Fatigue factor now a worry for Kerry

IT WAS anticipated in the build-up to yesterday’s Munster Final that Cork would come out with all guns blazing, tear into Kerry and play with a defensive line-up to keep the Kingdom’s gunslingers at bay.

The horrors of last September were revisited as Cork visibly struggled and by half-time the Rebels were 1-8 to 0-3 down and gasping for oxygen. The turnaround that followed was unprecedented bearing in mind the quality and experience of the opposition.

The tactic of playing Graham Canty as a sweeper in front of his full-back line backfired on Cork. For this tactic to succeed there has to be serious pressure on the delivery and for most of the first period this was not the case. Tomás Ó Sé operated in a free role as a result of Canty’s withdrawal and drove his team forward. Kieran Donaghy and Gooch got a plentiful supply of good quality ball while Seán O’ Sullivan displayed his full range of kicks off left and right. Up front Cork survived on scraps and failed to find their men with any regularity. The Kerry full-back line was watertight with Tom O’Sullivan dominating Donnacha O’Connor. Much of the ball going in was 50-50 and was kicked from too far back. The Cork half-forwards were playing defensively and struggled to get forward and this played into Kerry’s hands.