How do you defend a lead in hurling? What is a safe lead? How late? Do “insurance” scores exist anymore? Must they come with the last puck? Will anybody even quote a premium?
Some numbers and scenarios. In both of their meetings last summer, Cork led Clare by seven points and lost. Once upon a time, that would have been a commanding position, but now a lead like that is vulnerable to any trace of heat and is liable to evaporate like dew.
Ever since scoring in hurling took on the character of a slot machine, the time and motion equations have gone haywire. In the All-Ireland final, there were only 16 minutes gone when Cork led by seven and they had just missed a simple chance to go eight in front; in the group match in Páirc Uí Chaoimh they led by seven early in the second half. In those situations, these days, nobody would believe that anything about the outcome was remotely settled.
On Sunday, Cork led by eight points with 65:29 on the match clock after Tim O’Mahony’s towering point from Cork’s 65-yard line. Cork were playing against the breeze and were down to 14 men, but in the 10 minutes since Shane Barrett was sent off, Clare had only reduced their deficit by a point.
Including stoppage time, there were 13 minutes left for play. In hurling now, that is an eternity.
What Sunday’s game also illustrated, once again, is that having a man sent off in hurling now is a stinging, consequential penalty. The days when people would blithely say that it looked like the team with 14 had an “extra man on the field” are gone forever.
Cork must have believed they would win if they didn’t concede a goal. In practice, however, that is increasingly tricky to do. The black card penalty for fouling in goalscoring situations has largely eliminated clinical fouling in that zone, but the demise of the full-time seventh defender has been a contributory factor too.
When sweepers were in vogue, their primary purpose was to sit close to the D and spike goal-scoring opportunities – sometimes by fouling but not always. No team can afford to play with a plus one now because it would mean surrendering too much possession further afield, with not nearly enough pressure on the ball. Teams worked out how to successfully bypass an opposition sweeper and for the defending team, profit was overtaken by loss.
When Cork were reduced to 14 men, though, Darragh Fitzgibbon spent more time as an auxiliary defender; at the other end of the field that meant Cork’s forwards were dealing with a six on four. When Clare had the ball, they could do whatever they wished.
The only viable way back into the game for Clare was to get the ball to Peter Duggan. In his floating defensive role, there was nothing Fitzgibbon could do to stop that. By far the best solution is to stop the ball at source, but with a six on four, that was impossible.
What Sunday’s game also illustrated, once again, is that having a man sent off in hurling now is a stinging, consequential penalty. The days when people would blithely say that it looked like the team with 14 had an “extra man on the field” are gone forever.
Once hurling embraced short passing, and precision passing, and releasing the ball out of contact, and started developing inside defenders who were comfortable as the first receiver (Limerick had two converted forwards as their corner backs against Tipperary) then the days of a team with 15 players playing into the hands of a team with 14 were never coming back. Teams with a man down now are made to chase and suffer.
Even with 15 on 15, the only way to defend a lead in hurling is to attack the lead. The ball must still stick at the other end of the field, you must get off shots, you must keep scoring. Just like a pension, a lead in hurling needs smart, continuous investment. Cork missed four point-scoring chances after the 63rd minute, and didn’t score for 13 minutes after O’Mahony’s point.
Cork have been through this mill before. In the opening round against Waterford last year, they had two players sent off and, naturally, lost; in the game against Clare a week later, Sean O’Donoghue was sent off when Cork were leading by a point midway through the second half and Clare just picked them off. There is no way of winning playing with 14 men for any reasonable length of time now.
Violent scoreboard swings have become a constant hazard for every team. In their opening game against Limerick in Ennis last year, Clare led by nine points entering the final quarter and ended up losing by three. In their do-or-die group match against Limerick last year, Cork led by eight points in the first half, were on the end of a 12-point scoreboard swing, and still ended up winning by two. Going down the stretch, with all their experience and street smarts, Limerick still couldn’t defend a four-point lead.
Scroll back to the final round of the 2023 Leinster championship: Dublin led Galway by 12 points and ended up needing a late equaliser; Wexford beat Kilkenny having trailed by eight points in the first half. Kilkenny were on the end of a 14-point scoreboard swing at one stage in that game.
This is how hurling rolls now: wild.
