Shane Kingston of Cork celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during the 2020 Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A Round 4 match between Cork and Limerick at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork.
By John Harrington
Cork will be going for goals when they try to topple All-Ireland champions Limerick in Saturday’s Munster SHC semi-final.
The Rebels rose more green flags than any other team in the League by a significant margin and, according to Shane Kingston, will be putting a premium on them again in the Championship.
They hit 18 in five matches in the League which is four more than Galway managed and at least twice as many as any other team.
Limerick, in contrast, managed just four goals in their five League matches.
The reigning All-Ireland champions have compensated for their relative goal-shyness in the last three years by scoring more points than any other team, but if Cork can maintain their average of four goals per game on Saturday then they’ll be in with a great chance.
“Yeah, I suppose like any team that is going to try to contend they're going to try to get goals or do something different,” says Kingson. “You look at Seamie Callanan the year Tipp won the All-Ireland, he got a goal every game, something like that.
“Just something different. Everyone knows that we have quick enough forwards so once you break the lines instead of popping it over if the option is on just try to do something different and maybe go for the goal chance and thankfully they've come off a few times so far.
“If you want to win any game you’re going to need a few goals. Usually the games against Limerick have been very high scoring so we’ll just have to try to keep their scoring to a minimum."
Shane Kingston of Cork shoots to score his side's third goal despite the efforts of Waterford goalkeeper Billy Nolan, Shane Fives, 17, and Conor Prunty, 3, during the 2021 Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A Round 1 match between Cork and Waterford at Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork.
There’s a good energy around this group of Cork hurlers at the moment. The bulk of the panel are now in their mid-twenties and they’ve been supplemented by a group of exciting players a few years younger than includes the likes of Jack O’Connor, Alan Connolly, and Conor Cahalane.
Add seasoned veterans like Patrick Horgan, Eon Cadogan, and Damien Cahalane in to the mix, and the age/experience profile of this Cork team looks about perfect.
“Definitely. There are a lot of fellas around my age, 23, 24, 25, and then you have a jump up to the older group.
“There’s a nice mix then with a lot of younger fellas coming through so they’re bringing a bit of energy to it and we have a bit of maturity then the elder fellas. The majority of us are 24 this year so that’s not really considered young anymore.
“So I suppose we have to take a bit of ownership there and try help out the younger lads a bit more, the same as fellas did for us when we were their age.”
It’s surely no coincidence that have noticeably honed an effective short-passing/hard-running game since Donal O’Grady joined the management team.
He was one of the first coaches to really push that style of play when he managed Cork to the 2004 All-Ireland title and he then introduced it to Limerick when he managed them in 2011.
Former All-Ireland winning Cork manager, Donal O'Grady, is an analyst in the current management team.
A shrewd tactician, he has been brought in by Cork manager Kieran Kingston as an analyst and has quickly made a positive impression on a group of players who already knew a lot of his reputation, but little of the man himself.
“I don't think anyone was involved with Donal O'Grady before,” says Kingston. “We're delighted to have him. He's been there and done it. He's trying to bring something different to it.
“He's very good with helping out with the coaches, helping out with players, the video analysis stuff.
“He's doing a bit of everything.”
When Cork met Limerick in the League four weeks ago they were soundly beaten by eight points so Kingston is well aware of just how difficult a challenge will face them again on Saturday.
This young Rebels team have shown though they’re capable of racking up big scores when they click, and Kingston is confident they can really put it up to the reigning champions.
“Going into any championship game, no matter who the opponent is you’re going to have to be some bit confident,” he says.
“They have been All-Ireland champions, Munster champions, league champions over the last years so it’s going to be a very challenging game.
“But we won’t focus too much on Limerick, we just have to worry about ourselves. Over the last years we have put in good performances with Limerick so hopefully we’ll do the same next week.”
