There was none of the bitterness that soured relations between these counties not so long ago and very little residual heat. There were no strategic impediments to attacking play at both ends and in that permissive environment the scores flowed. It was fun to watch, a response that doesn’t require the approval of statistics. On a better surface it might even have turned into a spectacle given the mood of both teams but it is January which imposes natural limits on everything. On top of that there is an injunction on hard conclusions of any kind.
Cork, though, will take nourishment from this performance and especially from this outcome. They hadn’t beaten Kilkenny in the League for six years and they had only beaten them three times from 12 attempts in the last decade. At least three of those games had been snatched from Cork in the closing minutes and that possibility reared up again last night when Padraig Walsh brought the sides level for the 11th time with a wondrous point six minutes from the end of normal time.
But Cork were calm and strong-minded when they needed to be and in the time that remained after Walsh’s equaliser, including eight minutes of stoppage time, they outscored Kilkenny by 0-5 to 0-2. The inflated stoppage time was caused by a nasty injury to the excellent Cillian Buckley, who was taken from the pitch on a stretcher after medics lifted him from the field with obvious care. It was the black mark on a terrific evening.
Kilkenny’s team is much changed, even from last summer. Many of the names will be unfamiliar to a national audience but the attitude they bring to the jersey is instantly recognisable. At least six of Kilkenny’s scores came from turnovers in the Cork half and there were episodes of swarm tackling that were in harmony with any Kilkenny team of the Brian Cody era.
What they lacked, perhaps, was finishing power. Walter Walsh led the attack gallantly and scored one towering point from under the South stand but Kilkenny never expect him to carry them on the scoreboard. TJ Reid came off the bench midway through the second half but his impact was negligible.
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At the other end, they were indebted to the brilliance of Eoin Murphy who made two magical saves in the first half, one from Alan Cadogan and another from Seamus Harnedy, when the Cork forwards looked certain to score.
The only goal of the game came after just three minutes when Darragh Fitzgibbon knifed through the Kilkenny defence and set up Shane Kingston.
The Cork corner-forward pulled on the ball but seemed to make more contact with the ground than the ball as sand went flying; his next swipe, though, was more fruitful and he found the corner of Murphy’s net.
Cork were lively in the opening stages with Robbie O’Flynn’s blistering pace causing some problems for the Kilkenny defence but the home team were wasteful when they were on top and two magnificent points from Buckley in the space of a minute settled Kilkenny. Though Cork led by four points after a couple of minutes there was never more than a goal between the teams for the rest of the match. Neither team could rise above the tit for tat.
In his first League match in charge John Meyler introduced some newcomers and his faith was rewarded. Tim O’Mahony’s calmness and distribution at centre-back were really impressive while Sean O’Donoghue in the corner made some really smart interceptions. Cork trailed by a point at the break, 1-11 to 0-15, but they made an assertive start to the second half and there was a short period when it looked like they might stride on. In their attack Conor Lehane was magnificent. In the absence of the suspended Patrick Horgan his free-taking, from all angles, was immaculate and he crowned his performance with three sweet points from play.
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The shame was that the pitch should be such a talking point. The new stadium is magnificent but the stunning LED floodlights illuminated a playing surface that is unsatisfactory for now. The pitch had been rested for the last three months but last night it looked like a field that was stressed. Holes and bare patches were filled with sand which made it difficult for players to pick the ball under pressure. There were many false bounces and when players changed direction quickly the surface sometimes shifted under their feet.
When Croke Park was re-developed the playing surface was problematic for a time; the challenge for the stadium management in Cork is to get on top of the issue before it escalates.
Star man: Conor Lehane (Cork)
Referee: Fergal Horgan (Tipperary)
Attendance: 16,189