Peadar Healy: If Cork beat Kerry, ‘God knows where we might finish up’
Speaking at the launch of the Munster Championships in Muckross House at the beginning of May, selector Eamonn Ryan insisted that a change in the fortunes of this current crop, when it does arrive, will happen as seamlessly as flicking on a light switch.
A week prior to their Munster quarter-final, Paul Kerrigan contended that Cork, on their day, have it within them to take down Dublin, Kerry, or Tyrone.
“I definitely think we are capable of catching one of them,” he said.
Manager Peadar Healy is almost giddy at what a Munster final win in Killarney could do for this group.
“If we did win, God only knows where we might finish up,” he remarked. “Maybe that is the spark that might get us going. You just need something to go right for you on the day.”
He knows nobody is giving them a chance going down to Fitzgerald Stadium. He even says it himself. After the win over Tipperary, Healy referenced the “terrible battering” players and management had taken following their escape from Dungarvan.
“We deserve a lot of it, to be honest. Management deserves a lot of it. We have to take the flak for the performances. The players are working so hard and it isn’t from the want of effort or the work that is going on behind the scenes. We all want to see Cork win a Munster final. Cork badly need to win a Munster final. Cork football badly needs a Munster title. We need it to get the supporters behind us, to get the Cork people behind us. For that alone, we need to win.
“We want a savage performance in Killarney. With each victory, it’s giving us that little bit more confidence in ourselves. We have to give 70 minutes plus of a performance. I genuinely do believe it is in us, particularly the way training has gone since they came back from the clubs. They really are focused, they really are up for it.”
The Rebels haven’t won a championship game at Fitzgerald Stadium since 1995. “It is an unwanted record. We want to see that record broken.”
