DID WE SEE the Gaelic football game of the year so far in Killarney yesterday?
No question about it in my view. Kerry and Cork served up a fantastic game.
Five goals, some great scores, really good passages of play, controversial decisions and big hits. It was brilliant stuff.
Cork got a bit of a kicking since their league final display and it was set up for them to produce a really strong response. They surprised me with the way they went about their business.
The intensity they played with was huge. The one thing they learned from Dublin game, was putting pressure on the kicker as they never let Kerry build from their half-back line.
The Cork boys will wake up this morning feeling a bit hard done by though, particularly over that controversial penalty being awarded against them.
It wasn’t a first cousin to a penalty. Mark Collins had both hands stretched to go for the ball with himself and James O’Donoghue then brushing off each other.
James threw his hands in the air and you’d expect a forward to try that. The instinct is to try to get any advantage you can.
From a refereeing point of view, you don’t make a decision like that, unless you’re 100% sure. It was a bad call by Padraig Hughes at a time when Cork were in the driving seat.
There was plenty talk last week focusing on Kerry’s bench. The strength of it, the amount of All-Ireland winners and the impact it would have in settling yesterday’s Munster final.
Instead it was a starting defender who saved Kerry. What a score by Fionn Fitzgerald at the end. Looking at it again last night, I’m not sure was he trying to just float it in, but it sailed between the posts and it was an inspiring score to draw level.
You’d have to be very complimentary towards Kerry with how strong-minded they were. There was a good few occasions where you felt Cork could have kicked on but Kerry weren’t going to let go of the game too easily.
Cork played some fantastic stuff and they raised a lot of questions about Kerry’s defence. We saw Kerry adapting their game for an All-Ireland final against Donegal last year, maybe to an extent beating Donegal at their own game. They didn’t seem to have that defensive structure in place yesterday.
Alan O’Connor was a major plus for Cork, a colossus at midfield. You hear of players playing like it’s their last game, that was how Alan O’Connor looked yesterday. He drove Cork on and set up guys like young (Barry) O’Driscoll to run at the Kerry defence.
His finish to the net was excellent and Patrick Kelly when he came on, made a massive difference. He’s a cool head who seldom wastes a ball.
We often hear of the underdog getting one shot and you’d have to think Kerry will have improved. Their teamsheet could be different for starters.
Cork will be very disappointed with the outcome but they need to park that. Brian Cuthbert must get them together and they must realise there’s an awful lot of positives to take from this game. A Munster title is still there for them.
Elsewhere it was a weekend for teams getting back on track.
Offaly was always going to be a tricky clash for Kildare. There’s local rivalry there and both of them are going to be in Division 3 next year. Offaly always seem to raise their game against Kildare and there was a good bit of negativity around Kildare after such a drubbing like they got against Dublin.
It was about getting the job done and getting the result. Kildare did that but they’ve little time to recover to get the minds and bodies right with Longford coming up next Saturday.
Going to Ennis and getting a result like Longford did on Saturday was very impressive. Kildare went down to Cusack Park last year and struggled big time. There was a lot of relief in Kildare at coming out of that game.
Jack Sheedy seems to have done a good job with Longford in sorting their heads out after that Dublin defeat. Paul Barden was their driving force for a long time but Michael Quinn and Brian Kavanagh have taken it on now.
They’d have liked to play in Pearse Park as it’s been a little bit of fortress for them. You’d still feel a sense that Longford won’t be lacking in confidence facing Kildare.
There was plenty made of the two lads leaving the Kildare panel last week but it’s easy to jump to conclusions. Nobody knows what situation the lads are in and I’m sure they’d have thought a lot about heading to America.
From the outside it’s not a good sign as you’d like to see the whole team stick together, particularly when things aren’t going their way. I couldn’t have seen the lads departing if we’d beaten Dublin so that would have disappointed me.
But they’re young and they obviously felt it was an opportunity they couldn’t turn down.
It’s going to be a difficult game for Kildare but sometimes when our backs against the wall, we’ve tended to pack a bigger punch. It’s going to be an interesting weekend with Kildare-Longford senior sides in opposition on Saturday night and then the county’s two minor sides playing in the Leinster final on Sunday.
Roscommon were probably the other major success story from the weekend. It was a good, hard fought victory over Cavan.
It’s pleasing for John Evans to see his team show character building stuff like that when things don’t go well. The whole country expected them to dismiss Sligo in Connacht but they fell short.
Sometimes there can be a tendency to feel sorry for yourself in that situation. Roscommon got back in order quickly and didn’t let the hangover set in.
They embraced the qualifiers and I was impressed by the way they went about their business. Fermanagh had a good win themselves yesterday but Roscommon’s focus looks to be back.
The Kerry forwards are getting as dishonest at claiming penalties as our soccer prima donnas.
Recall last year
Donaghy and Donoghue’s shouts and the Killarney crowd made up the refs mind
Nice of Cork to wake up for once, there was a definite edge to them and maybe a bit of a chip on their shoulder after all the talk. No use only putting it up to Kerry for one match though – they have a good enough bunch of lads to push very team in the country and challenge for an All-Ireland but too often they don’t look bothered.
If they play with that intensity for the rest of the summer nobody will want to play them. They completely dominated a very strong Kerry midfield.
what is the point for them? they thrashed then in the league and dominated the game only to have it taken by some exceptionally dubious decisions. like the replay against Mayo (which should have been in Dublin), it just ruined a good potential final between Mayo and Donegal. cork can never be the powerhouse they deserve to be unless something is done about the fawning of referee decisions towards Kerry at important games. the proof is looking back at the last 10 years of results, where cork are narrowly edged out by Kerry to face the strongest team in the competition, while Kerry get the easy run. cork are truly shafted year after year, and that from someone with no altruism to cork.
nothing to with Cork choking at times? Cork have had the players but not the management or belief. look closer to home. repeateldy failing to get over the line…I’d more looking at why and nkt for excuses.
If Cork held possession rather than going for a score from the fifty game over.
in terms of the penalty, anywhere else on the pitch and its not even a foul, but because its in the small square and Collins did make contact with JOD to ensure he didn’t get the ball, I can understand why he gave the penalty because O’Donoghue really makes the most of it in fairness. To be honest I thought it was a penalty myself, but I dunno if I could have made the call. Secondly then for the replay I see absolutely no reason why cork can’t beat them, none at all its just that I think Sunday was there day to do it and they won’t get a better opportunity. Like Kerry can’t just use some magic formula and come out a changed team the next day but I just can’t see cork beating them. And finally then Fionn Fitzgerald’s point was definitely a pass and the wind caught it, you could see the way he was looking at it, but my God it was some score