BY SEÁN HOLLAND
THERE’S no doubt that the hype, anticipation, and expectation of Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling final has gripped the entire county.
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and having not had the Liam MacCarthy Cup on Leeside since 2005, it’s never been as true. Defeating five-in-a-row chasing Limerick in the semi-final has only ramped up the expectations around the county but Cork manager Pat Ryan admits that his side have to welcome it ahead of the showdown with Clare in Croke Park (3.30pm).
‘You just have to embrace it,’ said Ryan. ‘That's the way I'm looking at it. As I've said to the lads, there's no pressure here, this is where you wanted to be.
‘We've had lots of fellas who have been under the knife, who have gone to England for hamstring injuries, knee injuries, and all that type of thing. That's what pressure is and that's when you can get down. Our fellas have to embrace it. It's a brilliant two weeks (between the semi-final and final). We'll be back in Mallow in November again in the pissing rain and that'll be much harder.’
Having lost their opening two games in the Munster series that left them closer to the exit than they would have wanted, Cork have gone on a five-game winning streak in the championship, with Clare the last side to defeat the Rebels, 3-26 to 3-24 in SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoimh.
Cork boss Ryan knows his side have a huge challenge ahead of them on Sunday, but emphasised that they can only control their own performance.
‘We played Clare a good bit over the last couple of years and look, we have a good idea what they do and what they bring,’ he said.
‘I think their movement inside is very, very good. The way that they can interchange between players and stuff like that is fantastic, and look, they're really physical. I suppose they're the one team that are very athletic. They have a lot of pace around their team. But obviously, it's more what we would bring to them is what we need to concentrate on.’
