Qualifier route won’t suit Cork

THE YEAR 1997 was the year I played my final inter-county game for Cork. It all ended rather ingloriously, on the bench in Ennis the day Martin Daly scuffed a dramatic last minute goal for Clare past Kevin O’Dwyer in a Munster Championship semi-final.

I saw it coming, honest to God. I was sitting beside Dr Con Murphy, praying for someone in a Cork jersey to lamp a Clare player, create a scene. I was gambling the referee would panic in the pandemonium and bring the game to a premature conclusion. Too late.

Two things remain raw and vivid from that awful afternoon. One, that Cork are never more than an average performance away from an upset in an environment beyond their comfort zone. The second is that Kerry won an All-Ireland that season beating Clare in the Munster final, Cavan in the All-Ireland semi and Mayo in the final.