The second coming of Kearney

WHEN Liam Kearney returned to Cork City this season, it was to a club which had lost some of the players who had been most familiar to him during his time at Turner’s Cross.

Tonight, when Kearney returns to Shelbourne, it will be to a club almost wholly unrecognisable from the one he left at the end of last season.

The meeting of Cork and Shels in the FAI Ford Cup at Tolka Park (8pm) will crystallise a sequence of extraordinary events in domestic football, a seismic drama at which the East Cork 24-year-old had a ringside seat. Ostensibly, this is a clash of the last two title-holders in the eircom League Premier Division. Cork, with Kearney a vital presence on the wing, lifted the crown in 2005. One year later, Shelbourne — with Kearney this time a bit player in their success — wrested back the title.

But it was an achievement which came at a costly price. Barely had the celebrations died down that the Dublin club imploded under the weight of crippling financial problems, losing their manager and most of their players and then suffering the indignity of an FAI punishment which has seen them relegated to the First Division, unable to defend their title or represent the league in Europe, and now almost entirely preoccupied with the matter of sheer survival in Irish football’s second tier.

Meanwhile, Liam Kearney, after a season to forget in Dublin, has retraced his steps to Leeside, and tonight returns to Tolka Park to face a club which, since his departure, has been recast from the role of giants to would-be giant killers.

“It’s obviously a very different team from when I was there,” the Conna man agrees. “But I’m sure they’ll be up for it. It’s their biggest game of the season. And it’s a huge game for us as well. We want to do well in the cup this year and try and win as many trophies as we can.”

With a league title under his belt and seven U21 caps for his country, Kearney joined Shels as one of the brightest prospects in the eircom League. But during a troubled year at Tolka Park, he managed just 14 appearances and one goal and, at one point, even took a step back from the game as he tried to regain his focus and drive.

“There were a lot of things,” he says of that time. “My personal confidence wasn’t high because of other situations. The team itself that won the league did the business so I couldn’t really complain about that. I had a good relationship as well with (manager) Pat Fenlon but it just didn’t work out for me. But I still don’t have any regrets about making the move because I needed to get away.”

Holland was where he had originally set his sights, with Heerenveen apparently keen to bring Kearney on board. Cork City, however, baulked at what they considered a derisory offer and, amid a souring of relations all around, an ensuing contractual dispute was only resolved when an independent tribunal declared the player a free agent. By that stage, Heerenveen were out of the picture and Shelbourne stepped in to snap Kearney up for free.

“Holland was where I wanted to go,” the player admits. “That was probably the reason I left Cork. That’s where I wanted to go and things were looking like they would work out that way. But then there were a few problems with Cork City who decided they couldn’t let me go there. That upset me a bit at the time and things really deteriorated from there. I felt I was being treated badly and I felt, for my own head, that I needed to get away. Maybe going to Shelbourne wasn’t the right move in hindsight. But you live by the sword and die by the sword. I certainly did!”

And now he’s back where the fans had always hailed him as “The Conna Maradona”, further proof, perhaps, that you can take the Rebel out of the Rebel County but...

“When I was in Dublin, I always felt that if I was playing football in Ireland, I’d be happier playing at home,” he says. “There’s always that feeling if you’re from Cork that you want to be playing for Cork. And, at the moment, I’m playing and I’m enjoying my football, which is the most important thing.”

Still, he knows that things could be a lot better on Leeside. Cork’s wild inconsistency this season has left the team playing catch-up in the league — and left Kearney scratching his head for answers.

“I don’t know what the reason is,” he says. “We’ve done well against the big teams but we seem to find the so-called weaker teams hard to break down. The bigger teams are going to come out and play against you.

“They’re going to have a go and you’re going to have a go, and it makes for a much more flowing game. But against certain teams you’re trying to break down two banks of four and they can frustrate you. Then you maybe leak a goal and they totally close up shop against you. That’s the same for other teams who seem to cope better so maybe we just need to be a bit more clinical.”

And there’s also the fact that quite a few players have come and gone since Kearney was enjoying title success with the scintillating side of two years ago.

“A lot of players have left Cork over the last few years and if they’d stayed, I think the team would be unbelievable now,” Kearney muses. “Losing Danny Murphy and Alan Bennett was a big loss to the back four but we have a new defence now and because it’s a transitional phase you can’t expect them to be a tight unit overnight. We’ve also had injury problems at centre-half but I think Darragh Ryan at left back has been brilliant. Hopefully now everyone comes back fit and ready from the break. We’re not too far behind to make it up. People might be writing us off but there’s a long way to go.”

And new(ish) faces still to come on board. Kearney — who knows a thing or two himself about being in a contractual limbo — is dismayed that star signings Colin Healy and Gareth Farrelly are still unable to play for the club they joined back in February.

“It’s unbelievable. I still can’t get my head around the fact two players who were out of contract still can’t play for us. It’s a ridiculous ruling by FIFA. Hopefully, they’ll be available now in a couple of weeks. And I think they will be a huge bonus for us. The quality and experience they will bring to the team can only give everybody a big lift. Bring those two in, maybe get a few more players in during the transfer window, and hopefully we’ll be a force to reckon with yet.”