Pacey Banner boys can finish year in a blaze of glory

Inside Track with John McIntyre

IT’S a measure of the unexpected upheaval in this year’s hurling championship that for the first time since 1997, the All-Ireland final will go ahead without Kilkenny, Tipperary or Galway parading behind the Artane Boys Band in September. In fact, the three favourites to lift the Liam McCarthy in early summer had all fallen by the wayside before the semi-finals and nobody saw that scenario coming.

Instead, youth will be having its fling in Croke Park on Sunday as both Cork and Clare, appearing in only their seventh ever senior final, battle it out for hurling’s greatest prize – two Munster teams in the decider and, curiously, neither of them heading to GAA headquarters as provincial champions which underlines just how much improvement the two finalists have made in the interim.

In spite of the county’s great tradition, Cork’s return to the big stage is something of a bolt out of the blue. Sure, they have come from nearly nowhere in the past to mould championship winning teams, but after losing to Clare (0-31 to 2-23) in a Division One relegation play-off at the Gaelic Grounds last April, key forward Paudie O’Sullivan on the long term injury list, and continuing grumbles about the axing of long serving goalkeeper Donal Og Cusack from the squad, even die-hard Rebels supporters were pessimistic about the summer campaign ahead.

They renewed rivalry against Clare in the Munster semi-final and emphatically turned the tables on a 0-23 to 0-15 scoreline. Newcomer Seamus Harnedy caught the eye in attack on a day the Banner forwards lacked the killer instinct when playing with the strong wind in the opening-half. Clare spurned several goal chances too amid mounting criticism of manager Davy Fitzgerald over his continuing deployment of an extra-defender. Cork dovetailed Brian Murphy to man-mark the roving Tony Kelly and the tactic paid off.

Murphy, however, was an absentee for the subsequent Munster final against Limerick after picking up a shoulder injury in a club match and with Pat Horgan controversially dismissed before half-time, Cork were unable to cope with their numerical disadvantage on a hot day at the Gaelic Grounds, losing by 0-23 to 0-15 and again failing to find the net. It left them facing an All-Ireland quarter-final against the fading title holders Kilkenny in Thurles.

Critically, Horgan had his red card rescinded and though Cork finished another big game without a goal, their overall pace had battle-weary opponents in trouble as they came through on a 0-19 to 0-14 scoreline. Kilkenny finished with 14 players after the harsh dismissal of Henry Shefflin and Cork were also to benefit from the teak-tough Ryan O’Dwyer getting his marching orders in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final.

It was the game of the year and Dublin, if anything, were starting to dictate the terms of engagement and were a point ahead when O’Dwyer picked up his second yellow midway through the second-half. That incident turned the game on its head and with an opportunist goal from Horgan – incredibly, Cork’s first of the championship – the Rebels finally began to put some daylight between the teams, having five points to spare at the finish.

On the other side of the draw, Clare were also regrouping well. After hammering Laois in Ennis in the opening round of qualifiers, they were then careless against Wexford before readily pulling clear in extra time with the help of two Cathal McInerney goals. That victory set up a quarter-final date against Galway and with Pat Donnellan cleaning up in his sweeper role and Conor McGrath firing home a first-half goal, they were nearly always in the driving seat against disjointed opposition.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.