Sexton: Kerry unstoppable

CLEARLY devastated at the defeat, Cork captain Owen Sexton was at a loss as to where it all went wrong for him and his colleagues in Croke Park yesterday.

“All credit to Kerry. They were unstoppable on the day and once they got ahead of us we were powerless to deny them,” said the Kilbrittain man. “I’m at a complete loss as to where it all went wrong for us. We came up with great expectations, but left ourselves down badly. We’ll have to take a step back and see where it all went wrong. I felt we got a fair enough start, but once Kerry began to motor we seemed to just fold and allow them to do as they wished.”

Referring to the dominance of Colm Cooper in the Kerry attack, Sexton said, “To be fair the supply of ball that came into him was excellent and we have to take responsibility for allowing that to happen. It should have been cut out further out the field. There wasn’t sufficient pressure put on Kerry outfield and it’s very hard to defend against the constant flow of ball that came into our defence. You could say we had problems in a couple of departments. “To be fair to Kerry, today they looked the team of All-Ireland champions. They played with supreme confidence, with a bit of a swagger on occasions once they got a sniff of the win and looked like a team hell-bent on retaining their All-Ireland title.”

For goalkeeper Kevin O’Dwyer that dream of an All-Ireland medal is in tatters for another year at least.

“Where it all went wrong I honestly don’t know. All our preparations were perfect and got a huge boost just before the game when Derek Kavanagh was declared fit to play. We couldn’t have asked for any more.

“I know it’s a well worn cliché but how you perform on the day that really matters? We simply didn’t perform or, to be fair to Kerry, weren’t allowed to perform.

“You have to hand it to Colm Cooper. He is a truly magnificent player and we had no answer to him. He was the principle difference between the teams. We are hugely disappointed, not so much at losing, but for failing to play to our potential. It’s sickening really.”