Whether you agree with his points or not, it is hard not to admire Ben O’Connor’s willingness to play the role of truculent fox in the hurling henhouse. Having ruffled a few feathers last week with his comments on the ‘fellas above trying to cleanse hurling,’ O’Connor doubled down on his views following Cork’s win over Tipperary on Saturday night.
In an era where most post-match interviews could be filed within a Dulux interior design catalogue – ranging somewhere between harmless beige and light taupe – it is refreshing to see a manager have a cut and actually speak their mind.
Given his comments after the Galway match, it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if he was advised to kick to touch on the matter after the Tipp match. Instead, after watching Shane Barrett and Jason Forde getting sent off for contributing to a melee, O’Connor entered the henhouse again and sent the feathers skyward.
“What I’m on about is, and when I say soccer, red card, yellow card, technical areas, you can’t go onto the field, can’t get a message in. So where are we getting all this from? We’re getting it from soccer. That’s where it’s all after coming from.
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“They’re trying to cleanse the game. And when I say cleanse the game, something like that is just something stupid, a little tap like that.
“We’ve got two fellas sent off outside, we’re after seeing it below on the screen, two of them below are pulling jerseys. Two fellas that are training for the last six months, and that’s the way they’re treated.”
Given the trauma of Cork’s All-Ireland final defeat to Tipp last summer and the significant fallout thereafter, one would have expected Pat Ryan’s replacement to opt for a lowkey introduction, entering the role with an overwhelming desire to stay well clear of any controversy.
But O’Connor is doing it his way, seemingly having no intention of embracing a wider hurling managerial groupthink.
O’Connor is his own man – comfortable in his own skin, confident enough to express his honest opinion on hurling and deliver those views with a bristling edginess if needs be. All told, it might yet prove to be the unexpected tonic Cork hurling needs to heal. – Gordon Manning
Countdown
As a footnote to Ben O’Connor’s press conference on Saturday night, he was asked if there should be a limit on the amount of time allowed for a free to be taken. Darragh McCarthy, the Tipperary free taker, wasn’t mentioned by name in the question or answer, but the young corner forward – who came on as a late sub - was barracked by the Cork crowd as he went through his pre-shot routine.
“There should be a limit on it, yeah,” said O’Connor. “Definitely. From the time the referee’s whistle is blown, there should be a limit. There are improvements that could be done to our game, not watching for a fella pulling and tearing at jerseys.”
The two frees that McCarthy hit took about 22 and 24 seconds to complete, between the time he placed the ball on the ground and made the strike. Michael Duignan on RTÉ commentary criticized the Cork crowd for their behaviour, while also describing McCarthy as “slow.”
A day later in the Gaelic Grounds, Aidan O’Connor, another terrific young free taker, averaged between 16 and 18 seconds for his frees. He also has a pre-shot routine, but nothing elaborate.
The chances of a shot clock being introduced in Gaelic games, though, must be close to nil and, in any case, would probably not have the desired effect. A shot clock was introduced in rugby four years ago, allowing 60 seconds for a penalty and 90 seconds for a conversion.
But, unless a team is hunting down a deficit late in the game, kickers are adept now at allowing the clock to run down so that they take their kick well inside the last 10 seconds. Taking a minute to kick a penalty cannot be anybody’s idea of speeding the game up.
Tipperary manager Liam Cahill was asked about McCarthy being booed and was diplomatic in his response.
“Yeah, that’s probably creeping into sport in general, isn’t it,” he said. “But, look, Darragh is well capable of putting that to the back of his mind. It’s a bit of friendly banter, I imagine, nothing major from our side to be honest, but it’s going to be something similar I suppose come April or May in the Munster Championship, when the stadium is full as well.”
Johnny Sexton had to cut back his pre-shot routine in the middle of his career, and a similar adjustment might help McCarthy in the long run. Whatever about that, the barracking was out of order. – Denis Walsh
Antrim in distress
There’s no fluke about Antrim’s position after three games of the league. You could maybe say they were a mite unlucky to lose by a point to Wexford and that nobody was expecting anything against Clare anyway, but Sunday’s 10-point defeat away to Kildare was supremely clarifying – Davy Fitzgerald’s team are in serious danger of falling out of Division 1B.
Antrim are tied on zero points with Down, only hovering above their northern neighbours on scoring difference. Conceding 3-21 to Kildare in Newbridge on a day when the ball was getting held up regularly on the sticky ground tells you all you need to know – Antrim were sloppy in possession and well off the pace when it came to anticipating what Kildarew were going to do.
What really stood out was the number of times Antrim players were blocked on Sunday. When the Kildare players crowded their space and gave them no room, they made Fitzgerald’s charges look slow and laboured. And it got worse as the game went on – a three-point half-time margin stretched out to 10 by the end.
Unusually for someone who generally always fronts up, Davy left the press duties to his deputy Seoirse Bulfin afterwards. Not that there was much to say – Antrim were outplayed in every sector by Kildare and badly need a result against Carlow next time out to steady the ship.
So far under Fitzgerald, Antrim’s record in league and championship reads: Played 14, Lost 11, Won 2, Drew 1, for a scoring difference of -127. Not good. – Malachy Clerkin
Black card battles
For Hurling Man, it probably compares to the same-colour spots on 19th-century potato crops, but there was further evidence of the blight of black cards in a couple of the weekend’s highest-profile fixtures.
Neither was particularly consequential. The incident in Wexford that saw Carlow’s Kevin McDonald sin-binned for a trip on Kevin Foley and the penalty, converted by Mark Fanning, provided a gloss on the home side’s satisfying victory.
The following day in Limerick, the same fate befell Mikey Carey, making steady progress as the replacement for All Star full back Huw Lawlor, currently on sabbatical. His foul drew the same punishment but Diarmaid Byrnes, the aggrieved opponent, hit the penalty tamely in the last play of the match.
The calls focused further attention on the rule that ordains black card and penalty sanctions for a foul that denies a goal-scoring opportunity, even if not strictly within the penalty zone.
Introduced in 2021, it was shunned for most of the interim after the scalded reactions to its early implementation. This season has seen a bit more resolve. On opening weekend, for instance, two were awarded in the Cork-Waterford match.
There has been some quibbling but in both of this weekend’s televised instances, the situation was clear. McDonald tripped Foley and Carey pulled Byrnes down. The issue of motivation – a case could be made that the trip was accidental – is irrelevant.
Unlike the black card infraction in football, the same rule in hurling makes no requirement for intent.
Rule 5.45 (b) in hurling defines it: “To trip an opponent with hand (s), arm, leg, foot, or hurley”, whereas Rule 5.11 in football splits an infinitive for clarity: “To deliberately trip an opponent with hand(s), arm, leg or foot.” – Seán Moran
Champions in flux
It’s been a very slow start of the year for the Dublin women footballers. The defending All-Ireland champions have lost each of their opening three games in the league, well beaten each time by Kerry, Meath and Waterford. Nobody is panicking – yet – but it’s definitely cause for concern in the capital.
There are caveats. Anyone tuning into their 1-10 to 0-8 defeat to Waterford over the weekend would have struggled to see many names they recognised on the team sheet. By our count, only three of the All-Ireland final starting 15 played on Sunday. Joint managers Paul Casey and Derek Murray are clearly using the spring campaign to see can they bring through a new generation.
Nicole Owens and Hannah Tyrrell have retired and there are doubts over the likes of Sinead Goldrick and Carla Rowe coming back this year. Casey and Murray know they need to replenish the stocks but on the evidence of the first three rounds, they’re a good bit off the pace so far. Considering they’ve won six of the last nine All-Irelands, Dublin’s early season struggles should make for a fascinating championship. – Malachy Clerkin
