Opportunity missed as Rebels fail to finish off Kingdom
The answer was that they failed to drive home their advantage when they were in control against the home side which was hit by an early ankle injury to Tommy Walsh and which struggled to find its rhythm until the final quarter.
Ultimately the visitors were almost powerless to halt the momentum built up by a re-energised Kerry, who drew inspiration from two particular points from Tadhg Kennelly and Sheehan (his only one from play) before Colm Cooper levelled scores for the second of only three times in the 67th minute.
With captain Graham Canty showing the way with a fisted point after 15 seconds, Cork settled very quickly and added another score before Tommy Walsh opened the Kerry account in the eighth minute.
Interestingly, with the Kerry attack and the Cork defence being slightly rearranged (Kieran O’Connor was a late replacement on the Cork side for Ray Carey, operating at left-half), it was the visitors who achieved most in terms of efficiency. The net effect was that Kerry weren’t threatening very much and that further alterations following Walsh’s departure didn’t achieve any worthwhile improvement.
From Cork’s perspective, it was a good news story all the way forward, with the exception of James Masters, who started in the left corner (on Tom O’Sullivan) and hardly saw the ball before being replaced by Michael Cullen – who, in time, was to more than justify his introduction.
Cork were much more successful around the middle of the field, where Kerry’s Tadhg Kennelly started promisingly in his debut game but made little enough impact after moving to wing-forward after Darragh O Se was brought on for Tommy Walsh. Alan O’Connor in particular impressed for Cork, and benefiting from strong support from the half-backs, Pearse O’Neill was to prove very effective at centre-forward.
It was O’Neill who scored the game’s only goal in the 12th minute, finishing with a powerful shot after being put through by Paul Kerrigan, who did some outstanding work on the left flank of the attack.
However, two minutes earlier, Kerry had the opportunity to put the ball in the net, but Donncha Walsh opted for a point when Cooper was free. Cork, likewise, passed up an even better chance immediately after O’Neill had scored, when Daniel Goulding also elected to put the ball over instead of taking on the goalkeeper.
Worst of all from Kerry’s perspective, was a missed penalty in the 23rd minute, when Cooper made a very poor attempt at scoring after Ger Spillane had fouled Darran O’Sullivan.
Even though Darragh O Se was quick to make an impact, Kerry’s finishing was weak and at times the quality of ball delivered into the inside players was poor. But, this was also a tribute to the work of the Cork defence, with Shields commanding at full-back and Anthony Lynch very consistent. And, to be fair to the Kerry backs, they were also more involved in the second quarter, with Marc O Se doing some good work along with brother Tomás.
At the break, it was 1-5 to 0-5 for Cork.
The pattern of the game didn’t change much over the course of the third quarter, with Darran O’Sullivan failing from an early 45, before he was off the field temporarily after a nose-bleed before being eventually replaced.
Not surprisingly, after having been brought in as a blood sub, Bryan Sheehan was retained (at full-forward), hitting over the first of his five scores in the 44th minute.
Confident Cork were still forcing the pace, being boosted by a point from substitute Noel O’Leary in the 36th minute. Conversely, Kerry were still at odds with their shooting – Darragh O Se ballooned a ball wide and there were later bad misses from Sheehan and Galvin – and they seemed to be in trouble when a fine score from O’Neill had Cork five points clear with 15 minutes remaining.
However, after what was the biggest margin up to then, the game started to move in Kerry’s direction, stemming in the main from a virtual monopoly of possession gained at midfield. Kennelly was more assertive, Darragh O Se was dominant and, the benefit of having a reliable free-taker on the field in the person of Sheehan was to prove crucial.
Tomás O Se was seen at his best, defending strongly and powering his way forward several times and substitute David Moran quickly started to contribute, just as he had done in similar fashion against the Rebels in Croke Park last year.
After a Sheehan free in the 59th minute, Kennelly and Sheehan put over two inspirational points which lifted the Kingdom. And after another Sheehan free (won by Moran), Cooper put over a super point under pressure from several defenders, after having first lost his footing.
That levelled the scores and as a replay loomed, U21 star Colm O’Neill regained the lead for Cork from a ‘45. With time running out, it looked all over from Kerry, but a foul on Tomás O Se around the 50-yard line and an unwise intervention by O’Leary which saw the ball being advanced to a more favourable position produced an equaliser from Sheehan.
Scorers for Kerry: B. Sheehan 0-5 (0-3 frees, 0-1 ‘45); C. Cooper 0-3 (0-1 free); D. Walsh 0-2; T. Walsh, D. O Se and T. Kennelly 0-1 each.
Scorers for Cork: P. O’Neill 1-2; D. O’Connor 0-3 frees; D. Goulding 0-2; G. Canty, N. O’Leary and C. O’Neill 0-1 each.
Subs for Kerry: D. O Se for T. Walsh (injured, 11); B. Sheehan for D. Walsh (48); D. Moran for Quirke (50); B.J. Walsh for Darran O’Sullivan (58); S. O’Sullivan for Kennelly (70).
Subs for Cork: M. Cussen for Masters (26); N O’Leary for Spillane (32); N. O’Donovan for Miskella (45); B. O’Regan for K. O’Connor (62); C. O’Neill for Goulding (65).
Referee: M. Deegan (Laois).
* Attendance: 32,204 (last year 22,784 – final, Páirc Uí Chaoimh).
* A minute’s silence was observed in memory of former Kerry minor and U21 player Jimmy Falvey, who died recently.
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