MOSTLY HURLING:. . . while Cork know picking the best combination of in-form forwards is the key to progression, writes JOHN ALLEN

LAST WEEKEND we were again reminded why Munster championship hurling is the treasure that it is. The field of dreams that is Semple Stadium hosted a championship opener that, hopefully, has set the standard for the year ahead.

On a perfect day the match razzmatazz was added to by the fact that election fever was in the air. This fever didn’t arrive secretly from Mexico or New York like the swine flu. No, it was carried openly by grown men and women presenting tangible (no forensics needed here) evidence that they were carriers.

Banners, stickers, music, pamphlets, life-size cut-out cardboard images, air-brushed portraits and promises – false or otherwise – drew our attention to this particular fever.

Candidates of all colours reminded us why we should give them our number one. This pomp and excitement added to the hats, flags and colours, created a kaleidoscope that radiated in the bright sunshine so rarely in evidence this year.

The first blow was struck by Labour candidate Alan Kelly who caught the attention of passing motorists on the road into Horse and Jockey with his series of large signs which first proclaimed his love of Cork, then his affection for Tipperary, with the third carrying the punchline that he was a politician after all. Nice one, Alan. Is politics now stooping to humour to attract the voters? I’d say the results might be far from humorous for certain soldiers of destiny this weekend, though.

Indeed, on this particular trip to Tipp even the manager of the victorious team in his post-match interview got in a bit of free publicity for candidate Kelly.

Meanwhile, down the road, another well-know former great Tipp hurler and administrator was extolling the virtues of a past GAA president and now European-election candidate.

Yes, Seán Kelly was there in his hundreds. His life-size cardboard cut-outs wouldn’t have been out of place in Madame Tussauds, even though it was in the wrong medium.

All in all, though, the political circus added to the pre-match occasion because the match crowd was muted enough.

The match itself was a credit to both teams and managements. On such a hot day much acknowledgment must go to the fitness coaches who had the hurlers in such excellent condition.

Overall, this was a very good game and both managers will have learned much about their new players. Cork manager Denis Walsh had two very big pairs of boots to fill at full back and full forward. New number three Eoin Cadogan was a revelation in his hurling, his, tenacity and his no-fear attitude. There was a major doubt going into the game about his lack of experience and particularly his lack of experience in such a specialist position. But he was more than up to the challenge.

On the other side of the field Aisake Ó hAilpín posed problems for Paul Curran and with another month of hurling will, no doubt, show further improvement. It’s probably time to go the more direct route with a two-metre full forward as the target.

Conor O’Sullivan at corner back, even though he was caught for height on a few occasions by Lar Corbett, can also be very pleased with his Munster Championship debut. He is tight and reads the game well and seems to have that big-match temperament. He was very effective for Sarsfields last year in their county championship campaign.

The major concern for Cork, though, is their starting forwards only contributed two points over the 70 minutes, whereas their Tipperary starting counterparts scored a goal and 11.

While the Rebels are struggling to find top forwards, Tipperary manager Liam Sheedy has probably eight players that are good enough to start the next day in the forward division. Eoin and Paul Kelly will benefit from another fortnight’s hurling before they play Clare. Teenager Noel McGrath will also have gained from this outing.

Cork might feel they left the game behind them, particularly with so many wides in the second half, but they were very lucky to be only four points behind at the break.

Tipp got the perfect start to the second half with Séamus Callinan’s goal, but they seemed to lose their focus after that. They started to over-elaborate and their first touch seemed to desert them.

For me, they are still a work in progress and will need to improve further if they are to trouble Kilkenny later in the year.

Cork can be quite pleased with the second-half performance and, while not too many teams will fancy meeting them on the scenic route journey to Croke Park, they know that picking the best combination of in-form forwards is the key to progression to the latter stage of the Liam MacCarthy competition.

In Wexford Park last Saturday night the home team turned the tables on Offaly and might be unearthing a new Tony Doran in Stephen Banville, whose two goals were the difference between the teams.

While this wasn’t a great game Wexford will be delighted with the victory, with Offaly heading back to the over-used drawingboard.

It’s too early to be attempting to analyse Galway whose facile win over Laois only highlights the difference in the standard between the top and bottom teams.

Okay, that’s enough hurling talk for this week, back to the elections.

A gentleman by the name of Laurence J Peter said that: “Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.”

Do vote early and often today for the men and women who we will be blaming next.

After all we need something to talk about this weekend.