Passing on some recent traditions

The current styles of Cork and Galway were present in a final meeting 15 years ago. Seán Moran explains

It marked the end of Galway's only really golden age in hurling. Fifteen years ago the county had emerged from a great decade - with three All-Irelands and another three final appearances - as the team of the 1980s.

Cork had surprisingly interrupted Tipperary's dominance in Munster and had about half of the players who'd helped beat Galway in the 1986 final, but they were outsiders going into the 1990 final.

Galway lost the match having established a strong position going into the last 20 minutes. A barrage of goals - Cork scored 5-15 - undid them and the 2-21 they scored would have lost them only one final since 1990.

But these are just the bare words of the story and the grammar and syntax are at least as interesting in the light of this weekend's match. Under Cyril Farrell, Galway's style had attracted the disapproval of traditionalists who felt that the ball should be doing more work than the players.

More than most counties Cork believed in the tradition of fast and furious striking - and see who's still standing when the smoke clears.

"Cork's belief in 15 versus 15 was based on arrogance to an extent," says John Considine, corner back 15 years ago. "If we played our way, it didn't matter how the opposition played."

The style war's first battle had been fought and won by Cork in 1986 when Farrell's ingenious third centrefielder - which had destroyed Kilkenny in the semi-final - came unstuck in the final. By 1990, however, Galway had won two All-Irelands and were a powerful, experienced team, fast and fit - but also boasting exceptional hurlers.

Tomorrow Cork are very much in the mould of Galway 15 years ago. Favourites and with greater experience, they have also, and at times controversially, embraced a shorter, hand-passing game whose effectiveness was seen at close quarters as Newtownshandrum won first the Cork and subsequently the Munster and All-Ireland club titles.

Conversely, their opponents this weekend set off fireworks against Kilkenny, hitting fast ball into the forwards, and in the ensuing gunfight they won the highest-scoring semi-final on record.

"Galway amaze me," says Considine. "They play like kids, which is meant as a compliment. They hurled with great abandon against Kilkenny and it was great to watch."

Noel Lane, who was at full forward for Galway in 1990 and managed the county to its last final, four years ago, shares Considine's enthusiasm.

"Galway have great confidence. They're going to have a cut at this and, if it works out, great - if it doesn't they know they're going in the right direction. With the new system giving them more games this team will be very competitive.

"They have electrifying pace and good first touch so they can find space very quickly. In the semi-final Cork got six or seven line balls under the Cusack Stand. Galway hit them out trying to find that space."

Neither Considine nor Lane goes along fully with the comparison between Galway then and Cork now.

"They were running at you with the ball in hand," recalls Considine, "but most of Cork's hand-passing is in the half backs or midfield and the purpose is to get the ball to the person best placed to deliver it.

"Galway had Martin Naughton, who was a runner, and Joe Cooney at centre forward. He had all the skills, but used often take time to hold the ball and look for someone better placed."

"It's over-simplistic," says Lane of the comparison. "Our hand-passing was mostly up front where we had Martin Naughton and Anthony Cunningham running off the likes of myself or Joe Cooney. Cork's is mostly in the half-back line and they have been criticised for overdoing it. When they changed to a more direct style against Clare (in the final-quarter comeback of the All-Ireland semi-final) it worked better for them."

Cyril Farrell, now an RTÉ analyst, sees another problem in terms of Cork's attacking style.

"There's not much ball going into their full forwards so they've done most of their scoring from outside. Even with the ball that does go in, it's not fast ball and in possession there's generally someone with them."

Central to Cork's game is the puck-out strategy that sees Donal Cusack go short to guarantee the possession.

"I remember last year," says Considine, "the Cork crowd roaring at Donal Óg to 'let the fucking ball go', but the odd time he did it didn't work. Win on Sunday and there won't be a peep out of anyone about the style, but if Cork lose there'll be a lot of giving out."

Yet, Considine sees this as running the danger of being a self-limiting strategy.

"Cork's half forwards aren't winning ball so they manage the puck-outs better, but in turn the half forwards have suffered. Their team's tactics assume that they can't win their own ball.

"Timmy McCarthy (wing forward) is about as athletic a player as you can get. He's six foot and people were asking in last year's final how come he can't win ball off Tommy Walsh, who's five foot nine."

Cusack's predecessor as goalkeeper and current selector Ger Cunningham had an equally profound impact on the 1990 final. Famously he saved a shot from Martin Naughton that should have been signalled for a 65 but was instead waved wide - Cork scoring a goal from the restart.

But it was his puck-outs raining down on the Galway defence that created most of the second-half pressure.

"Ger Cunningham had a huge puck-out and we had the wind in the second half. He just belted it up the field down to the 21-yard line," recalls Considine.

"Those puck-outs killed us stone dead," says Lane. "We didn't respond well to them. Michael Coleman (Galway centrefielder) had played defensively and probably in retrospect should have dropped back with one of the forwards filling in for him."

Both Lane and Farrell feel in retrospect that Galway were probably flagging after a sustained period of five All-Ireland finals in six years. Neither would have foreseen then that 15 years later the county would still be waiting for a fifth All-Ireland.

"It would be the greatest thing if we got new heroes," says Farrell with feeling, "and could put the 87 and 88 team into the past."

Forget the style - that's the substance.