Brosnan: we won’t let Cork shock us again

YOU could say Kerry captain Eoin Brosnan was destined to be a footballer, almost as much as it was inevitable he would follow his father Niall’s example and study law in UCC before qualifying as a solicitor.

Apart from being Dr Crokes’ stalwarts, one other thing they have in common is Cork championship medals from their college days (his father was part of a predominantly Kerry UCC side which triumphed in 1973, Eoin winning in 1999).

After making his senior debut in a League game against Louth in 2000, Brosnan had his first outing in the championship the following year. Growing up in Killarney, his ambition was to play in a Munster final in Fitzgerald Stadium.

Nothing unusual about that, except that because of where he lived, the fact that he played so many juvenile games in the small pitch at the back of the stadium, the whole football environment which enveloped him was calculated to inspire.

“You’d be looking over the fence as a young fellow,’’ he explained. “That’s where the dreams took root. If we could pull off a win in Sunday’s final it would be something that you would always have dreamt of doing as a young fellow.”

He managed it three years ago, in the replayed final against Limerick (when a trademark goal from him and a penalty from Ó Cinneide proved crucial). He has had seven championship outings against the Rebels and while two of them were in final triumphs in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, the only ‘home’ success from the others was the 2004 semi-final.

Of course, he has had bigger disappointments since, most recently the loss to Crossmaglen Rangers in the All-Ireland club final replay earlier in the year — a disappointment made all the greater because of refereeing decisions which went against them both days. And, then there was that controversial decision to drop him from the team for last year’s All-Ireland final.

Brosnan came on at half time and was one of four Kerry goal-scorers. And, putting the ball in the net is something he has gained a reputation for — three for instance against Longford last year which helped transform Kerry’s season and two more against Waterford a month ago.

“They were very poor,’’ he said of their runaway semi-final win. “It was no test.’’

It was a somewhat different story last year, when Kerry were tested in the run-in to the Cork game. And were found wanting.

Looking back, Brosnan feels that the signs must have been obvious to the management, or even students of the game.

“Coming into the Munster final we felt we had played badly against Tipperary and Waterford. When you are part of the team you are trying so hard, but it’s possible that when you are looking in (from the outside) you can identify faults.

“We were confident going into the final, but we didn’t perform to the level we would have wanted and Cork rolled over us. We’ll be setting out on Sunday to make sure that doesn’t happen again.’’

Despite the fact that he was heavily involved with Dr Crokes in their run to the All-Ireland club final, he says that he felt ‘fresh’ starting out on championship preparations — better than he did after last year’s League campaign.

This year, he and Colm Cooper missed most of the competition and only came back for the last round.

“What I said to myself was that it was going to be a very short season with Kerry, four or five months from April and I suppose that brought a good bit of freshness to everybody. It might have been difficult if you finished a long club campaign before facing a ten-month campaign with Kerry.”

He is unsure what to expect from Cork, except that like Kerry, they used the League to experiment. “Both teams are coming in a little bit untested. Obviously both teams are fancying their chances of, say, ‘long summers.’ Sunday will be crucial to see how the year will turn out.

“This Munster championship really means a lot. It’s Pat’s first year. I remember Jack O’Connor’s first year, when he set out to win every single game and to win every single competition. This is a big game for us. It’s a big game for him inside in Killarney. And it’s been pointed out that Kerry haven’t beaten Cork in a Munster final here in 21 years. That’s not a record we would be very proud of.”