TULLAMORE town will be the destination of choice for Cork GAA fans on Saturday as both the hurlers and footballers will be in action in O’Connor Park.
I doubt very many would have any interest in my thoughts on the small ball clash against the home county, so I will stick to the footballers’ battle with Tyrone. Cork have secured qualification for the knockout stages already, yet there is a great deal on the line this Saturday regardless of that fact.
The number of teams qualifying from the groups and the lack of serious knockout jeopardy in the new system has generated much comment, however in Cork’s case getting a performance and a result to back up the Donegal win this weekend feels critical. A win or a draw will guarantee Cork top spot in Group 3 and safe passage directly to a quarter-final while also, in all probability, avoiding Kerry, Dublin and the winners of Galway v Armagh. Assuming Donegal take care of business against Clare, defeat will leave Cork in third place on scoring difference and an away preliminary quarter-final against a second placed team from one of the other groups. Even in a flawed system, there is huge motivation for the Rebel footballers for this encounter.
While Cork were garnering well-earned plaudits for their superb win over Donegal, Tyrone were quietly dispatching Clare with an ultimately comfortable 14-point victory. It was primarily after a red card for Clare midfielder Darragh Bohannon that Tyrone stretched away from the Banner men, bagging 1-4 in his absence. Two goals from corner back Niall Devlin had Tyrone in front prior to the red card, and Darragh Canavan would blast home a brilliant third as Clare’s challenge wilted.
It’s worth noting that, even in the modern game of all-out attack and all-out defence, Devlin from corner back and Mattie Donnelly wearing No. 6 accounted for 2-6 of Tyrone’s total, all from play. Devlin’s second goal was set up by the marauding goalkeeper Niall Morgan, who could very well have goaled himself if Devlin had opted to return the pass instead of bagging his second goal. That goal and passage of play is emblematic of the ‘total football’ 15-man offence en vogue at the moment as the men with numbers 1 and 2 on their backs combined to cut open the Clare backline.
Morgan and Donnelly are two of a core of very experienced Tyrone men who backbone this version of the Red Hand county’s footballers, with 12 survivors from the team that won the All-Ireland against Mayo in 2021, namely Morgan, Michael McKernan, Padraig Hampsey, Kieran McGeary, Brian Kennedy, Darren McCurry and Donnelly who all started that final and against Clare last time out, while Peter Harte, Cathal McShane and Conn Kilpatrick all came off the bench in Omagh two weeks ago. Given that All-Ireland win was a mere three years ago, and acknowledging how far Cork have been from even sniffing the summit since at least 2012, it seems strange that this game is now expected to be a razor-tight encounter.
Tyrone are still favourites with the bookmakers, however a two-point handicap spread shows that people are now wary of the Cork men again after the performance against Donegal and the closeness of the Munster final in Killarney also. Cork are now more difficult to break down and to beat, and there is little expectation that there will be a repeat of the 2018 hammering we took in Portlaoise, when Tyrone dispatched a ragged Cork team by 3-20 to 0-13. Kevin Flahive, Ian Maguire, Brian O’Driscoll, Brian Hurley, Ruairi Deane and Matty Taylor are the only likely survivors from that day for Cork, unless the luckless Killian O’Hanlon has proven his fitness recently in training.
The teams met again the following year in the short-lived Croke Park Super 8s series, when Tyrone eventually reeled in a fast-starting Cork team to win 2-15 to 2-12. Interestingly, of the 2-12 Cork scored that day, 2-10 was scored by players no longer involved in the form of Luke Connolly (1-3), Michael Hurley (0-4), James Loughrey (1-0), Mark Collins (0-2) and Sean White (0-1). Matty Taylor and John O’Rourke scored a point each that day, and Johno will be hoping for a recall to the Cork 26 for Saturday while Matty has put his name on the No. 7 jersey for the foreseeable future. In addition to the men previously listed from the 2018 clash, Thomas Clancy from Clonakilty and Sean Powter also saw action in Croke Park in the last meeting between the teams.
Prior to those two Tyrone wins, there were only two previous championship clashes between the two red and white armies, with Cork winning two All-Ireland semi-finals in 1973 and 2009. Deadlocked now on two wins each, if Cork can sneak ahead in the head-to-head count, they will top the group and progress to the knockouts as top seeds with all the previously mentioned benefits that brings. If the deadlock remains by virtue of a draw, Cork will still sit happily on top of the group. Should Tyrone emerge victorious, Donegal can snatch top spot by bettering their margin of victory on the day by three points or more. Cork will finish third in this scenario due to inferior scoring difference. Fine margins in a three-horse race. Apologies to Clare if I’m being dismissive of their slim chances of still progressing, but I just don’t see Donegal slipping up twice in a row.
Admittedly, I have seen very little of Tyrone this year other than some highlights on The Sunday Game, however they are a relatively familiar outfit at this stage under the stewardship of Brian Dooher and Fergal Logan. Tyrone appear to be adopting a similar style of everybody back and then everybody forward that we have seen from Donegal and Derry amongst others, and we saw the risks that are associated with such an approach manifest for both Donegal and Derry last time out. By contrast, Tyrone had a facile win in their last outing, so it is unlikely much will change in the space of two weeks. This may play directly to Cork’s strengths as they can attempt to replicate the gameplan from Páirc Uí Rinn again this Saturday.
Targeting Niall Morgan in particular for big turnovers could prove very fruitful, although that is easier said than done given how comfortable the Tyrone netminder is when he ventures forward. Nonetheless I expect Cork to have a target on his back when he crosses the halfway line as they had for Ryan McHugh. Mattie Donnelly and Niall Devlin are others who will need to be quenched when they join the attack, given their exploits against Clare. Kieran McGeary will cover every blade and usually gets on plenty of ball for the Ulstermen, while it’s possible Conn Kilpatrick will return to partner Brian Kennedy at midfield. Up front, Darragh Canavan was the start turn against Clare, supported strongly by his brother Ruairi. Darren McCurry had an off day and failed to score but can be electric when the mood takes him.
For Cork, injuries permitting we would expect no changes to the starting 15. Sean Powter and Tommy Walsh departed against Tyrone with knocks but hopefully they will be recovered. The middle eight for Cork have a huge job on their hands this weekend, required to put huge pressure on the Tyrone danger men once they move into Cork territory, before deploying our counter-attacking running game to similar effect as for the goals against Donegal.
Rory Maguire, Tommy Walsh, Matty Taylor, Ian Maguire, Colm O’Callaghan, Paul Walsh, Sean Powter and Brian O’Driscoll are becoming a collective force to be reckoned with at this level now. If the full-back line behind can limit the Canavans and McCurry and Brian Hurley, Chris Óg Jones and Mark Cronin can keep the scoreboard ticking, Cork will have every chance of doing an Ulster double.
Steven Sherlock and Ruairi Deane can expect to see action after positive impressions against Donegal and hopefully we can see Conor Corbett have a positive impact this time out if he’s called upon. I expect a tight game and I’m very hopeful Cork can do what no one expected and top this very difficult group. Yes, Cork are through no matter what happens, and defeat will not be fatal for Cork’s season, however taking another big scalp will offer Cork the path of least resistance to the final eight and beyond. The chance is there – can we put two big wins back to back? I’m voting yes this time. Cork to win.
