Cork squad strength as impressive as comeback

GAELIC GAMES:THE HISTORICAL context emphasises Cork's achievement in winning a third successive national title. The feat of winning back-to-back league titles with an All-Ireland sandwiched in between hasn't been accomplished since Mayo in 1935-36 although Meath managed the arguably harder task of retaining the All-Ireland with a league title in between in 1987-88.

The benchmark achievement in this regard is – inevitably from Cork’s point of view – Kerry’s sequence of winning three successive league-All-Ireland doubles in 1929, ’30 and ’31. Sunday’s title is Cork’s third successive league success, counting the 2009 Division Two win over Monaghan, and the sequence could be even more impressive had Conor Counihan’s first year not been fragmented by having to step in after the team had forfeited two matches in the 2008 season.

Whereas the comeback that snatched this year’s league was the main talking point after Sunday’s final, an equally notable aspect of the season has been the strength of the All-Ireland champions’ panel. Cork lost three players to injury before half-time and each of the three replacements, Fiachra Lynch, Denis O’Sullivan and David Goold, was an up-and-coming player and all three made significant contributions to the victory.

The holders were missing All Stars Aidan Walsh and Graham Canty – the All-Ireland captain – as well as the suspended Eoin Cadogan and Colm O’Neill, who is out for the season. Two of the first-half injuries were to players who’d started last year’s All-Ireland win, Paul Kerrigan and John Miskella.

It maintains what has been a particularly good year for a couple of the players. Bishopstown pair, goalkeeper Ken O’Halloran and corner-back Jamie O’Sullivan, who announced himself in last year’s league final defeat of Mayo and who made some great tackles against Dublin and even got up to score a point, won Sigerson medals with UCC last month and some of their team-mates will be pressing for senior county places in the coming months, as Seán Kiely – yet another accomplished wing back – Kevin O’Driscoll and James Fitzpatrick were all listed on the bench for the league final.

The county also recorded a whopping win over Kerry in the Munster Under-21 championship, with seniors Aidan Walsh and Ciarán Sheehan on board as well as UCC’s Barry O’Driscoll and Mark Collins. The only blot on the copybook was the unexpected defeat in the All-Ireland semi-final to Galway, who play Cavan in next weekend’s decider.

Finally, the Central Competitions Control Committee will consider what action to take in respect of the half-time tunnel incident, which saw Cork captain Michael Shields and Dublin’s Philip McMahon trade punches. In the likely event of the players each receiving a four-week suspension, neither will miss a match.

Cork are in action in four weeks’ time in the Munster championship against Clare and Shields’s ban, if four weeks, will be over. Dublin will be in Croke Park on the June Bank Holiday weekend to play the winners of Longford-Laois.