Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing…

On paper, Cork should beat Kildare tomorrow. They have a stronger, more experienced starting team.

They have won the league and their provincial championship already this year. They have a settled team as well as several marquee forwards to come off the bench.

On the other hand, there is the one very obvious, and well-mentioned, cause for concern. The four week layoff period between the provincial final and the quarter-final of the All-Ireland is not ideal. The fact that Cork beat Clare so easily has meant that this interregnum has effectively turned the time delay into an eight-week sabbatical from competitive football. If you consider that Kerry didn’t exactly force Cork to really kick into gear on June 8, then you would struggle to see how Cork can expect to be battle-hardened at all this weekend.

However, there are the more subtle causes for concern. Cork’s defence hasn’t looked as assured as it has over the last few years. Anyone who was at the Kerry game would have appreciated the protection Graham Canty was giving to the full-back line that day. Even with that, they still surrendered four clear goal chances in that game with Alan Quirke producing two 1 v 1 saves. Add in six scoreable frees Kerry missed, chiefly because of Bryan Sheehan’s absence, and we have a worrying undercurrent.

An ideal world would have seen Cork iron out these defensive kinks in their next championship battle. What they got was a weak challenge against Clare. Having said that, Clare did manage to threaten the Cork goal on occasion with Eoin Cadogan pulling off a very clever tactical foul to prevent a clear 1 v 1 in the first half. This is not good. Against a team like Clare, you are looking for a shut out defensively. Canty’s absence was clearly evident.

In the interim, Cork would have looked to ramp up the intensity of the A v B games. In the absence of championship action, this is the next best thing. Ferocious intensity and competition for places from within has sustained Kilkenny hurlers to 15 consecutive All-Ireland semi-finals, despite a lack of competitive games through Leinster. These wrecking-ball games are treated with the utmost importance by Cork. Separate dressing rooms. Fully kitted teams. No shortage of sledging. Key players on the A team would be targeted. Skin and hair would be flying. All for the greater good. The rougher the ride the A team has been getting, the happier the management are, the better prepared they are for championship.

Over the past few years, the B team would have had some seriously battle hardened and experienced defenders. Spillane, Lynch, Kavanagh, O’Connor have all now departed the scene. No one on the A forward line would have liked to have seen any of the above guys coming their way. Their younger replacements on the panel, through no fault of their own, cannot match the experience and guile these guys built up over the years. It’s never ideal when the starting six backs appear absolutely certain of their places. It’s even worse if the starting forwards are getting an easy ride.

In 2007, coming up to the All-Ireland final, the A v B games had eased off in intensity. Anyone in contention to start was afraid of getting injured. The football being played in the matches was champagne stuff but in hindsight, it was practically non-contact. We were blown away in the final. Even after overcoming Sligo, Donegal and Meath, the pace of the game was unlike anything we had seen since we had played Kerry in the Munster final two months earlier.

Kildare could not have had a more different run-in to this weekend. After being knocked out by Meath, they had an easy win against Cavan which was followed by a serious battle in Limerick that went to extra-time. They ramped it up further last weekend against a dogged Sligo team. For the last three years they have had a big scalp in them without actually delivering. This game is now do or die, having not won a Leinster. Their physicality means they will be able to match Cork in that department and their ability to hit it long and early to a big full-forward in Tomas O’Connor means that goals are always on the agenda. Recovering from these in Croke Park is not easy. This will be a defining game for the McGeeney Kildare Project and I would be extremely surprised if they roll over.

Make no mistake, Cork management are concerned. They have effectively vetoed county club games involving Cork players in the three weeks leading up to this game. This is unusual for a quarter-final and ironically not likely to happen for the All-Ireland semi-final should they win. They see this as a key stumbling block in their campaign, one which they have found it very difficult to legislate for.

Having two opponents coming from such different avenues of preparation for an All Ireland quarter-final suggests that there must be something wrong with the existing provincial set up. Cork will not be entertaining any such excuses prior to the game itself. Clearly, there is no value in entertaining this when there is a clear danger that it could become a self fulfilling prophecy.

Earlier this year, Kieran McGeeney was lamenting the easy passage Cork and Kerry have in Munster. Should Cork lose tomorrow, it will replicate Kerry’s loss to Down at the same stage two years ago. It may be Cork and Kerry who will begin ruing the fact they aren’t competing in Leinster.