Niall O'Leary of Cork celebrates winning a free late in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Limerick and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
Cork’s presence in Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC Final underlines how sport is often a game of inches.
Had Tipperary not scored 1-1 in injury-time to force a draw with Waterford in Round 2 of the Munster SHC on May 4, then Cork wouldn’t have qualified for the All-Ireland series.
And they wouldn't have made it to the knock-out rounds either had Clare not converted a last-gasp ’65 to beat Waterford by a point in Round 3 of the Munster SHC.
Without those fine grains of sand tipping the scales in Cork’s favour in Munster, their year would have ended in underachievement and the epic All-Ireland SHC semi-final victory over Limerick would never have happened.
"It's been mad really,” says Cork defender Niall O’Leary. “It just comes down to a bit of luck. In the last two or three years, we've been so unfortunate with different results not going our way.
“I think it has really just come together for us this year. A couple of results went the right way for us. If you look at where we were after losing to Clare in the second round, it's unbelievable to see how far we've come since.
“We've done a lot of waiting around as a player group to bring a bit of success back to Cork. That element has caused a lot of fellas to really push on and get over the line in different games that we might not have gotten over the line in before."
When you play in the full-back line as Niall O’Leary does you probably have a greater appreciation of how sport is all about fine margins.
A slip here or a mistimed tackle there can be a game-changing moment, so you’re always flying by the seat of your pants.
That’s probably especially true when you play in the Cork full-back line because you don’t have the benefit of a sweeper sitting in front of you to offer added protection.
Cork players Niall O'Leary, left, and fellow corner-back, Seán O'Donoghue, celebrate after their side's victory in the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Limerick and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
This is a Cork team that puts a premium on attack as evidenced by a scoring average of 33 points, but they also give opposition teams plenty of opportunities too, conceding an average of 29 points per match.
The Cork defenders are required to win their own individual battles, and it’s a challenge that O’Leary relishes.
“Anyone that’s playing inside, you really have to embrace it. It’s great having the likes of Wayne (Sherlock) and the lads there with us, guys who have played there themselves, to get a lot of information from them on what they’d do in different scenarios.
“Again, look, you’re up against such good forwards at this level that they’re going to get one or two points off you in a game, maybe three. If you can keep a fella to that, you’re doing well, I think.”
O’Leary is much more than a stopper. He’s a very skilful player who’s instinct is to attack the ball rather than mark his man from behind, which is why if the opposition play a ‘floating’ player in their full-forward line who roams around the pitch rather than stays inside, it’s usually O’Leary who’s detailed to pick him up.
“Myself, Seán [O’Donoghue] and Eoin [Downey], there’d be a lot of fighting for who gets that role on matchday, it’s maybe seen as the easier role in the full-back line, that you’re getting out of danger! You’re not in the last line of defence.
“I do get to enjoy it a bit more, you have a bit more freedom and a chance to get on a lot more ball. It’s easier maybe than being stuck inside on a man, I don’t know, but, again, you have to be able to play anywhere when you’re playing inside there.
“I got caught to play inside there a couple of times this year, too; it all depends on the day, really.”
Mental strength is a must for any top-level corner-back. The way the game has gone you’re likely to concede a few scores to your direct opponent on most days, so when it happens you have to be able to brush off that disappointment and keep backing yourself to hurl from the front rather than play it safe.
Niall O'Leary of Cork in action against Adam English of Limerick during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship semi-final match between Limerick and Cork at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile.
That sort of psychological resilience is something that O’Leary has worked hard on with Cork’s performance coach, Gary Keegan.
“Gary Keegan has done a lot of work, this year and last year, on different breathing practices that we’ve brought into our game to bring us back down to earth,” says O’Leary.
“It’s just a reset, really, to relax.
"He's brilliant, to be honest. It's great to have a fella like that on board who's been at such a high level with the Irish rugby team and we get to take things from him as well.
“He's done great work with us over the last couple of years. He's a busy man. I suppose we don't get to see him as regularly as we might want to, but he's always there on the phone.
“There are text messages coming in maybe once or twice a day from him about different things that we need to do. He's brilliant."
Cork’s last All-Ireland Final appearance against Limerick in 2021 was a painful experience, but O’Leary believes he and his team-mates who played that day learned a lot of hard lessons they put to good use in order to get the better of Limerick in this year’s semi-final.
“I think we did, to be honest,” he said.
“I think even on the parade around the field, a lot of us in the semi-final just kept the head down and stayed concentrating on what the task was ahead. In '21, a lot of fellas were doing a lot of looking around and maybe it created a lot of nerves on the day, I don’t know.
“I think we’ve definitely learned a lot since.
“As a group, we're at a stage where we kind of want to carve our own path and create our own history. We want to do something that we'll be remembered for. We're not going to be remembered for what we did against Limerick. Hopefully we can do something in the final that we will be remembered for."
