A blow for new manager Ben O’Connor
A senior member of the Cork hurling management team has left after just three months, according to reports.
The Cork Echo has reported that team coach Niall O’Halloran, who only joined as part of Ben O’Connor’s management ticket in September, has departed, and it is unclear whether O’Connor will replace him.
O’Halloran was Cork minor hurling coach during 2018, and also enjoyed success with MTU Cork, Bandon, Eire Og, Lisgoold and Fr O’Neill’s.
No reason has been reported as to why O’Halloran has left his post after such a short time.
This will come as a blow to O’Connor, who replaced Pat Ryan in the summer after Cork’s All-Ireland defeat by Tipperary at Croke Park.
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Horgan: I have no idea why Cork homecoming was cancelled
Patrick Horgan claims he still does not know why Cork’s homecoming after their July All-Ireland defeat was cancelled.
Horgan, now retired after a Cork hurling career stretching back to 2008, will now pivot to coaching having become a Cork U20 selector.
After their collapse against Tipperary at Croke Park in the summer, the Cork Board said on the Monday after the match that the decision not to stage a public event had been taken “at the request of the team and management”.
However. exiting head coach Pat Ryan, in an interview with the Irish Examiner, disputed this in August, saying the decision had nothing to do with the players and was made prior to the All-Ireland final.
Ryan says that he and Cork’s board had decided that a homecoming would take place if they won, and would not take place if they lost.
Horgan, speaking to SportsJOE, said he still to this day doesn’t know why the homecoming was cancelled, and praised Cork’s “savage” fans, insisting they would support the side anywhere.
Watch his interview below.
