‘We must go with the hand we’ve been dealt’

FIRST it was about losing his best defender, which he had feared immediately after the Munster final replay following Graham Canty’s retirement with a serious knee injury.

Now, Billy Morgan himself has to cope with his sideline ban in Sunday’s Bank of Ireland football championship semi-final against Kerry in Croke Park. It hasn’t been easy for the man who has arguably done more than anybody else to raise the profile of the game in the county. But, it hasn’t dampened his spirit either. Or lessened his resolve.

Naturally, he’s angry about being banished to the stand, but he’s as philosophical about this personal blow as he is in relation to the unavailability of Canty.

“That’s the way things have fallen,” he says. “You know at the start of the championship that this kind of thing is always a possibility. The last time we met Kerry, we beat them in the Munster final replay. We had Graham and they didn’t have Donaghy.

“Now it’s reversed. Graham is a huge loss to us, but as I said before, that’s the hand we have been dealt. We have to get on with it.”

Morgan says he was always resigned to the prospect of running up against Kerry again, that the teams could very well be clashing a third time in the All-Ireland semi-final.

“We wanted go to the semi-final and further if possible,” he says. “They were always likely to be there, even though we beat them in the Munster final. If there had been no draw, it would be the same as last year, meeting them a second time. That’s the way it is. We have to get on with it.”

Considering the threat posed by Kieran Donaghy, he agrees that it will have to be a shared responsibility among all of the Cork players, not just a matter of Derek Kavanagh keeping his end up, if his team is to survive this newest challenge.

“First of all, if you win your midfield battle, you’re reducing the amount of ball that’s going to come in. Secondly Donaghy is more a provider than a scorer. He has great hands to give him his due. And very good vision. The other five (Cork) backs must really be on their toes, breaking the ball down, laying it off.

“It’s a double threat, a threat from Donaghy himself and a threat from the point of view that he sets up other players,” says Morgan.

He laughed at the idea of the Cork management selecting Nicholas Murphy at full-back, questioning why people would doubt Derek Kavanagh’s credibility.

“I don’t see what’s wrong with having Derek there. He’s proven himself there and he’s a big man as well. I think it would be utterly ridiculous to put Nicholas Murphy back there,” he says.

The Cork manager offered an interesting explanation for Cork’s poor first-half form in the Donegal game, saying it was always going to be a difficult game for his team. He had been “at pains” to point out in advance that “traditionally” any game for Cork after a provincial title victory over Kerry was “always a dangerous one.”

On top of that they were meeting a totally different team “with different tactics”.

“It took us 20 minutes to get used to it and they scored 1-3 in the first 10 minutes or so. They got only seven points for the rest of the game. Once we got to grips with it we were comfortable. I thought we played very well in the second half.

“And having fallen three points behind in the second half we went on to win by a point — which means we won the rest of the half by four points.

“I was quite pleased with our performance in the second half and most definitely with the attitude.”

Using Donaghy as the target man in attack give’s Kerry “a second strong to their bow,” he agrees. And it makes them all the more dangerous. “Jack O’Connor himself has said that they don’t have to be terribly careful how they put the ball in because Donaghy is so big and he has big hands.....”

If Cork are to win, it will be all about replicating their Munster final displays. “Everybody contributed in the previous two games,” he says.

“And we have got to do it again.”