'We had no hesitation in bringing him in': Ronan McCarthy praises Cork hero Mark Keane

"We sought permission from Collingwood for him to play and they gave it to us and we’re very grateful for it"

Mark Keane of Cork celebrates after scoring his side's goal, late in extra time, to give the Rebels a historic win. Picture: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

When asked what Mark Keane had shown during his four weeks with the Cork panel to elevate himself to the position where he was the first sub introduced yesterday, Ronan McCarthy didn’t need to look too far for a reply.

“The goal at the end shows he’s a great target for long balls. He’s a great target man, great physical presence and, look, he has just added to the quality and depth of the group,” said the Cork manager.

McCarthy revealed that once Keane had put down the necessary period of self-isolation after arriving home from Australia six weeks ago, the Collingwood AFL player then immediately fell in with the Cork panel.

“We had no hesitation in bringing him in. Mark has huge interest in Cork football. He's played underage all the way up and even when he's been away, he's been interested in the team and stays in touch with us. The minute he was back, he wanted to play. The way it worked out today was great.

“The second thing is that we did our business properly with Collingwood. We sought permission from them for him to play and they gave it to us and we’re very grateful for it. But ultimately, Mark has a huge interest in Cork football and I said something downstairs there, I think the thing about this group is that everybody who’s there, they’re 100% committed to Cork football and that hasn’t been the case over the last four or five years. 

Maybe people thought there were pastures greener. This group here, Cork football is their number one priority.” 

Yesterday’s victory was long overdue, McCarthy accepted. Not in eight years had Cork taken down either Kerry or any other top team.

“Cork haven't beaten a top-eight team, never mind a top-tier team, since 2012. So it's brilliant to make the breakthrough and it's great that the players got what they deserved.

“I think the manner of the win as well, that we were behind in normal time and got back. The way we won it is testament to the group.

“We have to get back down to earth very quickly with the game coming up in two weeks, but we also have to enjoy the victories when they come, particularly a victory of that nature against a top, top side. I’m delighted with the victory. I’m delighted with the players. I’m also delighted with the manner of the victory.” 

Equally pleasing was the faith repaid by championship debutants Sean Meehan and Maurice Shanley, the two defenders boasting no more than 150 league minutes between them before being handed their first championship starts against one of football’s hottest forward units.

“I thought Meehan was absolutely brilliant at right half-back, what a debut in a big match,” McCarthy continued.

“Shanley, outstanding. We got Paul Ring in, Colm O’Callaghan, so it’s great that off the back of their U20s, they are coming in and winning big games straight away.

“At the end of the day, there was a lot of talk about us ambushing and coming in under the radar. It’s not the way we saw it at all. If you look at our subs, you had Luke Connolly, Michael Hurley, Mark Keane, Damien Gore, we have huge quality now within the group which has been built up over the last two to three years.

"We didn’t feel we needed to ambush. We felt we could go in and go toe to toe. On the back of say the Super 8s matches last year and the game against Kerry here, we felt we were very close and we were in better shape again, and there was no reason why we couldn’t get there.”