During his public outings, Pat Ryan projects an unchanging persona. His sorrow following Cork’s back-to-back initial losses was masked behind calculated replies and a refusal to make excuses. On the inside, his happiness from success in their recent two encounters must be immense, but Ryan managed to keep it under control through measured words.
On Sunday, there were no difficult queries lodged. Cork’s prospects for making the knock-out stages will be determined by whether Limerick or Waterford triumph in next Sunday’s match at the Gaelic Grounds; a draw would spell disaster for them. Despite the joy of an 18-point victory, Ryan had to grapple with the stubborn reality of necessary calculations.
“We’re still somewhat disheartened. We haven’t advanced to the All-Ireland yet,” he expressed. “We’ve participated in four matches and accumulated four points. We haven’t earned it yet. The talent of our players is evident to everyone, as is our gradual improvement, and hopefully, we’ll harness some good luck to secure the third spot – it’s only what we merit.
Ryan acknowledged, “Our potential is clear. We’ve had this potential for several years but have struggled to realise it consistently. It’s well known that Cork can exhibit top-notch performances when required.”
On certain occasions, however, their performances have been unpredictable and occasionally lacked depth. This has not been the case over the past two weekends. Despite Cork’s impressive scoring in this year’s championship, they haven’t always been efficient, with Clare exploiting this weakness particularly. Ryan shared that he was pleased to see Cork avoid any costly mistakes in Sunday’s match.
Ryan expressed his satisfaction, stating, “Our persistent will to win was commendable. Even under pressure from Tipperary, we kept scoring. Our sheer determination was evident. We remained strongly focused on our goals. You could hear the players’ vocal enthusiasm and commitment.”
During matches last year, we occasionally lost focus and teams used those lapses to build strong leads against us. However, as demonstrated in our two most recent games, this is changing. It’s important to remember we’re competing with top-notch teams and as such, they’re bound to score. The key is not to get flustered by this.
There’s been criticism levelled at us, citing the high number of scores we’ve conceded – but if one checks other games, it’s a widespread issue in the sport. It’s becoming apparent that one must score over 30 points today to successfully win a match.
Liam Cahill, our coach from Tipperary, acknowledged our sobering performance. With one year remaining in his three-year contract, Cahill made clear that Tipperary’s team is undeniably in a phase of reconstruction. “The locker room atmosphere is heavy, the players are truly devastated. The result doesn’t mirror their remarkable effort,” he shared. The team’s reputation and the integrity of the Munster Championships are on the line.
Cahill emphasised the importance of excelling in the upcoming game against Clare. “We’ll debrief, replay and review this match – it will be tough to watch. Yet, it’s a part of our learning so we can improve,” he explained. An integral part of this process will be integrating more young players into the team, to expose them to top-tier championship play. We’re all committed to rolling up our sleeves and making sure we represent our jersey to the best of our abilities.