Fitzmaurice admits Kerry ‘got out of jail’

It might go down as the worst Kerry championship performance in Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s tenure but the manager was quick to point back to his comments about Cork last week.

Admitting Kerry “got out jail”, he said: “We saw what Cork are capable of. All the negativity that was around them over the last couple of weeks is astounding. We knew and I was saying it, and I know sometimes when you say this stuff, people think you’re trying to be cute or clever.

“We knew what Cork were going to bring, we knew how difficult it was going to be to beat them. We knew that we needed to be at our best and we weren’t at our best. We’re thankful that we have another cut at it.”