Do-or-die another day

THERE may have been the safety net of the backdoor available for the losers of yesterday’s Munster championship tie in Killarney, but it was quite evident in the demeanour of both Cork and Kerry that they had no interest in settling for that.

I spoke on Saturday about the dangers that the qualifier route posed with the possibility of a trip to Derry, Antrim or Donegal.

Saturday night’s double shock created the prospect of a tie in Castlebar or Newbridge, and Armagh’s Ulster exit prior to the 4pm throw-in put them in that mix as well. Yesterday’s game may not have been a classic, but this was very much do-or-die stuff. This was hard, physical championship football and the front door was the only route everyone wanted.

You’d have to say that Cork had the upper hand yesterday and the game was there for them. Plenty people will point to the two goal chances that Aidan Walsh and Alan O’Connor missed with ten minutes to go and the killer for Cork was that it was the wrong man in the wrong position each time. If it had been a Kerrigan or Goulding in on goal, there would have been a green flag raised and game over. That’s not a slur on either Walsh or O’Connor but rattling the net is not their forte. Overall it was a strange match when you reflect that Cork won 80% of the midfield possession, restricted the scoring return of Donaghy, the Gooch and Declan O’Sullivan to two points from play, and still only came away with a draw.

I felt Cork’s lack of direct play cost them a little. There was a period with 15 minutes to go when they started to play keep ball in their own defence as if they were winding down the clock in injury-time. In my view the Kerry full-back line was being stretched by Paul Kerrigan and Ciaran Sheehan, but not enough long direct ball was delivered into those Cork attackers. The best pass of the match was from 60 yards by Aidan Walsh in the first-half and only for an exceptional block by Marc O Sé, Kerrigan had a goal.

I was surprised by the amount of sloppy errors made by Kerry during the match. Brendan Kealy dallied too long over a free in the first-half and Cork got a point from it, David Moran fouled the ball by double-hopping just after coming on which lead to another Cork score and Padraig Reidy soloed the ball over the sideline unopposed late on. That’s not the sort of play we’ve come to expect from top inter-county footballers.

Kerry clearly have big problems at midfield. I’ve good time for Seamus Scanlon but he didn’t fire yesterday and while Micheál Quirke is a big fielder, he’s limited in football ability and not terribly mobile. Cork built a strong platform there but I thought Anthony Maher, who I pencilled in to emerge two years ago, finished strong when he came on.

But what was most critical in the context of the game was the Galvin effect. I genuinely believe Paul is an exceptionally good footballer and his influence swung the game in Kerry’s favour when he came on. He won breaks, got on the ball, was involved in setting up scores and in general got Kerry going again. The All-Ireland champions were stretched and in trouble, yet his input changed that.

A word about Brian Sheehan as well though, who kept Kerry in it when things were going against them in the first-half. I’ve thought in the past that he didn’t deserve a starting Kerry jersey. Yesterday he came up trumps and contributed handsomely to their cause.

Cork can be happy with their own no. 15 as Paul Kerrigan gave an excellent display. Conor Counihan should be pleased with his newcomers as well, Aidan Walsh recovered wonderfully from a nervous start, Ciaran Sheehan won some great ball and Jamie O’Sullivan did a brilliant job on Colm Cooper. Paudie Kissane was Cork’s star though. About three years ago he got a bad shoulder injury in the Munster championship when Cork played Limerick and it put him back a lot. He played marvellously and kicked three super points.

What Cork needed though was someone to command the game like a Shea Fahy or Larry Tompkins would have done in Conor Counihan’s time. I wouldn’t expect drastic surgery to the Cork side next week, but Colm O’Neill might grab a spot in the full-forward line. For Kerry, Galvin will surely start and I’d expect Maher and Barry John Keane to push hard as well. The message for Cork this week is simple, be more direct and ruthless when they get in front.