Rebels bid to stay cool as Kingdom loom large
The Munster rivals will meet under the Páirc Uí Rinn floodlights on Saturday evening in a reprise of last September’s All-Ireland final which the Kingdom won by four points.
Cork will go into the game on the back of an impressive and thrilling 3-13 to 3-12 victory against Monaghan in Scotstown while the league and All-Ireland champions succumbed to Dublin in their NFL opener in Killarney.
“We just concentrate on winning, no matter who it is,” said Kerrigan. “We won ugly (in Monaghan), that is the main thing. That’s one down now and hopefully one again next week. It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Having opted out of the McGrath Cup, last Sunday was Cork’s first competitive fixture since that defeat to Kerry last September and their first win in Division One of the league since 2007 after two seasons spent in the second tier.
“We’re up against all the big boys and we want to prove ourselves against them,” said Kerrigan. “This was a good way to start. Monaghan are no pushovers. They’ve showed that in the championship this last few years.”
The win in Scotstown should not be underestimated. Both Cork and Kerry have struggled at the venue in recent visits. Cork actually lost by seven points there in 2009, their only defeat all year until the All-Ireland decider.
Kerry and Kilkenny have both proven that good league form can be the perfect springboard to championship honours but Cork have failed to claim the top flight NFL title since 1999 and it isn’t difficult to understand why.
Since that success 11 years ago, when they won three times on the road, Cork have failed to win more than once away from home, including three seasons in the second division.
In that light, the round one win against Seamus McEnaney’s side is even more noteworthy and they will have the opportunity to back it up with trips to Tyrone and Derry later in the campaign.
“A win is a win,” said Kerrigan. “We don’t care in the league. If we have to win ugly, we have to win ugly. 3-13 is good scoring on a day like that but the win is the main thing. We’re delighted with that, especially up there. We got nothing easy up there last year so it’s great to get one back on them for losing last year.”
Whether or not they go on to claim the league title, the opening victory away from home has taken the pressure off Conor Counihan’s men who will face home ties against Galway, Derry and Mayo, as well as Kerry.
“Everyone will be looking to win every game so I wouldn’t say that takes the pressure off. We’ll up the ante again next week to hopefully get another two points and keep the momentum going heading into that break in the league.
“We put pressure on ourselves every week to perform. We see ourselves as one of the top two or three teams in the country so we want to keep up those standards really.”
For Kerrigan, the game in Monaghan was a useful barometer on which to judge the strides he has made with the county side since their previous visit to Scotstown 11 months earlier.
On that occasion, on what was just his second start for Cork, the Nemo Rangers man scored just one point as the Munster side lost by seven. This time, he was top scorer with two first-half goals and a brace of points besides.
“Well, we were very disappointed going home last year. It was ... I wouldn’t say bad attitude but they were hungrier than us, which was very disappointing. It was good to turn that around and show a bit of hunger this year.”
Like a lot of the Cork panel, Kerrigan is double jobbing lately thanks to his duties with CIT in the Sigerson Cup. Eight of last weekend’s Cork panel are students at the college, while full-back Michael Shields is at UCC.
It isn’t the ideal scenario for but, according to Kerrigan, there has been no problem juggling the two so far.
“We’re training hard but, in fairness, there’s good cooperation between the two lads. We were back with Cork this week after the Sigerson match and there’s no panic.
“There’s no point in flogging us, they know that themselves.” McHale relishing mission in Clare
By Diarmuid O’Flynn
IT’S been a bit of a culture shock but Mayo legend Liam McHale is quickly acclimatising to life as Clare football coach.
Back in his native county, the big ball code is king, but it is still something of the poor relation in the Banner County, as indicated by paltry crowd of 200 or so supporters who turned up to witness the hosts’ NFL opener against Wicklow on Sunday.
Hurling is the number one sport in the Banner County, a fact not lost on the former Mayo star.
“It’s a bit unusual for me,” he admitted. “We try hard in Mayo with the hurling but we don’t have that tradition as it’s predominantly football. But the county board here seem like very nice people. I’m getting to know the management and they’re sound, and as for the players, there’s no ego there at all.
“In Mayo, I coached the U21s and seniors and we had a few egos there – I don’t find that here, although maybe we’d be better off if we DID.
“We’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, but I’d be delighted to have to deal with it!
“They are great lads, the likes of David Tubridy (centre-forward who notched five points in Clare’s battling win over Wicklow). I hate singling out players but he’s as good a footballer as you’d see anywhere, a very graceful player, kind of the Maurice Fitzgerald of Clare.
“They have no arrogance – in fact sometimes they doubt themselves, and we saw that with one or two frees David missed in the first half, that he shouldn’t have. But we’ll keep working, keep building, and hopefully we’ll do well in the league.
“For us, the championship doesn’t exist – this is our championship right now. The county board put this management team together, they want us to do well in the league and get out of this division, and that’s what we’ll be trying to do. This Clare team has had a difficult four or five years, they’ve had losing seasons – it’s very hard to pick yourself up from that. That’s why it’s great to win this one. If they continue to work hard, try and improve on what we did Sunday, we should be able to compete with anyone in the division.”
* The Comer Group, an international property development company, based in Dunboyne have been announced as the new sponsors of Meath football teams.
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