PERHAPS YESTERDAY’S MUNSTER final was being looked at from the wrong angle all along.
The build-up was dominated by those marked absent for Kerry. By the time of throw-in there were eight starters from the All-Ireland winning class of 2025 not on the field at Fitzgerald Stadium.
Gavin White and Dylan Geaney sat on the bench. Shane Ryan, Paul Murphy, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Joe O’Connor, Seán O’Shea, and Graham O’Sullivan were all not part of the match day squad.
Factor in the other players Kerry were missing. Tom O’Sullivan picking up a knock in the Munster semi-final against Clare, Paul Geaney pulling a hamstring last Saturday in training. The pair both saw last summer ruined by injury, but were transformed in the winter into the dominant performers that shaped Dingle’s club winning exploits. The setbacks kept coming for Kerry, even in-game, with Paudie Clifford limping off halfway through.
“’Tis rough enough going at the moment” – the Jack O’Connor summation afterwards, when he was asked to reflect on where this injury crisis rested in those he had previously faced.
And yet in the rush to reel off the list of the missing, the All-Ireland winners, the All-Stars, the pillars of the Kerry football establishment, was it then overlooked who Kerry still had at their disposal?
The luminous attacking talent of David Clifford firstly. His mere presence on Munster final day elevated Kerry’s aspirations from the start. When Kerry hit some early turbulence as they slipped 0-6 to 0-1 behind, Clifford rattled off two quick fire points. He rocketed over a third before the end of the first quarter.
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Four minutes into the second half he demonstrated his explosiveness to move in from the right wing, pouncing on the opportunity presented by the backdoor cut, and then showing the composure to sidestep the Cork cover and blast to the net. Five minutes later he hoofed a two-point effort into the air and the ball eventually dropped over the bar.
It wasn’t perfect thereafter, a couple of efforts from play drifting wide of either post, but Clifford tapped over a late free to round up his final tally to 1-6. That was such a valuable tally in a game that Kerry won out by eight points.
There were others present. Seán O’Brien and Mark O’Shea, the midfield partnership that Kerry cobbled together last summer when scrambling for personnel, remains intact. They were forceful and physical, refusing to let Cork’s Colm O’Callaghan and Ian Maguire, a source of such strength for their side, be as dominant as Cork needed them to be. Diarmuid O’Connor, another hindered by injury last season, demonstrated why he has been a regular with a powerful showing. Jason Foley and Mike Breen provided the typical defensive solidity and assurance.
There were the newcomers who all struck two points. Armin Heinrich pushing forward from his wing-back berth to score. Keith Evans a ball of energy who shifted all over the pitch while also pitching in up front. Tomás Kennedy starting a big week of personal football action – a midweek All-Ireland semi-final date with the U20s in Thurles against Roscommon is on his agenda – with a fine return from his start at the edge of the square.
And paradoxically after a week consumed by talk of Kerry’s panel being stretched to uncomfortable positions, it was those they sprung from the bench that ultimately enabled them to close out the game and win at ease.
Gavin White, Tony Brosnan, Dylan Geaney, and Killian Spillane are a quartet of rich football experience. They contributed eight points between them, Brosnan the market leader with his return of five, a late two-pointer adorning his display.
That all added up to Kerry’s winning combination, a series of ingredients that delivered the 1-13 to 1-2 second-half scoreline that generated victory.
It was a chain of events that left Cork deflated. They have lost in Munster recently at the hands of Kerry, two years ago by three points in Killarney and last year by two in an extra-time contest in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Those games saw Cork push Kerry to the wire, and while they were only two adrift with seven minutes left here, the second-half struggles had been glaring.
Brian O’Driscoll’s individual burst delivered a terrific goal and substitute David Buckley, who made a bright impression, clipped a neat point. But Kerry took up control of the game once more and tacked on six without reply to quell any rising thoughts of a Cork comeback.
Cork were left to reflect on their paltry second-half tally of three scores. The four shots they struck wide, the three point attempts they kicked into the lap of the Kerry defence, and another Conor Corbett effort that collided against the upright.
The scoring sparkle of the opening period, three two-pointers inside eleven minutes, the menace that Chris Óg Jones and Mark Cronin displayed, all of that had faded from the memory as they laboured in the second half. At crucial times they were devoid of the craft to prise apart the Kerry defence, missing the creative running of youngster Dara Sheedy and the point-taking poise Brian Hurley may have provided.
After channelling so much energy into bagging silverware, a second final defeat in six weeks is a hard blow to absorb. They have only 13 days to shake off the hangover of defeat before they renew acquaintances with Meath for the third time this season.
It’s not a straightforward task to park the provincial campaign, yet the All-Ireland assignments swing sharply into view.
For Kerry that means welcoming Donegal to town. The reminders of David Clifford’s star quality and the sub power they still possess, even at a time when the queue lengthens for the treatment table, will hearten them ahead of that encounter.
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David Clifford star quality and Kerry sub power leaves Cork deflated
PERHAPS YESTERDAY’S MUNSTER final was being looked at from the wrong angle all along.
The build-up was dominated by those marked absent for Kerry. By the time of throw-in there were eight starters from the All-Ireland winning class of 2025 not on the field at Fitzgerald Stadium.
Gavin White and Dylan Geaney sat on the bench. Shane Ryan, Paul Murphy, Brian Ó Beaglaoich, Joe O’Connor, Seán O’Shea, and Graham O’Sullivan were all not part of the match day squad.
Factor in the other players Kerry were missing. Tom O’Sullivan picking up a knock in the Munster semi-final against Clare, Paul Geaney pulling a hamstring last Saturday in training. The pair both saw last summer ruined by injury, but were transformed in the winter into the dominant performers that shaped Dingle’s club winning exploits. The setbacks kept coming for Kerry, even in-game, with Paudie Clifford limping off halfway through.
“’Tis rough enough going at the moment” – the Jack O’Connor summation afterwards, when he was asked to reflect on where this injury crisis rested in those he had previously faced.
And yet in the rush to reel off the list of the missing, the All-Ireland winners, the All-Stars, the pillars of the Kerry football establishment, was it then overlooked who Kerry still had at their disposal?
The luminous attacking talent of David Clifford firstly. His mere presence on Munster final day elevated Kerry’s aspirations from the start. When Kerry hit some early turbulence as they slipped 0-6 to 0-1 behind, Clifford rattled off two quick fire points. He rocketed over a third before the end of the first quarter.
Four minutes into the second half he demonstrated his explosiveness to move in from the right wing, pouncing on the opportunity presented by the backdoor cut, and then showing the composure to sidestep the Cork cover and blast to the net. Five minutes later he hoofed a two-point effort into the air and the ball eventually dropped over the bar.
It wasn’t perfect thereafter, a couple of efforts from play drifting wide of either post, but Clifford tapped over a late free to round up his final tally to 1-6. That was such a valuable tally in a game that Kerry won out by eight points.
There were others present. Seán O’Brien and Mark O’Shea, the midfield partnership that Kerry cobbled together last summer when scrambling for personnel, remains intact. They were forceful and physical, refusing to let Cork’s Colm O’Callaghan and Ian Maguire, a source of such strength for their side, be as dominant as Cork needed them to be. Diarmuid O’Connor, another hindered by injury last season, demonstrated why he has been a regular with a powerful showing. Jason Foley and Mike Breen provided the typical defensive solidity and assurance.
There were the newcomers who all struck two points. Armin Heinrich pushing forward from his wing-back berth to score. Keith Evans a ball of energy who shifted all over the pitch while also pitching in up front. Tomás Kennedy starting a big week of personal football action – a midweek All-Ireland semi-final date with the U20s in Thurles against Roscommon is on his agenda – with a fine return from his start at the edge of the square.
And paradoxically after a week consumed by talk of Kerry’s panel being stretched to uncomfortable positions, it was those they sprung from the bench that ultimately enabled them to close out the game and win at ease.
Gavin White, Tony Brosnan, Dylan Geaney, and Killian Spillane are a quartet of rich football experience. They contributed eight points between them, Brosnan the market leader with his return of five, a late two-pointer adorning his display.
That all added up to Kerry’s winning combination, a series of ingredients that delivered the 1-13 to 1-2 second-half scoreline that generated victory.
It was a chain of events that left Cork deflated. They have lost in Munster recently at the hands of Kerry, two years ago by three points in Killarney and last year by two in an extra-time contest in Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Those games saw Cork push Kerry to the wire, and while they were only two adrift with seven minutes left here, the second-half struggles had been glaring.
Brian O’Driscoll’s individual burst delivered a terrific goal and substitute David Buckley, who made a bright impression, clipped a neat point. But Kerry took up control of the game once more and tacked on six without reply to quell any rising thoughts of a Cork comeback.
Cork were left to reflect on their paltry second-half tally of three scores. The four shots they struck wide, the three point attempts they kicked into the lap of the Kerry defence, and another Conor Corbett effort that collided against the upright.
The scoring sparkle of the opening period, three two-pointers inside eleven minutes, the menace that Chris Óg Jones and Mark Cronin displayed, all of that had faded from the memory as they laboured in the second half. At crucial times they were devoid of the craft to prise apart the Kerry defence, missing the creative running of youngster Dara Sheedy and the point-taking poise Brian Hurley may have provided.
After channelling so much energy into bagging silverware, a second final defeat in six weeks is a hard blow to absorb. They have only 13 days to shake off the hangover of defeat before they renew acquaintances with Meath for the third time this season.
It’s not a straightforward task to park the provincial campaign, yet the All-Ireland assignments swing sharply into view.
For Kerry that means welcoming Donegal to town. The reminders of David Clifford’s star quality and the sub power they still possess, even at a time when the queue lengthens for the treatment table, will hearten them ahead of that encounter.
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Cork GAA Kerry Munster Munster CHampions