All-round power to swing it for Cork
And yet it has the ingredients to fascinate both the players and ourselves. A crowd close to the 43,000 capacity in Fitzgerald Stadium will turn up expecting the lack of incentive for winning not to matter an iota.
And they would be right.
Kerry and Cork’s rivalry has reached the stage where they would fight over the toss if given half the chance.
Conor Counihan knows what a victory would mean. Forget the trend of them being Munster champions only to be overthrown by Kerry in Croke Park. They’re All-Ireland champions now. Everything has changed.
Dara Ó Cinnéide of this parish once spoke of the day it dawned on him that attempting to retain an All-Ireland title was far more special than just winning one. Cork are presented with that opportunity and in Kerry they have the perfect opposition to put those credentials to the test.
It’s early days yet but what we have seen of Counihan’s side this season is a team priming itself to be the team it can be, not hoping to remain the one that bullied its way to a September honour last season.
They will be aware their success has gained envious and potentially avenging glances.
Kerry’s withdrawal symptoms since their uncharacteristically early championship exit last year has seasoned players craving to return to great heights once more, a condition strengthened by Cork’s glory. The home side here possess the best attack in the country and without doubt the most economical.
But not only is Cork’s forward line not too far behind them, the phalanxes that buttress them are sturdier than Kerry’s.
Midfield is fundamental and tilts in favour of the Cork pair of Aidan Walsh, young footballer of 2010, and Alan O’Connor. But it’s not just them, it’s the dirty ball winners around them. John Miskella appears much more suited to that role than opposite number Eoin Brosnan.
Tomás Ó Sé and Paul Galvin’s absences were cited as major contributory factors in the defeat to Down last year. Given how influential they were in their two Munster semi-final games last year, it can’t be stressed enough how much they will be missed tomorrow.
For Kerry to win, they will need a full 70 minutes of optimum work from the majority of their starting middle eight. But in what is sure to be an attritional battlefield, how likely is that? There is the sense Jack O’Connor is putting all his eggs in one basket. His best players are on the field; but there doesn’t seem to be many more of that quality off it.
The likes of Seamus Scanlon, Daniel Bohan and Barry John Keane are decent operators but are they match-winners? Compare them to the expected Cork bench that showed its strength in helping to turn the Division One final against Dublin and the contrast is obvious.
We can all agree on one fact — Cork have never had a better chance of overcoming their Killarney hoodoo.
With that will come pressure but there seems to be an assuredness about them in every scenario. Paul Kerrigan spoke about it after April’s win over Dublin. “We have great self-belief if we’re motoring well and working hard, nobody will live with us.”
Kerry on their home patch will dispute that and we can’t help feeling they have something up their sleeve.
Whatever it is, it shouldn’t be enough to deter Cork from winning a fourth title in 15 months. They are ready to become the superior all-round team they are on paper, something which has escaped them against Kerry in the recent past. This battle should be theirs by a point or two. But the war? That’s another matter entirely.
Cork
1. KIERAN DONAGHY moving to midfield — It’s more than likely going to be an occasional thing but if there is a wind against Kerry or they are struggling for primary possession in the middle, the full-forward will move out.
2. Donncha O’Connor to score three points or more. He’s done so in the last seven SFC games between the teams.
3. A high-scoring game — The average total of scores over their last three Munster games is just over 30 points.
1. Plenty of goals — In the 13 Munster championship meetings since the turn of the century, there have been only 13 goals scored (Kerry grabbing seven, Cork bagging six). The most scored in any one game has been two.
2. A flurry of red cards — it’s sure to get hot and heavy in Killarney but there was just one sending off between the neighbours in a championship match in the last three games.
3. A runaway victory — the margin of victory over the last 10 provincial meetings is a tight 3.3 points.
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