I WAS spoiled for choice last Saturday. All my sporting interests were in action – Carbery Rangers in the Kelleher Shield up in Douglas, Cork away to Meath in Navan with the Six Nations clash of Ireland and Scotland and the Premier League tie between Spurs and Fulham on the TV.
I did begin the journey to Douglas to watch the Ross game, until the torrential rain landed and convinced me that watching the rugby on the couch and tracking the games on my phone was the better option.
Obviously, that opens me up to accusations of being a fair-weather supporter – fair enough in this case – but I do sometimes wonder about the reluctance in the GAA to make the logical call and defer a game. Nemo v Bantry in Ballineen and Clonakilty v Nemo in Bandon last year both spring to mind. Whatever changes people would or wouldn’t make to our season, building in some leeway to postpone games for atrocious weather has to be a consideration.
In relation to the games, it was a 50/50 split on the results front. Positive results for Cork and Ireland, less so for Ross and Spurs.
It was a very fine result for the footballers of Cork, their best of the league so far, winning 1-15 to 1-11 away to Meath. Each of the last three wins have been of equal importance, but turning around a three-point deficit by kicking eight of the last nine points in an away game deserves serious recognition. In doing so, Cork guaranteed their Division 2 status for next year and edged closer to securing Sam Maguire status for the summer ahead. Both are important milestones and the management and squad deserve their credit for turning around a sinking league campaign.
Both John Cleary and Ian Maguire have flagged publicly that the Armagh game this Saturday night is no less important than the previous three, and while their attitude is spot on, removing any prospect of relegation allows us all to breathe much easier. A home game against a flying Armagh is nonetheless a great test as thoughts start to turn to the imminent championship.
Cork were the stronger outfit for most of the game last Saturday. Once again, failure to make the most of goal chances threatened to cost us. John Cleary flagged afterwards that in the six games so far, Cork have converted 25 percent of the goal opportunities created in contrast to a 50 percent return for Cork’s opponents. This is the kind of statistic that is both a cause for concern and a cause for some optimism. Let’s call it the Andy Cole Conundrum.
When Andy Cole signed for Manchester United in the 1990s for a then British record fee, he faced intense scrutiny. In the early stages he struggled to live up to the price tag, and became famous as the man who needed four goal chances in order to convert one. The pressure was significant. However he had the backing of the man that counted the most, Alex Ferguson.
Ferguson was adamant that he would rather a striker who kept getting himself into positions to score goals, and didn’t hide, convinced the tide would eventually turn for his main striker. Andy Cole may never have been the perfect striker, but his goals and medals haul would eventually justify his manager’s faith. In short, and while it is a team issue for Cork at present as opposed to any individual case, John Cleary will know that he needs to back his men to find their goal-scoring touch and would be rather more worried if the chances were not being created at all.
One man who does seem to be finding his goal-scoring touch is Conor Corbett. After his brilliant solo goal against Kildare, Corbett found the net again in the early stages against Meath. Perhaps if the rest of the team can find inspiration from Corbett, Cork’s chances for the summer will be greatly improved. And I say ‘team’ quite deliberately. Where once it was the preserve of forwards to deliver the bulk of the goals, these days they can come from anywhere. It is no exaggeration to suggest that Cork’s turnaround in fortunes in this league campaign has stemmed from goals from two players who play predominantly in the full back line – Maurice Shanley late in the second half against Fermanagh and Tommy Walsh late in the first half against Kildare. Louth battered Fermanagh this weekend in a relegation dogfight by smashing in six majors – goals are an appreciating currency in Gaelic football and conversion rate is one of the low-hanging fruits Cork will target for improvement looking ahead.
Despite John Cleary’s and Ian Maguires assertions, the latter stages of the league are often something of a peculiarity. Generally, albeit with a few exceptions, there is more intensity in the earlier games. In Division 2, Donegal and Armagh are safely through to the final and may well opt to run their panel players. Cavan, Cork and Meath are safe in mid-table, though the first pair will want to ensure Sam Maguire football in the event of being knocked out of provincial action early. Kildare have nothing but pride to play for, with Louth and Fermanagh having the higher motivation of trying to avoid relegation.
In 2010 we played Mayo in the last round less than a week after our famous venture to Bere Island over the Easter weekend. The Friday we landed in Bere Island was by far the toughest single day of physical exertion I have ever endured, and nothing else really comes close. Suffice to say it would not have been done so close to a game considered more important.
We lost to Mayo that following week with a mostly back-up fifteen, before turning the tables in the league final two weeks later. Between those two games, I managed to get stuck in London for several days and nights due to the Icelandic ash cloud, missing a couple of days of work and training in the process. It was the Sunday evening before I managed to get a train to Wales and a ferry back to Cork where my ever patient mother would collect me and drop me straight to work in Bandon. Again, my preparation was less than ideal, however I would come on as a sub to claim a national league medal less than a week later. In hindsight, even aside from the All-Ireland, 2010 really was the year of years when it came to my Cork career!
Back to matters at hand, and in many ways, the leagues and the championship in football are mirror images of each other. One has serious, hard competitive games early on before fizzling out into anti-climatic later rounds, while the other has too many non-events through the opening stages before reaching a crescendo with the semi-finals and final in Croke Park.
I have shared my thoughts on moving the All-Ireland back into August previously, but to give a barometer of where the later rounds of the league stand, look at the recent comments of Kevin McStay and Peter Canavan. McStay has indicated that he might not put out his strongest team late in the competition, as the championship looms too quickly afterwards, while Canavan has suggested scrapping the finals completely, which won’t find favour with the sponsors. In reality, one big competition with groups of eight leading straight into knockout championship games, preceded by provincial competitions might make the most sense.
Cork have a job to do on Saturday evening and they will want to keep the momentum going, improve the disappointing home record and remove all doubt about top-tier participation longer into the summer.
