Lesser lights could shade it for Rebels

CORK legend John Cleary has enjoyed and endured many days against Kerry but his appetite for battle against the green and gold remains as great as ever.

The latest chapter in the derby affair arrives tonight in the shape of a Munster U21 decider which is certain to have the crowds hitting the Sky Plus button for Chelsea and Manchester United and heading to Páirc Uí Rinn.

Cleary’s side crushed champions Tipperary in their semi-final and the manager reports a clean bill of health for the visit of John Kennedy’s outfit.

But the season has not been without its trauma. On Sunday, February 6th news filtered through that Lyre attacker Rory O’Connor, a member of their panel, was killed in a road accident.

“It was just a bolt from the blue”, recalls Cleary. “I remember we trained that Friday night and Rory was with us. Then early on the Sunday morning he was dead. It was a huge shock for everyone, the players and the coaches.

“He was on our panel and was improving greatly. He’d played in numerous challenge games, starting against Laois and coming on against Dublin in the weeks before his death. For a week or two, it unsettled us and you could see it was impacting on lads. But we decided we’d get back to concentrating on football.

“The message coming through from the family was that’s what they wanted and what he would have wanted. It was sad and something we wouldn’t like to go through again.”

The focus was then fixed on Tipperary who have enjoyed a splendid record at U21 level in recent years.

But Cork were ruthless from the off, and cantered to a 12 point victory.

A feature were the fine performances of midfielder Michéal Ó’Laoire and corner-forward Donal Óg Hodnett, both of whom made their intercounty debuts.

Their appearances illustrated Cleary’s policy of trawling the net wide in search of players.

“It’s something we’ve always done, looking around the county for players.

“We’d numerous trials and even though they’d never played minor, Micheal and Donal Óg were two guys who showed up well.

“But they were fairly experienced at senior club level, Micheal with Naomh Aban and Donal Óg with O’Donovan Rossa. They’ve certainly earned their place.”

On the opposition side, Kerry boss John Kennedy has good memories of Páirc Ui Rinn. Three years ago he brought a minor team to the Boreenmanna Road venue and saw them win a pulsating semi against their hosts (0-13 to 0-11). Protagonists from both sides will be in action again tonight and having to travel to Cork’s home ground again does not perturb Kennedy.

“That was a cracking match, a real traditional Cork and Kerry game.

“You’d a very good crowd there which contributed to the atmosphere and I feel it’s going to be the same now tonight. It’s a while since Cork and Kerry played in an U21 final and people are looking forward to it.

“There’s an interesting angle to it that you’ll have so many members of the UCC Sigerson winning squad involved (nine for Cork and three for Kerry), so all these players know each other well.

“The travel aspect doesn’t bother us. There are a lot of our guys in college in Cork between CIT and UCC and I know they’ll be ready for the game.”

Kennedy has shuffled around his starting line-up since the semi-final over Limerick.

Despite a comprehensive 12-point win in the Gaelic Grounds, he explains that the changes are not reflective of that performance.

“We just looked at our team and ways in which we could improve it.

“We’re facing a very good Cork team with a lot of experience and some big senior players. It’s nothing to do with how guys played against Limerick, it’s to do with the challenge we face.

“Barry John Walsh is injured and is a loss but it’s great then to have a player of Barry John Keane’s calibre to come back in.”