“Kerry 0-18 Cork 1-12
In what was the aridest, warmest day that Killarney has seen this year, Cork were unsuccessful in spoiling Kerry’s celebration, as the reigning champions of Munster progressed to the upcoming regional final with a somewhat unimpressive triumph by three points.
Cork’s victory expectations were low and only a handful anticipated them narrowly missing out on a ball kick. But, against expectations, the Rebels put on the finest full-length match of this year, giving a below-par Kerry a serious challenge that was possibly too tight for their liking.
Cork’s performance left something to be desired, and Kerry’s David and Paudie Clifford’s play was nothing special. Nonetheless, the result was a captivating game that exceeded the expectations of the majority of the 17,568 spectators.
While the Kingdom was predicted to win with a larger margin, Cork’s best seasonal performance at the sun-soaked Fitzgerald Stadium kept the locals on their toes and stressed for roughly an hour.
Eventually, Kerry dug deep, notably showcasing their ability to secure some hard-fought points, allowing them to clinch victory by three points.
The fact it took the defending champions 50 minutes to gain a lead over a high-energy, creative Cork team that began impressively but seemed to lose steam after the first quarter, provides Kerry coach Jack O’Connor plenty to ponder before the Munster final in two weeks time.
The initial strong start of Cork, followed by a fizzle out, will no doubt be preoccupying John Cleary’s mind as he prepares for the All-Ireland series due mid-May.
The Rebels got off to a flying start, leading 1-6 to 0-5, thanks to Paul Walsh’s fifth-minute goal and Paudie Clifford’s missed opportunity in the sixth. But post the 20-minute mark, Cork slipped back into their old ways – demonstrating plenty of effort but lacking creativity.
Cork pulled ahead in the opening minute, thanks to Conor Corbett, and then Walsh added the game’s sole goal following clever groundwork from Brian O’Driscoll and Ian Maguire. But was it premature to anticipate their first championship victory in Killarney since 1995? Most likely so.”
During his Championship debut, Cillian Burke, along with Dara Moynihan and Tom O’Sullivan evened the scores during the initial 10 minutes, before Brian Hurley of Cork took control and scored thrice consecutively in the next five minutes. By the 18-minute mark, Cork had a solid 1-6 to 0-5 lead which was maintained for 57 more minutes.
However, it wasn’t all lost for Kerry. Sean O’Shea and David Clifford, who had what was considered a subpar performance based on his standards, managed to each score twice, reducing Cork’s lead to a mere point by the halftime at 1-7 to 0-9.
As the match moved into the third quarter, Hurley scored couple of points through penalty kicks. However, Moynihan, O’Shea and Tom O’Sullivan steadily found their form and rhythm, and began staging a comeback. Kerry managed to take a lead for the first time when David Clifford scored in the 50th minute.
Things soon started falling into place as expected. Even though Cork were only trailing by a single point by the 57th minute, Graham O’Sullivan, Sean O’Shea, and Tom O’Sullivan each scored an additional point for Kerry. Cork needed a second goal, but it seemed unlikely.
Despite the loss, Cork will learn and take solace from this match which was arguably their best performance of the season. They can now prepare and improve their tactics for the All-Ireland. Meanwhile, Kerry progresses to the Munster final in two weeks, where their performance will be closely watched and further improvements desired although not absolutely necessary.
The team line-ups were as follows: Paul Geaney, Steven O’Brien, Mike Breen, Tony Brosnan, and Barry Dan O’Sullivan were the substitutes for the team, replacing Burke at half-time, A Spillane in the 48th minute, S O’Brien at 62 minutes, D Moynihan at 64 minutes and J O’Connor at 71 minutes respectively. Paul Geaney managed to score 0-1.
The Cork team featured players Christopher Kelly, Kevin Flahive, Daniel O’Mahony, Maurice Shanley, Luke Fahy, Tommy Walsh, Matty Taylor who scored 0-1, Ian Maguire, Colm O’Callaghan, Paul Walsh who scored 1-0, Seán Powter, Brian O’Driscoll, Chris Óg Jones who secured 0-1, Conor Corbett who marked 0-2 and Brian Hurley who scored 0-8, including four frees.
The substitutes for the Cork team were Sean Meehan who replaced M Shanley at 35+1 minutes, Ruairí Deane for S Powter at 45 minutes, Steven Sherlock replaced Jones at 53 minutes, Mark Cronin substituted P Walsh at 58 minutes and Kevin O’Donovan replaced T Walsh owing to injury at 60 minutes. The match was overseen by referee Noel Mooney from Cavan.