INJURY-TIME IN Killarney yesterday and Kerry looked to be down and out.
Cork had one hand on the Munster football trophy and despite Kerry’s bunch of attacking aces on the pitch, their saviour was an unlikely one.
Fionn Fitzgerald stepped up from defence to nail the levelling point but it wasn’t a surprise to Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice.
“He’s similar to Marc Ó Sé in that he can kick those scores. He definitely kicked one against Mayo in the semi-final last year in Croke Park.
“He showed great courage to be fair to Fionn. I think the lads showed good composure as well keeping the ball in hand and rotating it. Cork were really making it difficult for us to get inside.
“There was a good breeze there and Fionn put it up in the breeze and thankfully it went between the posts.”
Fitzgerald may not have featured in Kerry’s opening championship outing against Tipperary but made his presence felt here.
“I’d say he played most of the league,” says Fitzmaurice.
“His form in training has been good. He pushed hard for the Munster semi-final and didn’t get in there.
“As can often happen with backs, he didn’t get any game-time because you tend to put on midfielders and forwards unless there is an emergency situation.
“He pushed hard again the last couple of weeks and he deserved to start.”
The manner in which Cork carved open the Kerry defence was striking as they plundered three goals.
Kerry also benefited from being awarded a fortuitous penalty.
“Everyone seems to be saying that it was a soft penalty”, admitted Fitzmaurice.
“If it was soft, we were lucky and we needed it. If we hadn’t got it, we’d probably be sitting here talking about the qualifiers.
“There’s an awful lot we can improve on for Saturday week and that we need to improve on, We saw what Cork are capable of.
“All the negativity that was around them over the last couple of weeks is astounding. We knew and I was saying it, and I know sometimes when you say this stuff, people think you’re trying to be cute or clever.
“We knew that we needed to be at our best and we weren’t at our best. We’re thankful that we have another cut at it.”
