Danger day for champions
Cork will have spent the past three weeks digesting the lessons from the Munster final and will for the last two weeks geared themselves specifically for the challenge from the Mourne men. But because Down are one of the most instinctive football teams around these days, it makes them very hard to second guess. They are the ultimate hot and cold county and as such, we really don’t know what to expect from them at Croke Park this evening. This game is fraught with danger for Cork and there are no real form-lines to study in Down’s wins over Clare, Leitrim and Antrim.
Returning to the entrails of last year’s final could be pointless. Games are often studied only when they start to go wrong. The end of things is the moment when people start to understand them: and only when they are understood do we begin to realise what has been lost. We know that much in Kerry from all the finals we’ve lost and I’m sure Down know it from their first ever All Ireland loss last year. That understanding comes too late for many because things move on and team dynamics change.
