Enjoy the brilliance of this Cork team
As a Corkman, there’s very little that stirs the spirits like the Cork hurlers. Every generation is reared on tales of legends like Christy Ring and Jimmy Barry Murphy, Joe Deane, The Rock and Seán Óg Ó hAlpín and now Patrick Horgan. Even during a drought, there are always greats to look up to.
Not all Cork people cherish the hurlers - I’m looking at you West Cork! - but they are the Cork team that people identify with most when things are going well. No other GAA supporters travel in consistent huge numbers like Cork hurling fans, bar perhaps Mayo football fans. Their closest cousins might be the Munster Rugby fans who can also turn away matches into something akin to a home game. See La Rochelle last weekend - another Munster epic!
There are other GAA supporters who sometimes jump on the bandwagon if their team is doing well, but very few match the Cork hurlings fans’ fervour. And they’ve now brought that intensity to the league as well it seems. SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh was seeing huge attendances for hurling league matches ever before the final last Sunday. And last Sunday looked a special occasion indeed. I watched it back as I was coaching my son’s team at a soccer blitz but the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A final against Tipperary looked like a great event. Cork won their first title for 27 years and the crowd mobbed the players on the pitch. Glorious.
The game itself was no game at all bar the first 20 minutes. Around that, Cork pressed on the accelerator and the game was over in just a minutes.
There are very few teams in any sport that can shift through the gears so rapidly and leave the opposition floored. On Sunday, Cork’s goals came in the 22nd, 27th, and 35th minutes, but the game was pretty much over even before the third goal. The damage done around the 20th minute was almost terminal. Darragh Fitzgibbon, Tim O’Mahony and Diarmuid Healy all scored points rapidly in two minutes before Alan Connolly struck for the game’s first goal.
Darragh FitzGibbon then scored close in with a cute finish from Brian Hayes’ pass and Tipp were left in the dust. Cork ruined the game by scoring a third through Ethan Twomey to lead 3-16 to 0-12 at half-time and the second half was a non-event. The pace, power, skill and directness of this Cork team must scare other teams.
Limerick have been incredible champions, killing teams slowly with their consistent barrage of long range points. Clare were excellent last year and possess huge talent but have not been on it yet this year.
Kilkenny are always to be respected but this Cork team can run over teams in the most thrilling manner. How will teams react to this team’s goalscoring instinct? It will be great to see!