THERE are many ways you can look at yesterday’s Munster Senior Cup final defeat but the lingering point is that the competition is becoming increasingly irrelevant for Cork City.
Yesterday’s team consisting of four first team squad members and a host of underage players tells you all you need to know about how highly regarded the competition isn’t held by the club.
Is there any point in the competition in its current guise?
For City, it was a chance to give the bulk of the U19 side a game but nothing more than that.
Will any of the players that were defeated by a 92nd minute goal have lost sleep last night?
Probably not.
Of course, the majority of them will come out with the cliché that silverware is silverware but come the end of the season it’ll be forgotten by quite a lot of people.
If City had won yesterday afternoon, it still wouldn’t have played the lead role in the end of season highlights reel.
In truth, even the MSL clubs hold it low enough down their priority list – the league and Intermediate Cup are much more important – so is it time for a revamp?
Perhaps moving the competition to late January and early February, serving as warm-ups for the league clubs, would give it a fresh impetus.
Still, it’s worth mentioning that a piece of minor silverware is obviously coveted on Shannonside, seeing as they put out such a strong team.
Speaking of the highlights reel, there was plenty of material to be added on Friday night, though the opening stages provided plenty of amusement more than anything else.
The conditions were the worst seen at the Cross for a very long time and it made for 20 minutes that won’t be repeated again this season.
The game turned from brilliant to ridiculous in mere moments as the team’s defensive problems were highlighted once more, though Dundalk’s first was heavily aided by the rain.
Would Mark McNulty have let the ball skid out of his hands if it was dry?
I very much doubt it.
Davin O’Neill finished both his goals quite well and his form over the past couple of weeks has been very promising.
On RTÉ last night, Dave Barry said he doesn’t think O’Neill is as effective in the middle and although I still tend to disagree, he has worked well on the wing recently.
The front duo of Sullivan and Tadhg Purcell were very good too and they seem to have a bit of chemistry between them.
The key to success though is the midfield linking up with them.
Both are good at holding the ball up and retaining possession but for maximum results to be obtained, O’Neill and Daryl Horgan need to be joining them in attack within a couple of seconds.
Sullivan’s impressive goalscoring tally – Dunne was keen to highlight he’s already close to matching his final total in 2011 – has been a welcome surprise and long may his run of form continue but there needs to be an all-round effort.
Going forward, the team have looked better than most had predicted after Graham Cummins’ departure.
City have to work on defending more than anything at the minute, with their problems further projected again by Dan Murray’s terribly poor performance.
The Cross has been a brilliant place to watch football so far this season, with 27 goals scored in seven games, but Murray’s lack of form remains the biggest concern in the team now.
It must surely be the time for his starting place to be questioned.
Gavin Kavanagh hasn’t done anything wrong, certainly compared to the amount of goals conceded by City at the result of Murray, and must feel hard done by to be sitting on the bench.
Dunne has proven by benching big name signing Shane O’Connor when he wasn’t up to scratch earlier in the season that he isn’t afraid to make big decisions.
He certainly doesn’t fear reputations. The nostalgia-driven awarding of the captain’s armband to Murray meant his starting place was a lot more assured but it’s now time to make a call on whether to stick with him and hope he comes good or give Kavanagh the chance he craves.
With a daunting trip to St Pat’s on Friday night, this week might not be the best time to make such a call.
This Friday sees the end of the first series of games but after a dreadful opening few games, nine points from the last 12 have put the team in an acceptable, though not brilliant, position.
Finally, that two former players – Kevin Doyle and Shane Long – are in the Republic of Ireland squad for the Euros next month deserves to be noted too. In all, there are six former league players in the 23 – James McClean joining the ex-City duo, along with David Forde, Keith Fahey and Stephen Ward.
And although there aren’t any Cork born players in the team, we can still lay claim to playing big roles in the development of both Doyle and Long.