last all Munster decider in 1997. While Cork haven’t lifted the Liam McCarthy cup since Sean Óg climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand so memorably in 2005. Galway play Waterford in the curtain raiser after the Limerick appeal failed at the final stage. The whole process dragged on far too long and was unfair on the Galway players with Waterford seemingly the major beneficiaries in this farce.
Kilkenny have been totally dominant since denying Cork a three in a row in 2006 and had apparently put an end to the short possession game as a viable means of success in the process. Even as late as last September when Galway and Kilkenny twice served up a feast of direct powerful hurling it was utterly inconceivable that two counties so au fait with a shorter game would contest next year’s All Ireland Final. Davy has introduced his style of play over the past two years out of sheer necessity as the type of player emerging in the Banner recently simply won’t allow for anything other than a short measured approach. Cork on the other hand are more comfortable mixing their play and have a nice blend of size and speed scattered throughout their starting 15.
Limerick showed incredible naivety in the All Ireland semi final and seemed to play right into Clare’s hands. They launched countless attacks from well inside their own 50 and only succeeded in hitting a wall in the form of the Clare half back line, supplemented with the utilisation of their skipper Pat Donnellan as a sweeper. Cork have athletes at lár na páirce and they along with their half back line in particular will need to carry the ball out of defence to create overlaps and try to hit their inside line from further up the pitch in an attempt to take the Clare half back line out of play. Equally, Anthony Nash who has been in incredible form this year will have to mix his puck outs and he will have to play a fair share of short ones. He also has the luxury of Cronin and Harnedy when going long, Paddy Kelly in the Clare goal has more limited options.
Limerick didn’t seem to know what to do with their extra man and it seems inconceivable that JBM will make the same mistake. As important as the identity of the extra man is, his positional sense could be the deciding factor. The traditional sitting in front of the full back approach simply won’t work with Kelly and Collins popping over points at will from further out the pitch. I think the extra Cork man should operate predominantly from the half back line and even step up towards midfield and ask Shane O’ Neill to do a job on Honan and take a chance by giving up space for the inside Clare duo.
A lot of talk has centred around Brian Murphy’s inclusion. Many pundits believe he will pick up Tony Kelly as he was the only man in the country to keep the shackles on the prodigy from Clare this year. But Kelly has been operating out at midfield in the past couple of games rather than simply dropping out towards midfield as he had done previously. It might be a stretch to ask Murphy to pick him up that far out the pitch. Would it make more sense for Murphy to pick up Collins who hasn’t been quite as spectacular as Kelly in his point taking but has been no less efficient?
Cork probably have the better form in the book. They accounted for Kilkenny and Dublin in their last two outings while Clare have, albeit impressively, dispatched a disjointed Galway and a Limerick team that didn’t show up in Croker. That cannot be said of Cork’s vanquished opponents regardless of the controversial sendings off. There’s every chance that Clare will develop into a stronger team than Cork in the coming years but I think The Rebels will have a couple of points to spare on Davy’s men this Sunday. Clare will almost certainly taste All Ireland glory, just not this Sunday.
