Kerry and Cork on collision course

OVER the next two days in Croke Park fans can look forward to seeing arguably the best scoring forwards of the year in action - Paddy Bradley, Stephen O'Neill, Ross Munnelly and Colm Cooper.

Two fourth-round All-Ireland SFC qualifiers today and the first two quarter-finals tomorrow should provide us with a better indication as to the likely destination of the trophy.

The All-Ireland final repeat of Kerry and Mayo is intriguing, not least for the fact that Mayo were so unimpressive in their win over Cavan last weekend. Afterwards, John Maughan made the comment that the pressure was now off his team, as if to suggest that qualifying for the quarter-final represented the height of their ambitions.

Of course there will be pressure on Mayo because it's time for the county and this team to deliver on the promise of recent years. And there's the special incentive of trying to produce a more convincing performance than they did in last year's final.

From that standpoint, expectations of Mayo will be so low it would be accepted that Maughan's team will be freed of any burden.

The All-Ireland victory was the result of Kerry's best performance of the championship. It was also influenced by the uninspiring challenge from Mayo. They have not reached that standard, or anywhere near it, but a new-look attack has shown a propensity to win much more ball - but fail to capitalise on that.

Jack O'Connor has expressed the hope that Kerry's return to Croke Park will signal a continuing improvement. And on the evidence of their Munster final form, such improvement will be needed. It's interesting that William Kirby has regained a starting place because in last year's final he was one of Kerry's stars and has been used as a substitute this season. Eoin Brosnan also played very effectively in the final and now the Killarney man is back in the half-forward line, where his strong running down the centre can mean so much to the inside players.

Clearly it would be a major shock if Mayo were to win - that would require the champions failing to play to form and Maughan's team achieving the type of scoring threat which they have only hinted at.

So it's Kerry to advance; somehow I can't see them leaving their best form behind them.

Cork's meeting with Galway in the first game is no less interesting. Both managers are attempting to rebuild and on each side there is a fair sprinkling of youth.

However, Billy Morgan can take a lot of encouragement from their gutsy performance against Kerry, when the lack of a strong target man in the full-forward line severely limited them, and the confident display against Sligo a week ago.

I'm not so sure about Galway's true strength. But there are concerns. They managed to beat Leitrim by just three points and edged out Mayo in the Connacht final by two. Paul Clancy has done very well in his new position at centre-back and a revitalised Michael Donnellan has added to the attacking threat posed in the main by Padraic Joyce and Michael Meehan. But a number of the other players are untried at this level.

Cork have chosen Philip Clifford at corner-forward, and justifiably so after the form he has twice shown as a substitute.

From what we have seen so far, they are settled in defence, with Graham Canty excelling at full-back. Additionally, Noel O'Leary's excellent form has further strengthened the half-back line, while the confident play of Nicholas Murphy at midfield has been a real boost to the team.

Cork have more to offer in terms of their overall strength and for that reason I expect them to win and face Kerry in the semi-final. But only if they can curtail the threat from Joyce and company.