Cork dethrone Cats

Last Sunday, it was time for some redemption as Cork stomped on Kilkenny’s dreams of three titles in a row with a storming second-half display engineered by none other than McCarthy himself.
The center-forward inspired his teammates to a crushing victory at Croke Park with three crucial points just after the interval, and once Cork got their noses in front there was simply no stopping a cresting red wave of scores.
If the Munster county’s 29th title was especially sweet for McCarthy after last season’s bitter disappointment, and if Cork richly deserved their success on wet and blustery day that made the game more of a battle than an exhibition, Kilkenny’s demise was difficult to fathom.
Who would have believed that a team with the attacking brilliance of Henry Shefflin, D.J. Carey, Eddie Brennan and Martin Comerford would fail to score from play during the entire second half? How was it that Carey failed to raise a flag for the third time in an All-Ireland final against Cork? And how was it that Cork piled on nine points in the closing 23 minutes while Kilkenny couldn’t even contrive a single score?
The superficial answers are that the Kilkenny forwards had an off day, but then Shefflin is usually good for a lot more than one point from play even on an off day. Another response is that the Cork backs clung to their opponents with the determination of limpets and that Wayne Sherlock, John Gardiner and the rock-like Diarmuid O’Sullivan discharged their duties magnificently.
There is a logic there, but the way that Kilkenny drifted so gently out of contention in the final half hour defied most intelligent analyses. Even the losing manager, Brian Cody, couldn’t quite put his finger on what happened.
“I know we wanted it as monumentally as anyone could possibly want it,” he said. “Games just take on a life of their own when you’re out there. But you only get one chance to play and Cork took that chance.
“I told the players that they’ve won three All-Irelands in five years and that’s a phenomenal achievement. Obviously, we’re devastated, shattered, but we’ve always won with dignity, and we’ll lose with dignity as well.”
That Cork scoring spree after the changeover looked as if it might be interrupted in a meaningful way when, in the 57th minute, Shefflin for once found a chink of space to pull on the ball close to the Cork goal, but Donal Og Cusack advanced to make a game-breaking save. Had Shefflin’s stinging shot found the back of net and halted Cork’s impressive transition to full stride, who knows?
“A goal lifts a team in a major way,” Cody said. “But the fact that Henry’s shot was saved just lifted Cork further.”
As the winners opened up a gap with frees from Joe Deane and Ben O’Connor, and with Shefflin shackled by the outstanding Sean Og O hAilpin, Kilkenny were in trouble. When the dust had settled, only the majestic J.J. Delaney had performed up to standard for the losers.
Cork’s dramatic surge had looked unlikely at the end of a scrappy first half after which Kilkenny led by 0-7 to 0-6. Although manager Donal O’Grady’s team hadn’t played particularly well, to trail by just a point when Kilkenny had the advantage of the breeze gave them hope.
“We really knew we weren’t going to let it slip like last year,” O’Grady said. “Our aim in the second half was to get the ball in quicker to our full-forward line.”
The tactic worked as an inspirational Niall McCarthy came more and more into the game, and as Brian Corcoran, Kieran Murphy and Deane twisted and turned the Kilkenny defense.
For Corcoran, who had returned from a two-year retirement? the victory was particularly poignant. Once one of the game’s great defenders, he had struggled to make an impact this summer at full-forward, but last Sunday he came good. Apart from getting the better of his marker, Noel Hickey, before the normally reliable Hickey was moved, Corcoran also popped over two important points.
Perhaps appropriately, the last act of the game fell to Corcoran as he bustled past James Ryall before cutting in to lob over the second of his scores. The point was greeted by a thunderous roar as if confirming Cork’s momentous win just seconds before the final whistle.
“It was a great feeling, but I fell to my knees at the end, not dropped to them,” he said. “I knew at that stage we had the game because there was just one minute left, so it was icing on the cake. It was incredible to hold Kilkenny to just two points in the second half, and to hear that roar at the end was a dream.”
The impish Deane finished with five frees. The captain, Ben O’Connor, mixed the good and the not so good with three frees and five wides, while McCarthy added his vital three points. At the back, Gardiner mopped up an ocean of loose ball, O hAilpin was as steady as ever and O’Sullivan positively bristled with physical intent.
The cocktail proved more intoxicating than even the most one-eye of Cork supporters could have expected. The last sequence of scores were cheered to the rafters of Croke Park and the subsequent pitch invasion spawned a spectacular sea of red. With a first title since 1999, Cork were back.
Asked about this 29th crown, with Kilkenny stuck on 28, O’Grady preferred to stay in the present.
“The records are immaterial; this is about the 2004 team and it’s not about me,” he said. “I just stand in the field and direct a few drills. We were tense early on, but the conditions were difficult. Last year we missed too many chances and didn’t deserve it, but we’ve put that right now.”
Cork: D. Og Cusack; W. Sherlock, D. O’Sullivan, B. Murphy; J. Gardiner, R. Curran, S. Og O hAilpin; T. Kenny (0-1), J. O’Connor (0-1); B. O’Connor (0-3, all frees), N. McCarthy (0-3), T. McCarthy; K. Murphy (0-2), B. Corcoran (0-2), J. Deane (0-5, all frees). Sub: J. Browne for B. Murphy, 25 mins.
Kilkenny: J. McGarry; M. Kavanagh, N. Hickey, J. Ryall; T. Walsh, P. Barry, J.J. Delaney; D. Lyng (0-1), K. Coogan; H. Shefflin (0-5, three frees, one 65), J. Hoyne, D.J. Carey; J. Fitzpatrick (0-1), M. Comerford (0-2), E. Brennan. Subs: C. Phelan for Fitzpatrick, 62 mins.; S. Dowling for Coogan, 69 mins.