Seán Óg: Aisake withdrawal a surprise

Sean Óg ó hAilpín has spoken of his surprise at the withdrawal of his brother Aisake at half-time in Cork’s defeat to Kilkenny on Sunday.

The full-forward was withdrawn at the break after the Rebels were overwhelmed by the Cats in the first half, with Brian Cody’s side putting up a 13 point lead and ending the game as a contest.

Although Aisake failed to get on the scoresheet against the Cats, Seán Óg felt that it was unfair to single him, or any of the full-forward line, out for criticism as they simply weren’t supplied with enough ball to do any damage.

In his latest exclusive column for JOE, O hAilpin wrote, “When the team was announced for the second half and Aisake wasn’t on it, I found it a bit baffling.”

“It was probably unfair to single out any of our full forward line at that stage, because they hadn’t got any ball. A couple of balls went to Aisake – he won one and set up a point, he won another and was dispossessed. But sure we were all dispossessed. And I don’t recall Noel Hickey coming out and clearing a mountain of ball. He was very disappointed but no more than anyone else.”

The three-time All-Star expects Kilkenny to go on and win an historic fifth All-Ireland title in a row after Sunday’s performance, but added that the Cats are beatable and that the underdogs tag will suit the winners of the second semi-final between Tipperary and Waterford.

“No matter who wins next Sunday between Waterford and Tipperary, Kilkenny will go into the All-Ireland final as hot favourites and rightly so. They didn’t need to beat Cork for that to be the case, but I suppose the manner in which they dispatched us reinforced their position.

“The stats don’t lie, so whatever accolades and honours are bestowed upon Kilkenny, they deserve them. They’re going for five-in-a-row and this summer, they’ve convincingly beaten every team they’ve played in the championship. At their ease.

“But whoever it is, the build-up to the All-Ireland final will suit Tipperary or Waterford down to the ground. All the talk will be about Kilkenny and the five-in-a-row. They’re one of the greatest teams in the history of hurling and they’re going to be extremely hard to beat. But they’re human beings. No-one is unbeatable.”

To read the rest of Sean Og’s column, in which he analyses the Kilkenny game in greater detail and talks about his future, click here.