First of all it was great to get back to a great venue like Killarney for a Cork v Kerry clash, the new road makes Killarney very accessible now and one can get there in no time at all. The town was buzzing with colour and the walk up the Lewis Road in glorious sunshine added to the occasion. The situation at the turnstiles entering the terraces was ridiculous and thank god there was not an incident, with people's patience the only reason an accident was averted. Kerry GAA would want to seriously assess this, if there was an 20-25k attendance I would have been seriously worried about the lack of safety, crowd planning and stewarding.
Anyways to the match, I think Cork will look back at this with some regret, the days of moral victories are gone for this panel and management. This is a good indicator that progress is being made.
Cork started like a train and had Kerry startled & on the back foot, Corbett's opening point was a great goal chance and we could easily have been two goals to the good before half time, granted Paudie Clifford missed a chance I would have expected him to convert also. Cork mixed up their running game with accurate kick passing stretching the Kerry defence as our forwards played with depth and structure which was brave & great to see, preventing Kerry getting their defensive plan in place. Hurley, Taylor, O Callaghan, Maguire, O Driscoll, Walsh all punching early holes really gave the large Cork attendance plenty to shout about. Brian Hurley gave a great display and if he can develop some chemistry with Jones & Corbett in the next few weeks they can be formidable.
Another huge positive was Chris Kelly's composure and ability to kick short snappy restarts and beat Kerry's press giving us a platform, he got away with one stray one but in general he should be happy with his contribution. They can develop this further to create set plays, he has a good range of kicking. The defence under the circumstances were under pressure but really stood tall, special mention for Dan O Mahony a warrior in the ilk of defenders of old, the loss of Shanley early & Tommy Walsh later was a blow, ( as other subs may have been planned prior) the three kerry marquee forwards are unlikely to be kept to 0.6 from play for the remainder of the championship. I had asked would our defensive plan stand up following the league and it did.
Like some here I agree once Powter dropped as a plus one the game changed as Kerry used their numerical advantage going forward and Cork tired trying to go from back to front, our forward unit began to lack cohesion, depth and structure, both Corbett and Jones will be better for this experience, two wily experienced operators in Tom O Sullivan & Paul Murphy gave no change. Kerry's placing of O Sullivan on Corbett who scored 3 points worked a treat, keeping Corbett from goal and was hugely influential as well as was Graham O Sullivan, who has developed into a serious player for them. Both Jones & Corbett's decision making under pressure was erratic, but again being exposed to this will only make them better players for the rest of the campaign, both have had very solid league campaigns and I would stick with them both.
The turning point in the second half for me was when Brian Hurley found himself in a good position with no support and no Cork player willing to make the hard runs, he ended up being pinned to the sideline and was forced to retreat to keep possession and Cork from an attacking Position gave up ground and Kerry gained momentum. His body language was exasperated as he was carrying the fight and no one came to bail him out.
Kerry controlled the game for the last ten mins as Cork kept to the plan as they were exhausted, no pressure and contact being placed on the ball as kerry retained possession with ease.
Cork can look forward to the group stages of Sam Maguire now and getting Killian O Hanlon, Rory Maguire & Cathal O Mahony back in the fold will significantly strengthen their hand & panel, even bringing those 3 on for 20 mins will make Cork much stronger.
One small note, on a number of occasions as Hurley was lining up frees, a Kerry player ( Morley mostly) were in the officials ears as to where the ball should be kicked as Hurley approached his kicks. Why no Cork player did not make their presence felt and remove the Kerry player impeding Hurley was baffling to me.
