Time for Kerry to get exercised about the League

PERHAPS the most striking aspect of Cork’s opening National League win in Scotstown last weekend wasn’t that the meanest defence in the country conceded 3-12 but that all 3-13 of the Cork total came from open play.

As league openers go, it was a gentle nudge back towards form for many of the front six that shouldered much of the blame for last September’s failure against tonight’s opposition Kerry, in Páirc Uí Rinn. It also gave the Cork team a great platform of two league points away from home and while a further two points tonight will set them up nicely heading into the break, it is never likely to assuage the grief of a championship defeat.

It’s pointless using words like revenge when previewing tonight’s encounter as recent history lessons have taught us to be very wary of reading anything into matches between the sides at any stage before late August. Even Munster Championship traditionalists have, at this stage, resigned themselves to the fact that in the absence of a truly outstanding team emerging at some stage during the summer, the shadow-boxing between the current Cork and Kerry panels will most likely continue into August or September again this year.