Kilkenny will not be denied

THE most successful teams in the GAA over the last decade have been Kerry, Tyrone and above all Kilkenny, who have nearly as many All-Ireland titles in that period as the two others put together.

I’m certain, however, that in the unlikely event of Kilkenny losing tomorrow’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Cork, they won’t let themselves down in the same way that the football giants let themselves down this past week with their whining and whinging about systems and lack of a second chance for provincial champions.

Neither Kerry nor Tyrone were good enough to win the All-Ireland – they should take their beating and shut up.

Can Kilkenny be beaten? Well the one outstanding and abiding memory I have of these two counties over the last four or five decades is that on almost every occasion when one was hot favourite, the other nearly always won. Remember Cork winning in 1966, or what about Kilkenny in 1969 and again in 1972, 1982 and 1992? The Rebels shocked us all in 1999 in 2004 with the Cats getting their own back two years later.

On that basis then, you can’t rule out a Cork win tomorrow.

Over the last 11 years, when Cork look at their record they’ll see three All-Ireland titles, not a bad return, but then they will look at Kilkenny’s record – seven titles in the same period. And Cork will know – if it hadn’t been for the internal disruptions during that period, they might well have won one or two more crowns.

It is all water under the Christy Ring bridge of course, but this could be the grand finale between these two teams and a game to look forward to.

At the time of writing the Cork team has been named, and the big boost straight away – Shane O’Neill is back from injury and is named in his usual position of corner-back while Seán Óg is also off the treatment table and back on the wing. Take a look at that Cork defence – four of them (Brian Murphy, John Gardiner, Ronan Curran, Seán Óg O hAilpín) were there in 2004, along with goalkeeper Donal Óg Cusack, when Cork conceded only nine points in an All-Ireland final, and Kilkenny were reigning champions that year remember.

Crucial question though – are those defenders as good as they were then? Are they as much of a unit as they were in 2004? I don’t think so. I think they’re a bit more individualistic – John Gardiner going for glory from distance, Ronan Curran trying to catch everything instead of just putting hurley to ball occasionally, Seán Óg feeding the brother up front.

If Cork are to have any chance tomorrow then that will have to stop – they must go back to playing as a unit. The other change in that defence sees Eoin Cadogan at full-back in place of a legend of the game, Diarmuid O’Sullivan. Eoin needs to come back a notch; a flaw Diarmuid had was that he tended to go bull-headed for the ball occasionally – and now Eoin has that same habit. The advice must be to slow things down, stop the yapping, keep the cool and concentrate on the game.

Midfield, and Cork are well served in Tom Kenny and Cathal Naughton, but a word of advice to Cathal – steady up. Many times you have more time than you seem to realise; use that time to steady yourself and shoot. Tom Kenny I’m impressed with, and I expect some battle in this area, regardless of who Kilkenny name.

I believe Michael Rice is pushing hard to get back but it might be too soon – Cha Fitzpatrick isn’t a bad man to have waiting in the wings, is he?

Up front, and here are the real problems for Cork. Michael Cussen has hurling but very little aggression, Aisake O hAilpín has aggression but not enough hurling – what a player you’d have if you could combine the two in one!

One thing I’m expecting up front, however is a war. This could be Ali/Foreman part two, Aisake and Hickey on the edge of the square. No place for the faint-hearted, even in the stands!

I’m really surprised at the omission of Paudie O’Sullivan from the Cork attack. From what I’ve seen Cork don’t have even one better attacker than this fella – I thought he’d be an automatic. We’ll see him before the finish, but at what cost to Cork? I’ve mentioned that the Cork defence need to play as a unit – the same thing applies to their attack. Patrick Horgan, Ben O’Connor, Kieran Murphy all need to work like demons, but they also need to score.

To Kilkenny; the team wasn’t finalised at the time of writing, but we know who’s not available. I think the loss of John Tennyson is huge, and if Michael Rice too isn’t playing, it is another blow. I don’t think we’ve yet seen the Noel Hickey of old which could leave Kilkenny vulnerable, while PJ Ryan hasn’t been as commanding in goal as he was last year. Up front, however, what options Kilkenny have, and what threats. Henry Shefflin, Eoin Larkin, Eddie Brennan, Richie Power, TJ Reid, Martin Comerford (if he’s fit), every one of them is a potential game-winner.

A winner? The Rebels have a cause, but the Cats have even greater cause – the five-in-a-row. This is the last hurrah for a lot of this Cork team, and they will put up a fight, but, Kilkenny will not be denied.