Cork hurlers focused on provincial final

Most people are billing it as the last Munster final to be played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. But for the Cork hurlers, Sunday is all about the first.

That includes defender Shane O’Neill, the only outfield player with any link to their last Munster title, back in 2006. O’Neill was an unused substitute that day (as was goalkeeper Anthony Nash), when Cork beat Tipperary, but says that does not count, and as far as he’s concerned, “this Cork team has won absolutely nothing”.

The obvious exception to that is manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy – who has 14 Munster titles: ten as a Cork hurler, two as a Cork footballer, and two as Cork hurling manager, during his previous stint in the position.

Now, however, Cork are touching the void of their longest gap ever since winning a Munster hurling title. Between 1956 and 1966 they went 10 years without a title. This time, having not won since 2006, they’re already up to eight.

They may be favourites now to end that eight-year wait, but it was not the expected path to Sunday’s final, nor indeed were they expected to be meeting Limerick. Waterford nearly knocked them out at the first hurdle, before Cork won the replay handsomely, and most people assumed Clare would have enough guile to beat them in the semi-final.

Cork won by five points, and should have won by more. Limerick, meanwhile, surprised many by beating Tipperary in their semi-final, setting up another final showdown against Cork – the team they beat last year to win their first Munster title since 1996.

Time to deliver

For O’Neill, now aged 28, there are also links to Cork’s last All-Ireland title, in 2005, when he was also a member of the panel, but when he talks about the difference of winning something on the field of play he speaks for the entire panel.

“Obviously a medal when you’re playing would be a lot more significant,” he says. “And the reality is this Cork team has won absolutely nothing. Okay, we played well enough last year but at the same time have to deliver something at this stage. And I suppose losing games like that definitely gives you more hunger . . . It’s still a trophy that everybody wants to win.”

There is another slightly damning statistic in that Cork were the last team to win a Munster title and then go on to win the All-Ireland, in 2005. In other words, winning a Munster title is not necessarily the best way of ensuring an All-Ireland.

"It's a good point," says O'Neill. "You look at us last year, if we hadn't gone through the qualifiers, we would have been down a few games. So it's a Catch-22 situation, really. You want to go through the front door, and especially that it's a final you want something to show for your efforts. But then there is a case for the more games you get the better it's going to stand to you. And I think we probably showed that, and the two games against Waterford stood to us massively."

Still, even though Cork did improve considerably in the replay against Waterford, they were not expected to come through their All-Ireland rematch against Clare. Yet the nature and force with which Cork took Clare apart that day caught many by surprise. That, says O’Neill, was mostly about Cork focusing on their own game, although not with the fact Barry-Murphy planned so many player match-ups to perfection.

“Yeah, he did in fairness to him. But our focus going into the game wasn’t necessarily on tactics, or match-ups. We just knew, number one, we had to match Clare’s intensity . . . with the prize of getting into another Munster final. And avoiding some very tricky teams in the qualifiers.”

It also helps that Cork are a more physical challenge compared to last year, complimenting their exceptional fitness.

“Yeah, I’d say the spine of the team is bigger, stronger . . . it is a different looking team.”

And with that comes the prospect of this team’s first Munster title in the last game at the venue. “It is a big deal . . . everyone in Cork is looking forward to it.”