21 hours ago
Seán Óg Ó hAilpín: 'Player-driven' Cork have enough to win 'ugly' Dublin contest
Seán Óg Ó hAilpín is the last Cork hurling captain to climb the steps of the Hogan and lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup. That was on September 11, 2005. Not far off 20 years ago. That was the Rebels' 30th All-Ireland title.
Pat Ryan's modern-day Cork senior hurlers know the expectation at this juncture. Bridge that gap.
Four teams remain: Cork, Dublin, Kilkenny and Tipperary. Cork's last-four pairing with Dublin was a surprising one, given Niall Ó Ceallacháin's men were forced to go toe-to-toe with Limerick with 14 men for the majority of that mad quarter-final two weeks ago.
The underdogs on the day answered every question asked of them. Now, they head back to Croker, having given us the story of the championship thus far.
But can they back it up? The suspended Chris Crummey is a huge loss, but for Ó hAilpín, there is a mammoth task awaiting Cork on Saturday evening at HQ.
"I'm unbelievably wary about this game on Saturday," said Ó hAilpín, speaking at the All-Star Hurling Legends event at the Imperial Hotel, in the company of Tomás Mulcahy, Jimmy Barry-Murphy, Liam Sheedy and Eddie Brennan. "Everyone on the street thinks we're in the final already, that's the narrative going around (among the public).
"But what gives me a bit of belief is, I think the culture is driven by the players, not the manager.
"Yes, the manager helps drive it, but we have players now, the leaders like (Rob) Downey, Mark Coleman, Darragh Fitz, that (can tell) any young fella that has come in the last couple of years thinking that you can get to All-Ireland finals willy-nilly, semi-finals are hard won.
"This game on Saturday is going to be won ugly; it's not going to be free-flowing."
Na Piarsaigh stalwart Ó hAilpín weariness of Dublin surrounds their growth in certain aspects of play; their short-game, their scoring ability are two such points of improvement.
"Dubin are going to ask questions of Cork from a management point of view. We're going to have to break down Dublin's resilience.
"They could arguably play six backs, two guys floating inside, pack it inside and then, they have the skillset now when they're breaking out, their short-game is much better now.
"They can score as well, you look at the scores they've clocked up in the Leinster championship."
The mindset - and ability - within the Cork dressing room gives the three-time All-Ireland winner enough belief that Ryan and his players will get a chance to redeem last year's All-Ireland defeat to Clare.
"Cork, but not without a struggle," Ó hAilpín concluded.
