Cork's Quirke delighted with comeback

Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke has had a turbulent 12 months.

Last year he was the Irish goalkeeper experiencing the rough and tumble of the International Rules series but a shoulder injury early this year ruled him out of the National League and some of the championship - however he is delighted to have made a full recovery in time for Sunday's All-Ireland SFC final.

As a 30-year-old, Quirke is delighted to get a chance at All-Ireland glory at this stage of his career.

"I've had a few injuries this year and I missed the National League final because of injury and I got injured in the first round of the championship against Limerick but I have a lot of rehabilitation work done thanks to the help I've received from the backroom team," Quirke said.

"As far as I'm concerned, the injuries are behind me and it will be exactly four months since I dislocated my shoulder, come All-Ireland final day.

"When I got injured against Limerick I probably thought my season was over but thankfully the management showed a bit of confidence in me and I'm delighted with that and I'm trying to put it behind me now."

Quirke is delighted, having come through a couple of seasons off the panel, that his hunger has still kept going.

"I was gone off the panel for a couple of seasons due to work commitments, etc. Obviously there would have been times where I would have thought I wouldn't get to play in an All-Ireland final but it has worked out for me now so I'm going to try to take the chance with both hands."

Cork and Kerry are no strangers to each other within the confines of Munster, but outside the provincial boundaries, while the meetings between the sides have gone in favour of the Kingdom to date, Quirke believes that Cork are well prepared for Sunday's battle.

"In 2005 we were very raw going up to Croke Park and were a bit naïve about certain things as well. We made certain progress last season but we were still a good five or six points behind them at the end of the day," he admitted.

"Last year they probably learned their lessons from the Munster final and changed their team around as well. I don't know how you could put your finger on it really but I suppose they are used to the big match occasions a bit more than we are.

"But at this stage we have plenty of Croke Park experience behind us so we will be hoping it won't be a factor the day of the final."

Quirke concedes that it will be a bit surreal playing Kerry in an All-Ireland decider at Croke Park but that Cork will be very focused coming into the game.

"It's different, in Munster we play against each other in Killarney or Pairc Ui Chaoimh and particularly in Fitzgerald Stadium there is a great atmosphere but the ultimate game for any Cork footballer period is the All-Ireland final so we are trying to treat it as a match rather than another Cork-Kerry match."

The Valley Rovers clubman believes that the positive attitude expressed by his team-mates in 2006 has carried through to this season and that Cork are very well prepared to be serious challengers in the final as a result.

"Last season our attitude was that we were going out to win an All-Ireland and we did make progress. We came up a bit short in the All-Ireland semi-final.

"Literally at the start of the year we said we would try and get back to where we were last year, ie, a semi-final, and to try and win that and get to a final which is where we want to be.

"But we are under no illusions and there are no guarantees in an All-Ireland final," he added.