IN HIS newspaper column last Saturday, Ger Loughnane took out his flamethrower and set fire to Cork.
Nobody was spared; players, management, the county board, the big three city clubs. Overall, Loughnane was extremely pessimistic for the future. Cork, he wrote, are mediocre now, at underage and senior level.
His biggest criticism of the team, though, centred on their defence. Cork have been abject at the back, he added, Right now, its even worse than at any time in the last five years.
It was a scathing assessment of Cork, but a defence in the modern game is often only as good as the protection it is given. And last Sunday, Cork were as wide open as the Maginot line. On numerous occasions in the second half, Waterford had a three-on-two or a two-on-one advantage up front. It was the kind of defending and structural set-up you wouldnt see in a club challenge game.
Cork had no structure at the back. Players werent tracking runners. On-field communication and game-management was poor. Corks overall workrate wasnt high enough. And when the cracks began to appear, it was only a matter of time before the roof caved in.
Cork clearly came with a tactic to deal with Waterfords set-up but, once that storm blew itself out after 15 minutes, the Rebels couldnt deal with the Dise system. From the first whistle, Cork decided to press Waterford hard and high up the field. They brought huge intensity to that opening quarter. They made eight turnovers in possession in the opening quarter.
Waterford were restricted to long-range shooting but, once they settled into the game and began to pick their way around Corks high pressing game, the space which the Leesiders left in their defence was there to be exploited. For a team that didnt appear set up to score goals, Waterford were repeatedly able to find so much space in the Cork defence that they could have had seven goals.
Once Waterford got on top and the game was played on their terms, Corks workrate and intensity dropped. After making eight turnovers in possession in the first quarter, they made eight more turnovers in possession for the remainder of the game.
In so many ways, this was a carbon copy of the bad days which have dogged Cork over the last three years. Of the 33 long balls they played into their full-forward line, they only won 12. Cork knew Tadgh de Burca was sitting back as a sweeper, but they still repeatedly drove the ball down on top of him.
In the second half, the six Cork forwards were restricted to just 22 plays, nine of which were made by Pa Cronin. Patrick Horgan, Luke OFarrell and Alan Cadogan were limited to just a combined nine plays in that period, only two of which were a shot at the target.
Waterford wont be happy that Cronin scored five points from play, but its not de Burcas job to mark the centre-forward in their system. And Cork aided that system by playing their three inside forwards so close to goal. With so many screens outside them, Cork had no real penetration inside.
Despite knowing what Waterford would do, Cork thought they could beat them by marrying a higher workrate with the beautiful game. Jimmy Barry-Murphy has never claimed to be an original or tactical thinker on the game. He has created a team in his own image, a side which reflects his outlook. He wants his teams to be positive, to always play positive, attacking hurling.
I like us to play the Cork style of hurling, he said before the league final.
I love, attacking, skilful hurling and for us to try and impose that game on the opposition. Im not convinced were a team that can play a system with extra bodies back and then get massive scores to win the game. Tactics can be overdone, thats just my opinion.
Barry-Murphy has taken a team with no history of underage success, a group that had no modern culture of winning, and turned them into contenders. Nobody can quantify the effect he has had on this group, but Cork have been dictated to too often to continue justifying that approach.
Too many tactics can strangle players, but the game has still become so physical and tactically broad that detailed structural planning is still often the most logical way to marry expression with results. And Cork have consistently struggled to balance that equation through their conventional game.
They tried a sweeper in the league final, but it didnt work. They are not as tactically fluid or adjustable to other teams, but reverting to a basic man-marking system the last day left them as exposed as they were in the 2013 All-Ireland final replay when Clare cut them apart.
Clare knew exactly what Cork were going to do that day and that predictability has repeatedly left Cork exposed. They didnt throw anything different at Waterford on Sunday. Nothing new. Since 2010, Noel Connors has had Horgans number, but Cork allowed that match-up to happen again. Whats more, they left Horgan close to goal, where Connors had loads of help around him.
Cork can still have a say in this Championship, but the systems failure at underage level over the last 15 years was all too evident last Sunday. Cork currently have one U21 player on the panel. Waterford have 14.
Three young players Waterford introduced on Sunday Shane Bennett, Patrick Curran and Tom Devine contributed 1-3 from play. All three are below the age of 20. Waterford will only get better. Where are Cork really going?
Whether they like it or not, Cork have a lot of work to do now and in the future to prove Loughnane wrong.
ONE of the most heart-warming and uplifting hurling stories in recent memory was Fermanaghs Lory Meagher success last Saturday.
Apart from it being their first title, the win was even more poignant for a squad which had tragically lost Shane Mulholland a few months back.
Well done to Fermanagh. A brilliant win. A super result.
