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Thursday, June 03, 2010
Two tribes go to war
BY SEÁN COUNIHAN
WHEN Kerry and Cork meet in the championship at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, during the summer it always creates debate, but then again recent Kerry and Cork games in Croke Park late in the competition have also created plenty of debate over the last few years.
When talking to some of my football friends over the last few days and weeks, they are all in agreement that there is a very real possibility that one of the two teams could finish the game with 14 men. That’s a topic worth examining for a moment.
There is, of course, a real possibility that an accumulation of yellow cards – that are so easily issued these days – could lead to either Kerry or Cork having a man dismissed in Killarney this Sunday.
As we all know, two yellow cards equal a red card. It’s the easiest maths in football.
But I have a feeling that a lot of people are expecting, possibly, straight red cards this Sunday because of what happened to Cork’s Nicholas Murphy in the opening moments of last September’s All-Ireland football final when Tadhg Kennelly left his mark when a tough challenge.
I don’t think that this incident will have any part to play in Sunday’s match.
First off, the two players at the centre of that incident will not be playing on Sunday.
As well as that, footballers nowadays put too much into the game to get sent off for something silly and damage their teams’ chances of winning the match, or pick up a suspension that might see them miss vital games in the championship.
I have always said that one of the most important people on the field when Kerry and Cork meet in the championship is the referee.
The man in the middle must have the ability to handle an explosive opening 15 minutes, and this will be helped if the referee indulges in common sense.
These games are institutions of the Munster championship and have a history as long as the state.
There is also the added situation that since the backdoor route was added to the championship, Kerry and Cork meet more in the competition now than ever before.
And I would argue now that over the last few years, Kerry and Cork have been the two best teams in the championship. And Cork have easily been the most consistent team in the country over the last few seasons, if you look at their record.
But the most consistent team or the best team doesn’t necessarily win all the time, and for a variety of reasons. One little decision – a bad pass or a wrong call – can change the course of a game.
No team has ever had a divine right to win every position on a football field but, like I have always said, if you can win eight, nine or 10 of the personal battles then you are giving yourself a great chance of winning the game.
No team will win all the different positions, and that will be true again in Killarney this Sunday.
One of the big questions ahead of the game is have Cork improved since last year’s All-Ireland senior football final?
I believe that they have, while I also feel that Kerry aren’t the team that they were.
I remember writing after the drawn Munster football semifinal against Cork last year that until Darragh Ó Sé was introduced, Kerry were leaderless on the field.
As we all know, Darragh is now gone and that worries me.
Now, I would toy with playing certain players in other than their familiar roles and this is something that should have been experimented with during the league.
I still believe that Kerry are good enough to win Sunday’s game but to me that would mean that we have to win the important positions in midfield, full back, the corners and wing backs.
Aidan O’Mahony is a massive loss to Kerry this season because he is a man that could have nailed down any number of positions, which could have allowed Mike McCarthy to move to full back and release Tommy Griffin to midfield. But that’s not going to happen.
Perhaps we could play Tomás Ó Sé at centre back and Mike McCarthy at full back, and even if Griffin was left at number three, it could still release McCarthy to midfield.
What I am trying to do here is make us strong and ensure that we have leaders in all the key positions.
There is talk that Kerry should bring Kieran Donaghy out around the midfield but I don’t think this is a good idea and I would be against it.
He is the best full forward in the game right now and that’s where he should stay.
On top of that, Kerry have a half forward line that is more than a match for any other team, but I have my doubts about midfield and the backs.
Therein lies the dilemma for the management team, and this will be a real test of Jack O’Connor’s management skills.
Certain departures mean that there is a bit of re-jigging to be done this season, but the same applies to Conor Counihan over in Cork.
The Rebels’ boss has a different problem to figure out as he has a lot of new boys in the panel this season and he is still searching for the right starting 15 for Cork.
And there are plenty of questions for Counihan to answer too.
Will Graham Canty start?
Where will the leadership come from? Who will start in midfield?
Where will Pierce O’Neill play?
Will James O’Sullivan start?
Cork’s National League Division 1 final win over Mayo in Croke Park answered none of these questions for Counihan.
Ciarán Sheehan at full forward looks like a good player but is he better than Colm O’Neill?
Can Conor Counihan accommodate the two of them in the inside line, along with Fintan Goold?
That might be a possibility if he drops Paul Kerrigan.
Unless Donnacha O’Connor plays back in the corner, I think there will be a certain amount of accommodating in the Cork selection.
Paudie Kissane and Noel O’Leary might well start as wing backs with Michael Shields at centre back. But what happens if Canty is fit to start, and where will Cork play him then?
His best position was always wing back so will Kissane be moved to accommodate Canty?
I could be here all day talking about the ifs, buts and maybes of the Cork selection, and indeed the same can be said for Kerry’s team. But all the talking and debate will end on Sunday afternoon.
When asked to make a call on the game, I am going to go along the same lines as last year when everybody was writing Kerry off.
I didn’t and I stated early last year, when times were tough, that Kerry would win the All-Ireland.
I feel there is more than just one good game left in this exceptional band of brothers that Kerry are lucky to have right now, even though I think that they might need a hand from the management in getting the midfield selection right.
Verdict: Kerry to win by two points.
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