Diarmuid O'Flynn
IN April 2005, Cork, as reigning All-Ireland champions and spoken of as a team that could go on to set all kinds of hurling records, sent an under-strength fifteen out to meet Kilkenny in the NHL at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and lost by three points, 1-14 to 1-11.
It was a revenge of sorts for the Cats after a heavy loss in the All-Ireland final of 2004, a marker laid down for the next time the sides would meet, the All-Ireland final of 2006, when Kilkenny would put an emphatic end to Cork’s three-in-a-row ambitions.
Last Sunday, All-Ireland champions for the past four years and already spoken of one of the greatest hurling sides, Kilkenny (admittedly, under-strength) met Cork in the NHL at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and lost by two points, 0-18 to 1-13. Can history repeat itself, can Cork now go on to do to Kilkenny what was done unto them in Croke Park four years ago?
They can, of course they can, as can any of Tipperary, Galway, Waterford, Clare etc. come through the pack and win this year’s All-Ireland title. But anyone who believes that this Kilkenny team is finally showing signs of vulnerability is on the wrong page of the wrong book.
Brian Cody wants Kilkenny to win every game of every competition they enter, that’s his nature, and the difference between his reaction to the defeat on Sunday and John Allen’s reaction back in 2005 is telling: “We wanted to win the game, we needed to win the game to stay in the League, realistically,” said Brian, but “we were disappointed to lose, as ever,” he added.
John Allen in 2005? No regrets about not starting a stronger side (which he could have done) – “I’ve made no secret of the fact that the league is not a priority for us,” said the Cork manager, quoted in Sunday’s fine match programme: “We have a weather eye on May 22nd (Cork’s Munster semi-final match against Waterford), that’s the date I'm looking at.”
Even without nine leading players yesterday (Michael Kavanagh, Noel Hickey, Cha Fitzpatrick, Derek Lyng, Michael Fennelly, Henry Shefflin, Martin Comerford, TJ Reid, Michael Rice) Brian Cody still targeted that match in Cork, just as he still targets the league.
As competitive as he is, however, Brian Cody is also a realist, and his disappointment on Sunday was tempered by the knowledge that as underpowered as Kilkenny were, and reduced to 14 men for the entire second half, it very nearly came off.
And he learned a few things.
Should Noel Hickey again fail to make it, then John Dalton can play corner-back, which frees up Jackie Tyrell for centre-back, which in turn frees up Brian Hogan for the edge of the square, which releases JJ back to the left wing where he is peerless, all of which makes Kilkenny even stronger in defence than they were last year. He knows too that Canice Hickey and John Tennyson give him cover in that defence, but that Tennyson can also play midfield; he knows Michael Rice is a real option at centre-forward, and finally, he knows that just as he did with Martin Comerford in 2004 and with Eoin Larkin in 2005, he has unearthed another gem up front in John Mulhall, all of which, when the absent nine return and all are added together, makes Kilkenny an even more powerful proposition in 2010 than they were in 2009.
So, yes Cork can win, or Tipperary, or any of the others, but to do so they will have to be beat an IMPROVING Kilkenny.
Daunting, isn't it?
