Clinical Cork show where Offaly need to improve as Clare await

By Kevin Egan

It was like a hard frost in March last Sunday in Tullamore, as a good few green shoots were killed off by a ruthless Cork display in the Allianz Hurling League. So far this year, Offaly had shown plenty of signs of promise, mostly in the manner in which they avoided shipping monstrous totals at their own end of the field.

That happy trend crashed and burned spectacularly when Pat Ryan decided to wheel out more of his big guns than he had in any game so far, particularly at midfield and half-forward, where Cork were dominant. Add in the absence of Ciaran Burke and Cillian Kiely along the spine of the defence, and Offaly were always likely to face something of a power deficit, even though it was at the other end of the field that this was most pronounced. The group that was picked to start the game from midfield up featured three players that (fitness permitting) will play U-20 championship hurling this year, three more than are more mature but also on the smaller side, and Oisín Kelly, who continues to make a welcome return after his horrific run of serious injuries.

In that context, it’s understandable that Johnny Kelly took the decision to move Killian Sampson up from the half-back line, though the UL student has been far more effective at wing-back this year and one would expect that, whatever happens against Clare tomorrow afternoon in Birr (3pm), he will be back on his own 45 for the start of the Joe McDonagh Cup against Laois.

Of course, there is no obvious solution to this conundrum, and while things will be different once Kelly gets more time on the field and Brian Duignan is added back into the selection mix, it’s fair to say that there are still a lot of positional questions to answer before that crucial clash with Laois. A sharp light was shone into the engine of this team for the first time on Sunday, and while it’s better that this has happened now as opposed to in the midst of the championship, there isn’t a lot of time, or a lot of competitive match opportunities, to try and plug the gaps that Cork plundered.

On paper, things don’t get any easier as Offaly prepare to welcome a Clare team that has one draw and three wins from a tough slate of games. A poor first half in their All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny probably cost the Banner County another tilt at Limerick in last year’s Liam MacCarthy decider, and it’s fair to say that if Limerick are to be beaten this year, Clare are still the most likely side to do it, albeit there’s not a lot between three or four counties at the head of the chasing pack.

How Clare choose to treat tomorrow’s game is another matter entirely. Brian Lohan’s side will top the group regardless of their result in Birr, and if ever there was a game where it would make sense for him to give playing time to his second string, this is it.

Players like John Conlon, Diarmuid Ryan and David Fitzgerald have nothing to prove and have plenty of minutes behind them already this year, so Offaly might be spared the full force of the Clare fusillade. Nonetheless, there is more than enough quality deep within the panel to still see the visitors installed as firm favourites, and enough to represent a great learning opportunity for both players and management.

Murphy criticism unwarranted but some appointments questionable

Leaving the Offaly scene for the moment, Henry Shefflin’s comments in the aftermath of Galway’s 1-23 to 1-15 win over Dublin caught the nation’s attention, and for many who didn’t see the game or the incidents that led to Galway receiving three red cards, it was easy to jump to the conclusion that referee Johnny Murphy was left in a position where he could do his native county a favour by issuing straight red cards to Conor Whelan and Daithí Burke. With two key Galway players missing, Limerick are much less likely to slip up in Salthill tomorrow and as always, social media commentators have been quick to point that out.

For anyone who was at Pearse Stadium, however, neither red card was remotely controversial as both were for off the ball incidents where there was no doubt about what happened.

But by putting Johnny Murphy in charge of that game, the CCC put the Limerick referee in an impossible position – and all across the weekend’s appointments, this sort of needless referee selection was in evidence.

Liam Gordon of Galway was in charge of Limerick’s clash with Tipperary in Cork. Mayo will play Sligo in a game to decide who gets straight into the 3A final, six days after Mayo’s James Judge refereed Sligo versus Monaghan. And Cork will play Wexford with a league semi-final place on the line, one week after Colm Lyons refereed Wexford’s win over Waterford.

Abuse of referees is always the fault of those guilty of it, but it seems incredible that those who supposedly have referees’ best interests at heart still needlessly put officials in the firing line like this.