Sad omission as Corkery ignored

THE ALLSTARS’ penchant for bizarre omissions continues. This year’s football selection might have been unremarkable but for the staggering exclusion of Cork captain and full-forward, Colin Corkery.

Corkery, though, was not unduly fazed by his omission: "I am not one bit disappointed by the decision," he said last night. "There are more important things for me to worry about right now, like getting fit for the Munster club final on Sunday week.

"I am delighted for Anthony (Lynch). He has a magnificent season and deserves to be chosen. I already have an Allstar award, So it is no big deal losing out this year. The club is far more important and if we could we retain our Munster title and go and win the All-Ireland that would be far more satisfying for me," said Corkery. He rates himself as 50/50 for Nemo Rangers' meeting with Monaleen in that Provincial decider on Sunday week.

His inter-county coach, Larry Tompkins, was not as forgiving of the decision: "It's an unreal blunder. Is someone seriously trying to tell me that Colin is not one of the top six forwards in the country last season?

"The selection committee had some excuse before when players were only eligible for one position, but that is no longer the case.

"I felt that Graham Canty's omission from the list of nominations was a bad omen for Colin. If the committee could not see their way to even nominating one of our best three players this season, there was always the chance they would overlook Colin."

Tompkins felt that, with every respect to Peter Canavan, his selection this season over the Cork full-forward was "staggering".

"Over the past decade, Peter has arguably been the most complete full forward in the game, but in Championship terms this year, he has been nowhere near Colin. Not many have. Had we beaten Kerry in the All Ireland semi final, Colin would have been in line for player of the year. There really should be no debate on this."

The Cork coach believes that the Allstars selection process should be taken out of the hands of journalists and entrusted to inter-county managers. "Managers study practically every inter-county player in the country. The new Championship format ensures that, and they will know more about a player and his form than anybody else.

"Anyone can argue with a 60/40 decision on picking a player for the All Stars. Those ones can go either way, but Colin's selection was a 90/10. It was a no-brainer."

Kerry manager Páidí Ó Sé was equally critical of the selection process for the full forward berth.

"The one person that I was particularly disappointed for was Dara Ó Cinnéide," the Kerry boss said. "I thought that this year he played some of the best football of his Kerry career. In the game against Galway he was brilliant setting up the goal for Aodan MacGearailt, that put the game beyond doubt. I think not alone should he have got a nomination but I thought that he should have got an Allstar. It's hard to figure out some of the time they way the panel thinks but I couldn't believe that he wasn't even nominated.

It could be claimed the main problem faced by the selection committee seemed to be that there was so much outstanding full and corner-forward play in a sparkling year of attacking football, it would be impossible to squeeze all the relevant players in. Ray Cosgrove, Steven McDonnell, Ronan Clarke, Colin Corkery, Colin Cooper and Mike Frank Russell could lay claim to being, along with Dara Ó Sé, Paul McGrane and Kieran McGeeney, the outstanding personalities of the championship. The claims of that sextet were so strong that it seemed obvious they would spill over into the half-forward line.

No one could have predicted that Clarke, Russell and Corkery would all be omitted from the final line-up. In the case of Russell it's a surprise, in the case of Clarke it's a travesty but in the case of Corkery it's an outright disgrace.

True, there was always the chance that Eamon O'Hara of Sligo would be moved up from midfield and there is a case to be made for Oisin McConville. But Peter Canavan? Great player and all as he is, he was only a peripheral presence for most of the season.

In general, the Munster counties have been treated shabbily. Kerry and Cork have just three players between them, the same amount as their fellow semi-finalists Dublin have on their own.

The ludicrous under-representation of The Kingdom can be seen by the fact that Armagh have six Allstars. Just one point between them in a game which Kerry could have won had they taken their chances results in just two players from the runners-up making the cut. Where, for instance, is Tomás Ó Sé, outstanding all year and far superior to either Aidan O'Rourke or Kevin Cassidy? Kerry seem almost to have been punished for the Darragh Ó Sé affair, though Darragh himself has been selected.

And what about Declan O'Keefe, who made two fine penalty saves in the course of the championship, or Kevin O'Dwyer who materially affected the result of both the drawn Munster final against Tipperary and the quarter-final against Mayo with his acrobatics?

Both players lose out to Steven Cluxton, who was solid enough but didn't seem to do much to stand out from the pack.

Elsewhere, there will be delight in Sligo at their first Allstar in 28 years. Eamonn O'Hara is only the third Sligo footballer to receive an award, with Barnes Murphy the last in 1974. Mickey Kearins, the county's best-known player of modern times, was a member of the very first team picked in 1971.

Enda McNulty and Paddy Christie have suffered awful days in Croke Park in the past and they are rewarded for remarkable strength of character.

Kieran McGeeney and Paul McGrane deserve to have been the first two names pencilled in.

Armagh fully deserve their half dozen but there will be genuine and justified puzzlement in Kerry and Cork.

Corkery may have been harshly judged for his semi-final dissent and silly post-match petulance on radio rather than his sublime football.