Intriguing battle of the high kings
Kerry will be present and correct on this momentous occasion for an historic sixth year in-a-row, having beaten Cork in two semi-finals and one final, while their Munster rivals have yet to defeat the Kingdom in that period.
There will be mini battles all over the field on Sunday that characterise the rivalry and a potential shift in power between these rivals; one such duel offers an accurate reflection of their place in the scheme of things heretofore – the match-up in midfield between Darragh O Sé and Nicholas Murphy.
That the conventional wisdom is that this will be Darragh O Sé’s last appearance in an All-Ireland final means that, by extension, it’s Murphy’s last chance to bury his nemesis when and where it really matters. Indeed, if Cork don’t avail of this opportunity to lay their collective ghosts to rest in relation to Kerry and Croke Park, they may not get another chance; there is no guarantee that the qualifier system will continue long enough for the two teams to come together again in another final.
It is widely accepted that O Sé has long since joined the pantheon of great mid-fielders to come out of the Kingdom. He has accumulated five All-Ireland medals, played on three losing Kerry teams in finals and has also participated in 11 of the last 12 All-Ireland semi-finals. Murphy’s cv is obviously not as impressive. He played in a final two years ago, and been involved in six semi-finals in the last decade – crucially though he has no All-Ireland.
On the football fields of Munster, the gap between their respective achievements has not been as pronounced, particularly in the recent past as Cork have won three of the last four Munster titles, beating Kerry in a semi-final and two finals in the process. Therein lies the kernel of the problem for both Cork and Murphy – beating Kerry and O Sé on the football field located in the big house in Dublin.
However, that is where Murphy and Cork diverge, because when it comes to Murphy’s battles with O Sé, the outcome has had less to do with the location of the field and more with O Sé’s capacity to perform on the big day to a level that Murphy struggles to reach when O Sé is around. I have tried and failed to recall any match of importance where Murphy has out-performed him when marking him, and would suggest that as a consequence the Cork management have tended to seek other ways of winning the middle third of the field.
Nicholas Murphy possesses many of O Sé’s qualities, but while the Carrigaline man seems to doubt his own ability, O Sé never does – the difference between a good player and a great player is almost always in the mind. Good players deliver every so often in pressure situations, great players deliver more often than not in the same situations. This, in my opinion, is also the difference between good teams and great teams, Kilkenny hurlers being a fine example of this maxim.
Of course, one of the perceived advantages Nicholas Murphy now has on O Sé is younger legs; for the first time in his career, O Sé’s ability to last a full 70 minutes is being openly questioned – whether that will influence the Cork management enough to place Murphy in direct opposition to O Sé is another matter. The two championship games the counties contested in June proved inconclusive in this regard as O Sé only came off the bench in the first game at Fitzgerald Stadium and their paths seldom crossed as Cork dominated the replay. It’s a different O Sé now though.
Both players will know that winning the middle third of the field in an All-Ireland final in the modern era involves a lot more than one individual out-playing another. Firstly will both goalkeepers put a majority of kick outs directly to the middle of the field? Unlikely on the basis of tactics to date. However, the short variation to the wings has also been under threat from voracious wing forwards, seizing on every opportunity to turn over ball. The accuracy of Diarmuid Murphy’s and Alan Quirke’s kick outs will seldom be as microscopically tested.
The two teams have also displayed a propensity for midfielders to break towards the wings to secure possession this season – this tactic will almost certainly be utilised again on Sunday.
When it comes to winning the dirty ball, Paul Galvin and Tomas O Sé have few peers, with O Sé pilfering no less than eight breaking balls in the win over Meath. Paddy Kelly and Noel O’Leary will have to compete intensely in this aspect of the game if Cork are to hoover up an adequate share of possession.
Fascinating duels and psychological battles to savour. There are a variety of new techniques and tactics at the disposal of most teams but some things remain the same in gaelic football – the team that carries the middle third on Sunday will have a healthy platform from which to win an All-Ireland title. By 5pm, either Kerry will have confirmed their supremacy over Cork in Croke Park and Darragh O Sé will have his sixth Celtic Cross or Cork will have overcome their issues regarding the venue and Nicholas Murphy will have his first.
