Cork call in the cavalry for Kingdom test

WINNING the National league title following All-Ireland success the year previous is a feat that hasn’t been achieved since Meath claimed honours back in 1988.

Since the turn of decade, only two All-Ireland champions have won their first day out in the league as kingpins Armagh in 2003 and Tyrone in ‘09 showed, both against Dublin in Croke Park). Those are statistics worth considering ahead of throw-in tomorrow afternoon in Tralee as the majority of Conor Counihan’s Cork side prepare for their 2011 competitive bow.

Of the starting 15 that Counihan has named for tomorrow’s clash, only Alan O’Connor and Donncha O’Connor have shaken off the winter cobwebs through appearances in the McGrath Cup. The bulk of Cork’s squad are only back in the country three weeks after their team holiday to South Africa and that’s likely to affect their ability to go at full tilt against Jack O’Connor’s men.