Because once the players were provided with what they believed was rightly theirs — adequate facilities, transport, medical backup, match tickets for family and friends, and most of all, respect from the county board — a new-look Cork emerged. A few of the panel were sacrificed as the new order brought about manager Donal O’Grady took hold, but suddenly the team was heading in the right direction.
If Setanta O hAilpin, John Gardiner, Tom Kenny and Ronan Curran represented a younger, fresher guard, there was still the experience of Joe Deane, Wayne Sherlock, Diarmuid O?Sullivan and Sean Og O hAilpin, all put into the mix by O’Grady.
Some commentators predicted that to prove their standoff with the county board had been justified, the players would put themselves under too much pressure to succeed. However, O’Grady was mindful of the problem before it could ever fester.
“It wasn’t as if we set out with a list of goals,” he said. “Our initial goal was to make a bit of progress with each training session. We never set out to win a Munster championship and our main agenda has been to take things match by match and by doing that we haven?t put ourselves under any pressure.”
It has clearly worked, and as they prepare for a first final in four years, and as they seek a 29th title, Cork have the best team in Ireland in their sights. That’s not any sign of inferiority, it’s fact. Kilkenny, who are going for back-to-back All-Irelands, are the premier side at the moment and clear favorites to earn their talisman, D.J. Carey, a fifth winners medal.
Significantly, manager Brian Cody has refused to be in any way complacent as his search for excellence continues. This season, out went Charlie Carter and in came Eddie Brennan — no sentiment there. The brilliant Henry Shefflin, Peter Barry, Michael Kavanagh and, of course, Carey have carried the torch so far this summer which has featured an awesome second half demolition of Tipperary in the semifinal.
Against that, Cody is aware that in his first year as manager Kilkenny were strongly fancied to beat Cork, but that 1999 final went the Leesiders’ way by just a single point.
“Nobody ever won a match just because they were favorites or lost it because they weren’t,” he said. “I never pay attention to the odds. Others decide those, based on their own requirements. All we can do is prepare as well as possible and then hope that everybody delivers on the day.”
So, how will it pan out. Kilkenny’s experience and class against Cork’s exuberance. Certainly, if Kilkenny perform to their best it’s impossible to see them being ambushed as in ’99. They need to be below par and Cork need to generate some momentum and sustain it.
The fact that a Kilkenny victory will bring them level with Cork on 28 titles is bound to be lost on the players as their focus intensifies on the game. Afterward, Kilkenny’s bubbly will taste that little bit sweeter in the knowledge that will have made a bit of history.