Some Cork supporters think it’s all over. It doesn’t have to be

Somewhere, somehow Cork is haemorrhaging, or squandering, an abundance of football talent, writes Colm Cooper. 

At half-time in the recent Munster MFC game between Kerry and Cork in Tralee, I leaned into a conversation between a gaggle of lads in red and two natives.

To be fair, Cork had shaped the better side in the first half of the semi-final and should have been five or six points ahead. They were still well positioned for the second period to end Kerry’s dominance of the minor grade that had stretched back to 2014, but the fatalistic tone of the conversation indicated to me the Cork lads didn’t really believe their minors would get over the line.