McGrath Cup Preliminary Round – Cork 1-15 CIT 0-11

Hodnett, Mulrooney catch the eye in Cork opener

By Michael Moynihan for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Cork 1-15 Cork IT 0-11

The usual question about games like this — a week into the new year, with 460 hardy souls present — revolves around their significance. Those at pitchside yesterday for Cork’s easy win over hosts Cork Institute of Technology in the McGrath Cup suggested the game’s importance ended with the last notes of the referee’s final whistle. It would be hard to disagree at first glance. Cork fielded just five players who lined out in their championship exit last summer to Donegal, though they brought on three more who featured in that Croke Park defeat.

Students of yesterday’s game, scrappy as it was, would have noted one or two interesting alignments, however: Damien Cahalane, star of Castlehaven’s run to the Munster club final, lined out at corner-back, while Alan O’Connor, long-time midfielder, spent the first half at full-forward. Neither man looked completely at ease in his new berth: Cahalane, one of life’s natural half-backs, made one surging upfield break but looked constricted back in the corner. O’Connor also looked a little unsure of the different angles near the goal and appeared happier when involved in midfield in the second half.

Cork were three ahead at the break, 0-8 to 0-5, with Colm O’Neill for the county side and Donal Óg Hodnett for the students doing most of the scoring for their respective teams. Cork had stretched their lead to four on the resumption when a short CIT kick-out was intercepted by the alert Liam Shorten, who played sub Donncha O’Connor in for the goal which ended the game as a contest.

Cork manager Conor Counihan sketched out the inter-county manager’s view of the early-season competitions. “We’ve to try to look at players as best we can but we have 11 players tied up elsewhere with colleges and so on — it doesn’t really matter where they’re playing as long as we get to see them, but you’re limited in what you can do when you’re down that many, plus fellas who might be injured. “We’ll mix and match as long as we’re involved in it. If we got through next week we’d get another game out of it, but that game [at home to Tipperary] will be a tough game. We’ll give everyone a run within reason.”

Every year has to start somewhere. Counihan could reflect on a hardworking display by Douglas’s Odhran Mulrooney, who got up and down the field well, chipped in with two points and also turned the ball over with clean tackles more than once. Andrew O’Sullivan of Castletownbere did well in the middle of the field in the first half for Cork, while for CIT Donal Óg Hodnett’s industry on as tight a marker as Michael Shields will also have caught the eye of the Cork senior management. Less happily for the manager, Paul Kerrigan picked up a cheap second yellow and was sent off with a couple of minutes left.

Before going into the dressing room, Counihan added that Aidan Walsh faces a hearing during the week on his chances of lining out for DCU, while he sidestepped a question on Damien Cahalane’s long term availability — “We’re taking that one day at a time, we’ll see how that goes,” was his answer. Given Cahalane’s membership of the county senior hurling panel last year, perhaps there was a bit more significance to yesterday than we first thought.

Before the game a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the late Joe McGrath, who trained Cork, Limerick and Waterford, and after whom the McGrath Cup is named.

Scorers for Cork: C O’Neill 0-4 (2f, 1 45), D O’Connor 1-1 (0-1f); O Mulrooney, P Kerrigan, P O’Neill 0-2 each; C O’Driscoll, S Kiely, A O’Sullivan and L Shorten 0-1 each.

Scorers for CIT: D Óg Hodnett 0-4 (3f); B O’Regan 0-2; C Lyons, J O’Connor, D Leahy, M Vaughan and A Sweeney (1f) 0-1 each.

CORK: D Lordan, J McLoughlin, M Shields,D Cahalane, D O’Sullivan, C O’Driscoll, S Kiely, P O’Neill, A O’Sullivan, J Fitzpatrick, P Kerrigan, O Mulrooney, C O’Neill, A O’Connor, L Shorten.

Subs: N O’Leary for O’Driscoll and D O’Connor for Fitzpatrick HT; P Kissane for D O’Sullivan, 40; K O’Halloran for Lordan, 51; C O’Donovan for A O’Sullivan, 57.

CORK IT: A O’Donoghue (Aghada); E Byrne (Bishopstown), M Griffin (St Michael’s, Foilmore); D O’Sullivan (Spa); C Lyons (St Finbarrs), B O’Sullivan (Valentia), J.Cronin (Lisgoold); S O’Donoghue (Ballincollig), P Daly (St. Mary’s, Cork); J O’Connor (Boherbue), B O’Regan (Nemo Rangers), D Leahy (Arravale Rovers); P Joy (Laune Rangers), D Óg Hodnett (O’Donovan Rossa), D Crowley (Bishopstown).

Subs: J Walsh (Knocknagoshel) for O’Donoghue (43); P Kilkenny (Glenbeigh-Glencar) for Cronin; M Vaughan (Millstreet) for J O’Connor (both 48); S Finn (Glanworth) for E Byrne (58); A Sweeney (Listry) for D Crowley (58).

Referee: E. Walsh (Kerry)

Team News

The Cork Senior Football team to play CIT in Sunday’s McGrath Cup Preliminary Round at 2pm in CIT will line out as follows:

1. David Lordan

2. John McLoughlin 3. Michael Shields 4. Damien Cahalane

5. Denis O’Sullivan 6. Conor O’Driscoll 7. Sean Kiely

8. Pearse O’Neill 9. Andrew O’Sullivan

10. James Fitzpatrick 11. Paul Kerrigan 12. Odhran Mulrooney

13. Colm O’Neill 14. Alan O’Connor 15. Liam Shorten

Subs:

16. Ken O’Halloran (Bishopstown)

17. Paudie Kissane (Clyda Rovers)

18. Shane Beston (Mitchelstown)

19. Noel O’Leary (Cill na Martra)

20. Chris O’Donovan (Valley Rovers)

21. Donnacha O’Connor (Ballydesmond)

The Cork Institute of Technology panel for Sunday’s match is as follows –

Andrew O’Donoghue Cork

Peter Daly Cork

Noel Galvin Cork

Stephen O’Donoghue Cork

Colin Lyons Cork

Donal Hodnett Cork

Ciaran Sheehan Cork

Rory O’Sullivan Cork

Kevin Hallissey Cork

Denis Crowley Cork

Eoin Byrne Cork

Jerry O’Connor Cork

John Cronin Cork

Micheal Vaughan Cork

Patrick Kilkenny Kerry

Mark Griffin Kerry

James Walsh Kerry

Damien O’Sullivan Kerry

Brian O’Regan Kerry

Daniel Daly Kerry

Anthony Sweeney Kerry

Darragh Treacy Limerick

Donagh Leahy Tipperary

Sean O’Hare Waterford

Contact Munster GAA PRO Ed Donnelly at pro.munster@gaa.ie for more information

For the Record

Fixtures and Results

Preliminary Round (Extra time)

Saturday January 5^th

@ Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney       Kerry v IT Tralee                                                        @ 2:00pm

Sunday January 6^th

@ Miltown-Malbay                            Clare v LIT                                                                  @ 2:00pm
@ Cork IT                                           Cork v CIT                                                                  @ 2:00pm

Quarter-Finals (Extra time)

Sunday January 13^th

@ Limerick venue                             Limerick v Clare or LIT                                             @ 2:00pm

@ Kerry venue or TBC                     UCC v Kerry or IT Tralee                                          @ 2:00pm

@ Cork or Tipperary venue Tipperary v Cork or CIT                                            @ 2:00pm

@ Waterford venue                           Waterford v UL                                                          @ 2:00pm

Semi-Finals (Extra time)

Sunday January 20^th

Final (Extra time)

Sunday January 27^th

McGrath Cup Senior Football – Odds and Ends

Since 2000, Cork’s McGrath Cup success rate is 89% (best of any county) with 16 wins out of 18 in the competition.  In the same period, Kerry have won 11 of their 13 matches (a 85% success rate).

Despite a goal-less final, there was an average of 2.4 goals per match in the 2012 McGrath Cup competition (22 goals scored in total). This contrasts with 16 goals scored in the 2011 competition over 11 matches (an average of 1.4 goals per match).

The record of the Third Level Colleges in the McGrath Cup since entering in 2005 is Won 21, Lost 44 (32% success rate). None of the six colleges have a winning record in the competition during that period. UCC have the best record, winning 7 of their 15 matches (47% success rate). CIT have won 6 of their 14 matches (43% success rate) followed by UL who have won 5 of their 12 matches (42% success rate). Meanwhile IT Tralee, LIT and WIT have won 3 out of 24 matches between them.

Kerry have not lost a match in the McGrath Cup since the 2006 final where the Kingdom lost to Cork by 1-9 to 0-6 at Pairc Ui Rinn.

Limerick footballers have won 1 of their last 6 matches in the McGrath Cup. Waterford have won 1 of their last 5 matches.

Tipperary is the only team to have won at least 1 match in the last 3 years of the McGrath Cup with a 66% record during that period, Won 6 Lost 3.

Clare footballers have won 4 of their last 6 matches in the McGrath Cup over the last two seasons. During that span, Clare have scored 3 goals and conceded 3 goals.

McGrath Cup Senior Football Roll Of Honour

Clare (12) – 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2008

Cork (6) – 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Limerick (5) – 1985, 1987, 2001, 2004, 2005

Tipperary (3) – 1989, 1993, 2003

Kerry (3) – 1996, 2010, 2011

Waterford (1) – 1981

London (1) – 1988

Visit the Munster GAA web site History section to view the complete Roll of Honour since the competition began in 1981 – https://munster.gaa.ie/history/mcgrath-cup-football/

McGrath Cup

Presented by Joe McGrath on June 21st, 1981 for the promotion of Senior Football in Munster