Patrick Kelly: Tweaks required, but something to build on for Cork
PRESSURE: Cork's Ian Maguire challenges his midfield rival from Kerry, Diarmuid O’Connor
It’s a strange reality when your initial thought following a twelve-point home defeat to Kerry is 'that wasn’t too bad'.
After Cathal O’Mahony’s score in the 49 thminute Cork trailed by just a solitary point with their tails up. The remainder of the match saw Kerry coast to victory with twelve points to Eoghan McSweeney’s sole response for the Rebels. In my opinion, there were three major reasons for this final quarter annihilation: league position, strength in depth and kickouts.
To rewind back to the start, the pattern of the game panned out pretty much as expected. Seán Powter, a surprise starter operated as a full time sweeper in front of the full back line with Cork essentially gifting Kerry their additional defender which was Tadhg Morley. Morley’s role was identical to Powter’s with neither leaving their respective D. The presence of Powter as the sweeper (in a change to their tactics in their final two league matches) meant that the named six Cork defender’s all essentially man-marked their men with Kevin Flahive tagging David Clifford, Maurice Shanley on Tony Brosnan, Mattie Taylor tracking Paudie Clifford and Rory Maguire marking Sean O’Shea. All starting defenders can look back on their match ups with a great degree of satisfaction, but it was the defensive structure that was so impressive about Cork’s display for three-quarters of the game.
The high number of Cork players who got behind the ball so quickly ensured that Kerry had to initially play patient football before looking for openings. To Cork’s credit they were disciplined in the tackle and the extra man was quickly in to support and some hugely positive turnovers were forced with Powter excelling as the covering defender.
The Douglas man positioned himself very deep, covering the full back spot allowing Flahive and Shanley to be very aggressive in their marking know a cut-back run was never on. Such was the structural organisation in defence, Dylan Foley’s save from David Clifford in the second half was the only time Cork’s rearguard was breached. The honesty and discipline in tracking of runs meant that at no stage did the likes of Tom O’Sullivan or Gavin White breakthrough for a green flag which would have transformed the game.
The trade-off for Cork was naturally at the other end. With such numbers retreating (including the full forward line) Cork had no option but to slowly work the ball up the field. It must be noted that Kerry adopted very similar tactics to Cork. Outside of kickouts and the initial phase of a turnover Kerry put little pressure on Cork until they reached the Kerry 65m line. Paddy Tally’s northern influence was all over Kerry’s tactics. With Morley a constant at the D, Kerry themselves retreated into a very defensive structure and invited Cork to come at them in their own time. This resulted in long periods of play where both sides went from side to side before making their move. When Cork did try to run through the heart of the Kerry defence they were disciplined in their tackling and swarmed the ball carrier. On two occasions in the first half Colm O’Callaghan was swallowed up by the Kerry blanket. A key difference between the sides was that Kerry broke through the defensive line with more ease than Cork did, with Stephen O’Brien at his penetrating best.
People will point to the impact of the Kerry bench with the introduction of the experienced trio Paul Geaney, Paul Murphy and in particular David Moran helping to push Kerry clear. However, a point worth noting is that Kerry’s fourth change didn’t come until Micheál Burns joined the fray in the 63rd minute at which stage the game had been put to bed. The reality is that the superior conditioning and experience of playing at a higher level of league football over the recent spring stood to this Kerry team. The difference in physicality and fitness is something that doesn’t usually show until the final quarter and that held true again on Saturday.
The crucial facet of the game that swung the tie in Kerry’s favour was their dismantling of the Cork kickout, in particular during the second half. The introduction of David Moran to midfield meant that Kerry played with a trio of Moran, Jack Barry and the impressive Diarmuid O’Connor covering all angles on long kickouts. The unfortunate first half injury to Micheal Martin gave an unexpected senior inter-county debut to Dylan Foley. Facing an aggressive and well organised Kerry press on his kickouts Foley was left with little choice but to go long. I wrote in Saturday’s preview how I favoured this option but with a clear strategy of hitting a target man and flooding the breaks. The issue on Saturday was that Foley (as instructed) flirted with going short before having to readjust and kick to areas where Kerry had both a height and numerical advantage. With Ian Maguire clearly struggling with a hand injury and dropping deep looking to drag a Kerry midfielder out of the landing zone Cork were pinned in by Kerry. The lack of a viable kickout strategy was the most disappointing aspect of Cork’s performance in my eyes. This is in stark contrast to the constant supply of easy possession which Kerry were gifted on their own kickout.
As Kerry look towards another Munster final, Cork’s attention will now turn to the qualifiers in a reasonably good position. Their defensive tactics worked as well as could have been hoped and if room could be found for a fourth forward to play higher up the pitch as a link man a better balance might be found. Kerry scored ten points from frees. Cork still have a tendency to foul needlessly although a number of people I spoke to afterwards felt frees came easier to Kerry. Cork know that in the inside trio they have players who will get them scores if they get the supply. In reality Kerry kept Cork at arm’s length and never allowed them even a threat of a goal opportunity. Both kickouts require huge work which a month’s training allows.
Cork’s younger crew will be buoyed by this performance and believe they can now compete against the top teams. They will return to training this week sore and sorry but also proud of their efforts. The challenge will be to bring that same intensity and clarity of style regardless of who they play. There are no more second chances.
