It was perhaps a telling statistic, in a few senses, that Cork’s starting 15 for Saturday night’s clash at Pearse Stadium did not feature any players that were new to the panel.
In the opening-round win over Waterford at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh six days earlier, William Buckley had been given his bow from the start and impressed with a haul of 1-4 while Alan Walsh and Hugh O’Connor had come off the bench to take their first steps in what we might term ‘proper’ inter-county action.
Where the clash with an under-strength Déise had been the ideal throat-opener, a trip to Salthill to face a Galway side looking to get points on the board was a definite step up.
Buckley and Walsh were rested after busy periods where they…